There once were two opposing thoughts in articles…okay, one was a blog post and one was from The Wall Street Journal…regarding food choices in these tight economic times.  Still, the subject matters are the same but from opposing sides.

From the original Wall Street Journal article “Value is what counts to consumers right now,” says Bob Goldin, executive vice president at Technomic. “And, unfortunately, in the minds of many consumers, a lot of these lower-priced options are just not as healthy, but they’re still buying them.”

I like the irony in that bit about value being what counts right now.  Really?  If you continue on with the article it talks about potato and tortilla chip sales being up 22% and 18%, respectively, this year.  That’s not food for survival.  That’s straight up snack food.

And the use of microwaves is up 30% from ’08.  This particular link to obesity I find suspect, personally.  They didn’t say microwave meal sales are up 30%, but the use of microwaves is up.  When I don’t want to heat up my entire kitchen I use the microwave…for veggies or re-heating meats we intentionally cooked enmass for cost and time savings.

The opposing thought process in the “cost of food” debate comes from a blog posted at Norcal Strength and Conditioning entitled CrossFit = Financially Fit that confronts head-on the notion that cheap junk food is actually cheap.  It’s a thought provoking read.  Our nation’s leaders would do well to apply the author’s logic into the healthcare debate and nutrition recommendations.

From Karina’s blog post – “As we all know from Robb’s nutrition talks, if you exercise, eat right and get adequate sleep you can most likely avoid things like: stroke, heart attack, cancer, diabetes, and orthopedic issues. These are just a few of the major issues. Let’s not forget about colds, the flu, over-use injuries, and general inflammation.  All of these things cost a lot of $$$$$$ to treat.”

The thought that when one is poor or money is tight the only food one can afford is junk and fattening is simplistic and b.s.  I’ve been poor.  Honest-to-God-$20-covers-all-food-for-a-week poor.  When you’re buying Ramen soup  and the price-reduced meats to go with it, drinking water and splurging on bananas and a dozen eggs you will be hard pressed to gain weight.  Maintaining weight is tough at that point.  Twinkies, chips, ice cream, donuts, cereal, bread, etc. are luxuries, plain and simple, and luxuries that will kill you so skip the expense when times aren’t so lean and you’ll come out ahead.

That’s all I have to say about that.

(for now)