What does it really cost you to eat cheap junk food?

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In 2010, the average family in America spent a little over 9 percent of their income on food. That's 5.5 percent eating at home and 3.9 percent eating out. In the 1960s that percentage was 17 percent. In 1930 it was 24 percent. People in most other countries now spend more than 18 percent of their income on food.

Cheaper food may seem like a great benefit, but while we save a few dollars on our meals, we're paying far more in our health. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma said it well:
"Cheap food is an illusion. There is no such thing as cheap food. The real cost of the food is paid somewhere. And if it isn't paid at the cash register, it's charged to the environment or to the public purse in the form of subsidies. And it's charged to your health." You either pay a little more now for quality, healthy food or you pay later. In terms of healthy food, you get what you pay for in health and energy.

Why are Americans so fat and sick?
It's the quality of the food. For many fresh produce is hard to find but processed food is everywhere. If you eat mostly $1 burgers and super-size soda, your food may be cheap, but your health care expenses will far exceed what you save because cheap food is the recipe for obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Farm subsidies bring you high-fructose corn syrup in sodas and most cheap fast food, animal factories, monoculture, and a host of other contributors to our unhealthful contemporary diet.
Heart disease is a direct result of a poor diet. Heart disease costs Americans $189.4 billion every year and by 2030 that is expected to triple. ("Americans Eat the Cheapest Food in the World, But What is It Really Costing?" www.mercola.com April 14, 2012.)

When you spend more on healthy food, you're investing wisely in your most valuable asset…
More and more Americans are starting to demand more healthy foods. That means a little time in the kitchen and searching for restaurants that serve quality foods. It also means a change in mindset, and that can be challenging. 

People with a healthy mindset see empty, processed foods as…

• Excess calories that will hurt your body and contribute to obesity
• A mixture of chemicals and artificial flavors that could have side effects and lead to disease
• A waste of money
• An increase in health care
• Definitely not something to feed children, whose bodies are developing

Knowing that you're only putting only healthy food into your body may cost a little more, but then again it might not. And what it saves you in your overall health and energy is immeasurable.

ACTION STEPS: 

1. Instead of buying expensive cereal boxes, opt for breakfasts built on foods like eggs, fresh vegetables, raw fruit and yogurt.

2. Prepare meals at home instead of eating out.

3. Learn how your grandmother fed the family in generations past like using chicken to make stock for a pot of soup and extending a Sunday roast to use for weekday dinners. She made hearty stews from inexpensive cuts of meat, leftovers and so forth.

4. You can save by shopping once a week and planning a week's meals at a time.

5. Preparing meals once a week and having them ready for lunches and ready-to-heat-and-serve meals each evening can also save you time and money.

6. Eating a lunch prepared at home will typically be healthier and save you money. 

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