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You make a lot of good points, but I do take issue with the bolded.
How much does a banana cost? How much does oatmeal cost? How much does a can of: black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans cost? I know. 53 cents for a 15.25 oz. can at WalMart (here in expensive California).
And don't tell me these are too hard to prepare or take too long. A lot of it is a combination of laziness and ignorance. Yes, I get it, those factors aren't the whole story, but they are part of it.
This is just one example of a filling recipe that doesn't take a lot of time and I can get all the ingreidents at my local WalMart. (I usually add a few more things such as feta cheese, kalamata olives, & cashews...but you can get all of those at WalMart, too). And don't tell me junk food and fast food are cheap. They aren't cheaper than buying your own food and making it yourself.
I absolutely do think federal subsidies are a huge issue.
I think we could start by not allowing people to buy junk food with food stamps. And not allowing school lunch programs to serve garbage. These are such simple things that should have widespread support. Our government won't even do such basic things to promote health. Our government policy has been so obviously bad for so long, it's no wonder people believe in conspiracy theories.
How is this even allowed? The recipes from your link are excellent, easy, inexpensive and the ingredients are available at even some Dollar Stores so enough of the excuses. Once people start actually taking responsibility for what they put in their body, they might begin to feel some pride in themselves also and once that starts happening, who knows what great things can be accomplished when the blame game stops.
Bottom line is some people can remain looking "fit" while eating complete garbage and some people cant eat one single piece of chocolate or they'll gain weight. Just because somebody looks "fit" doesn't mean they are healthy and just because somebody looks "fat" doesn't mean they aren't healthy. Just get regular exercise & eat healthy and don't worry about what your body looks like, as long as you feel good that is all that matters. I personally use the Keto diet plan and I have never felt better. If you are interested in my exact meal plan check out my website on my profile page.
You can always cherry pick the extremes to prove a point. But when 70% of the U.S. population is ovwerweight or obese, then it's time for a whole foods revolution. Some of us, somewhere, somehow have to do something and spread these simple concepts and recipes to others and make them the norm. The information is now out there.
If it's processed, it's probably not good for you.
I absolutely do think federal subsidies are a huge issue.
I think we could start by not allowing people to buy junk food with food stamps. And not allowing school lunch programs to serve garbage. These are such simple things that should have widespread support. Our government won't even do such basic things to promote health. Our government policy has been so obviously bad for so long, it's no wonder people believe in conspiracy theories.
How can the government prohibit buying junk food when the government subsidizes junk food? How can the government prohibit junk food when the government authorizes junk food in school lunch programs?
There would have to be a government definition of junk food for the government to prohibit junk food...do you think the industry lobbyists are going to allow that to happen? You can start with the corn industry (which produces all the sweetener and corn oil) then go to the wheat industry and work your way forward.
How can the government prohibit buying junk food when the government subsidizes junk food? How can the government prohibit junk food when the government authorizes junk food in school lunch programs?
There would have to be a government definition of junk food for the government to prohibit junk food...do you think the industry lobbyists are going to allow that to happen? You can start with the corn industry (which produces all the sweetener and corn oil) then go to the wheat industry and work your way forward.
The government is half the problem.
Processing hits those cost savings pretty hard. For example, a box of Poptarts at WalMart is $4 for 16 poptarts, 3,000 calories. That's pretty cheap for 3,000 calories, but really Poptarts are more than 98% of flour, corn syrup and HFCS and regular sugar, vegetable oil. Walmart has a 5 lb bag of flour, 8,250 calories, for $2.12, corn syrup 2,000 calories for 1.94, vegetable oil 30,000 calories for $8. While $4 for 3,000 calories is still definitely on the cheap side, it's cheap because Poptarts are made from extremely inexpensive ingredients. There's probably somewhere in the range of $1.50 or $2 in a box of Poptarts in terms of ingredients at retail prices.
Intead of Poptarts as a staple product, I would chose potatoes. A 10 lb bag of potatoes is $3.44 and that's 4,000 calories. There's nearly limitless things you can do with potatoes. Likewise, you could use flour. Bread fueled the industrial revolution, particularly in Britian with cheap American flour. That definitely wasn't the best diet and today flour almost always means baked goods which are even worse as, like the Poptart, it's white flour with almost no nutritional value being combined with added sugar and fat. It's calories, but that's about it. Calories are obviously not what the average American is lacking in their diets. They're lacking nutrition, something a Poptart has almost nothing of.
Black beans, 2lb bag for $2.50 is 1,600 calories. It's not really any cheaper than the Poptart but it's an inexpensive source of protein, calcium, iron, pottasium, and of course quite a lot of dietary fiber.
Costco/Sams/Smart + Final can be a good place to score a 50 lb sack of rice for $20-30, even at the high end that's a bit cheaper than the Poptarts.
And of course, there's vegetable oil. That stuff is basically free and loaded with calories. Yeah, olive oil is better but that's expensive. If you're going going for economical, canola is probably the best bang for the buck rather than soy/palm oils.
Mix in some inexpensive vegetables, onions, carrots, brocolli, greens, spinach, and so on and you can keep your spending down to a Poptart diet in cost and it will actually be healthy, certainly far, far healthier than a diet of Poptarts, Duritos, soda and whatnot.
I absolutely do think federal subsidies are a huge issue.
I think we could start by not allowing people to buy junk food with food stamps. And not allowing school lunch programs to serve garbage. These are such simple things that should have widespread support. Our government won't even do such basic things to promote health. Our government policy has been so obviously bad for so long, it's no wonder people believe in conspiracy theories.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph_Kirk
How can the government prohibit buying junk food when the government subsidizes junk food? How can the government prohibit junk food when the government authorizes junk food in school lunch programs?
There would have to be a government definition of junk food for the government to prohibit junk food...do you think the industry lobbyists are going to allow that to happen? You can start with the corn industry (which produces all the sweetener and corn oil) then go to the wheat industry and work your way forward.
The government is half the problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Malloric
Processing hits those cost savings pretty hard. For example, a box of Poptarts at WalMart is $4 for 16 poptarts, 3,000 calories. That's pretty cheap for 3,000 calories, but really Poptarts are more than 98% of flour, corn syrup and HFCS and regular sugar, vegetable oil. Walmart has a 5 lb bag of flour, 8,250 calories, for $2.12, corn syrup 2,000 calories for 1.94, vegetable oil 30,000 calories for $8. While $4 for 3,000 calories is still definitely on the cheap side, it's cheap because Poptarts are made from extremely inexpensive ingredients. There's probably somewhere in the range of $1.50 or $2 in a box of Poptarts in terms of ingredients at retail prices.
Intead of Poptarts as a staple product, I would chose potatoes. A 10 lb bag of potatoes is $3.44 and that's 4,000 calories. There's nearly limitless things you can do with potatoes. Likewise, you could use flour. Bread fueled the industrial revolution, particularly in Britian with cheap American flour. That definitely wasn't the best diet and today flour almost always means baked goods which are even worse as, like the Poptart, it's white flour with almost no nutritional value being combined with added sugar and fat. It's calories, but that's about it. Calories are obviously not what the average American is lacking in their diets. They're lacking nutrition, something a Poptart has almost nothing of.
Black beans, 2lb bag for $2.50 is 1,600 calories. It's not really any cheaper than the Poptart but it's an inexpensive source of protein, calcium, iron, pottasium, and of course quite a lot of dietary fiber.
Costco/Sams/Smart + Final can be a good place to score a 50 lb sack of rice for $20-30, even at the high end that's a bit cheaper than the Poptarts.
And of course, there's vegetable oil. That stuff is basically free and loaded with calories. Yeah, olive oil is better but that's expensive. If you're going going for economical, canola is probably the best bang for the buck rather than soy/palm oils.
Mix in some inexpensive vegetables, onions, carrots, brocolli, greens, spinach, and so on and you can keep your spending down to a Poptart diet in cost and it will actually be healthy, certainly far, far healthier than a diet of Poptarts, Duritos, soda and whatnot.
You seemed to have totally missed my point.
My point is that the government--which authorizes SNAP credits to be used for junk food--is in bed with manufacturers who would rather people buy the more expensive calories.
My point is that the government--which authorizes SNAP credits to be used for junk food--is in bed with manufacturers who would rather people buy the more expensive calories.
And anyone could likewise use the welfare bennies to just buy wheat, sugar, and vegetable oil instead of Poptarts and there welfare would go much farther. Or they alternatives that I later recommend which are while still inexpensive much better choices than Poptarts. Whether or not you're paying with food stamps or cash, Poptarts are the same price. There's no additional incentive to spend foodstamps on Poptarts or Duritos and no disincetive either. It's just that Poptarts do represent a good value in calories per dollars. If you're a poor person and trying to maximize the calories you can get per dollar of spending, Poptarts are good for that. Doesn't much matter if you're a poor person on food stamps or just a poor person spending your own money. $4 for 3,000 calories is a good value in calories per dollar.
Now, the government does spend a lot on farm subsidies but that's really entirely separate from the food stamps question. Food stamps are neutral. There's a few things you can't buy with them like hot food (rotesserie chickens), and then obviously you can't buy cigarettes or alcohol or non-food items.
Don't blame the government for people making poor food choices. That's on them.
And anyone could likewise use the welfare bennies to just buy wheat, sugar, and vegetable oil instead of Poptarts and there welfare would go much farther. Or they alternatives that I later recommend which are while still inexpensive much better choices than Poptarts. Whether or not you're paying with food stamps or cash, Poptarts are the same price. There's no additional incentive to spend foodstamps on Poptarts or Duritos and no disincetive either. It's just that Poptarts do represent a good value in calories per dollars. If you're a poor person and trying to maximize the calories you can get per dollar of spending, Poptarts are good for that. Doesn't much matter if you're a poor person on food stamps or just a poor person spending your own money. $4 for 3,000 calories is a good value in calories per dollar.
I don't know that anyone is buying PopTarts because of the calories per dollar, they're buying PopTarts because they can be eaten straight out of the package with no preparation. They're easy and convenient. People could buy flour, sugar, eggs, butter, etc. cheaply and make pancakes or cookies from scratch, but that takes time and effort, a working kitchen and cooking equipment, and after all that they're not exactly healthier than PopTarts.
I don't know that anyone is buying PopTarts because of the calories per dollar, they're buying PopTarts because they can be eaten straight out of the package with no preparation. They're easy and convenient. People could buy flour, sugar, eggs, butter, etc. cheaply and make pancakes or cookies from scratch, but that takes time and effort, a working kitchen and cooking equipment, and after all that they're not exactly healthier than PopTarts.
It's a combination of both laziness and cost.
Grocery store has Eggland's frozen omelletes, but they're two for $4. 440 calories for $4. If you haven't been poor, I get that you might not get the concept that anyone would shop with calories per dollar in mind but it's something that poor people do do. There's a lot of relatively healthy frozen foods in grocery stores these days but they just look like that. $3-5 for 200-400 calories. It's 60 seconds in a microwave, which is not any harder than sticking a Poptart in a toaster. And yes, you can eat them frozen as well out of the box.
For processed foods for conveience, I stick with canned beans, tomatos/paste/sauce, pasta type things, bread, hummus and whatnot. All of that stuff is relatively easy to make yourself but, yeah, I'm lazy as well and sometimes I just want to open a can of beans rather than have though about having made some in advance which are in the fridge.
. It's 60 seconds in a microwave, which is not any harder than sticking a Poptart in a toaster. And yes, you can eat them frozen as well out of the box.
“Eat them frozen out of the box”!!
Such behaviour can be expected of a savage beast, not a civilised person.
They don't because the food also affects their brains!
My term for it is "grain brain zombies." Modern wheat has highly addictive properties meaning that many people never feel satiated, continuing to consume far more calories than actually needed as well as snacking between meals.
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