There are scores of reasons -- some of them with seemingly tangential connections to food -- why there is such a disconnect between what we eat and our health.
Portions at restaurants are big because the minor cost of additional ingredients and labor "justifies" a price increase for the item that more than covers costs and seems like a "value" to customers. Americans pay a lower percentage of their incomes for food than most other economically-advanced countries, courtesy of large-scale industrial food processing -- food bred for profit margin rather than flavor -- and free borders and road subsidies that make shipping cheap. Zoning ordinances that promote sprawl have fostered thousands of neighborhoods that encourage car travel -- not walking or cycling -- to safely get pretty much anywhere. Classes like home economics are no longer taught, so many people don't learn to cook -- a shortcoming that ripples through generations. Even our medical system is biased to pay for treatment rather than prevention. Fixing what American diets are doing to Americans is going to be far more complex than imposing "soda taxes" and painting a couple of bike lanes into existence.
And, actually, obesity is no longer just an American concern -- in fact, it's becoming more and more widespread across the (economically-advanced) world. The Japanese have seen obesity rates in youngsters swell as they move away from their traditional rice/fish/vegetable diet to more of a Western diet. Europeans are seeing more obesity as fast-food restaurants become more common and as more residents live away from walkable city centers. Americans on average long have been physically larger than many other people groups. so adding to that size makes obesity even more noticeable.
It is possible to eat healthfully from a big-box store. They sell plain fresh and frozen vegetables, proteins can be chosen carefully, and not all grains are unhealthful. Just because one is shopping at Walmart is no reason the cart has to fill with Cheez Doodles, pre-breaded proteins, and pop/soda.Originally Posted by Williamsmith
I also can't quite agree with the idea of not paying "enough" now knowing that the bill will come due later. Not just for food; I'm not a huge fan of kicking the can down the road, regardless of who gets to pay for it later. But that's me and I know I don't always practice what I believe.
I may have told this story before, but the first time DW accompanied me to the co-op, she put back some cheese she wanted to buy "because it was so expensive". Granted, we're not down to picking which bills get paid every month; some folks are for whatever reason and they may not believe they have a choice. But I suggested to DW that that was the price of cheese when the cows roamed freely to eat grass; when the people who produced it were not living on public assistance; and when the workers at the store were paid a living wage and had benefits like health insurance and tuition reimbursement. Is it best for us in the long term to pay up front? Or are we hoping someone else will pick up the tab later? I don't have the answer to that. But I know what my answer is.