Here's a sobering article about how we sustain or don't sustain all members of our communities. Question: How can we ensure that relocalization/sustainability strategies (policies, economics practices, agriculture, lifestyle, etc.) address this issue?
Healthy Diets Out of Reach for Many Eating a healthy diet is getting so expensive that many American families cannot afford it. Not only are fruits and vegetables costly, but food price inflation is reducing the ability of low- and middle-income households to get the nutrients they need. Recent research confirms these findings. A University of Washington study, conducted over a two-year period in the Seattle area, found that good, healthy foods increased in price by almost 20 percent, four times the rate of overall food inflation. Meanwhile, less healthy, high calorie foods held steady in price or actually dropped. We were shocked, said Adam Drewnowsky, director of the Universitys Center for Public Health Nutrition and co-author of the study, The Rising Cost of Low-Energy-Density Foods, published in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The nutrient-rich calories, the food we should be eating are zooming out of sight, he stated. So eating well is becoming unaffordable for many, even in the middle class. As healthy foods get more expansive, unhealthy foods stay cheap. When it comes to empty calories, its very difficult to compete with sugar, noted Drewnowsky. In Brazil, for example, sugar made locally from sugar cane is produced at the cost of 30,000 calories for one dollar. Nothing else comes close. The academic findings were recently confirmed by a federal study. Are Lower Income Households Willing and Able to Budget for Fruits and Vegetables? is the title of a January 2008 report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is not surprising that households with income near or under the poverty line spend less money on food than higher income households. But even when they experience a small increase in income, such households will allocate more money to only two of seven product categories beef and frozen prepared foods. For low-income households to prioritize fruits and vegetables, a households income must increase more substantially. So, how can low- and middle-income families achieve a healthful diet? It takes three things, explained Drewnowsky. Education, money, and time. If you have all three, youre home free. If you have two out of three, you can manage. But if you only have one out of the three, or zero out of the three, you are pretty much screwed. And a lot of low-income people have zero out of three For additional information, see the USDA report at: <http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR54/> http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR54/. The University of Washington study is on the web at: <http://www.mdconsult.com/das/article/body/86804079-2/jorg=journal&source=&sp=20186529&sid=0/N/619891/If07018007003.fig>http://www.mdconsult.com/das/article/body/86804079-2/jorg=journal&source=&sp=20186529&sid=0/N/619891/If07018007003.fig -- Elan Shapiro Sustainable Tompkins Community Partnership Coordinator Sustainable Living Associates, Principal Frog's Way B&B 211 Rachel Carson Way Ithaca, NY 14850 607-275-0249 607-592-8402 Cell "We must be the change we want to see in the world" Mohandas Gandhi _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
