Expert Says: Make Healthy Fast Food Affordable
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA 
on 09.13.07
Let's face it, as much as we kvetch about them, fast-food chains and their destructive, polluting ways, aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
But although fast food retailers are providing healthier food options, Nancy Childs, professor of food marketing at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, says that they aren’t providing them in a cost-effective way.
Because research has demonstrated a correlation between higher rates of obesity and low-income neighborhoods, Childs wants to see an improvement in this population's access to healthful food. “When you have a $4 salad and $1 whopper, you’re not making food accessible to people of particular socioeconomic circumstances,” she says.
Is Childs spot on, or is this a band-aid solution or misdiagnosis? We'll let our erudite readers weigh in on this one. ::Newswise
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Spot On! Since when should a few measley leaves and two cherry tomatoes cost more than BEEF? Or should we be asking what is in those $1 burgers??? How subsidized is the sugar in those white buns?
I think that the ultimate problem is that too many people are looking for their meals in fast food joints rather than in groceries. Hey, I do it myself sometimes so I know all about the temptation. But I've found that if I go to a grocery store and spend the same amount of money I can get a lot more food. I can get a few lunches worth of bread and coldcuts for the cost of a whopper and have more control over the fat content of my food or I can hit the produce aisle and grab some fruits and veggies that are easy to eat raw. It occured to me recently that when I'm on vacation I save money by doing a lot of my eating out of the grocery store rather than restaurants but I don't follow the same advice as much as I should when I'm at home.
I completely agree. My husband and I were having this argument yesterday. If you can't afford to buy healthy food then it isn't available to you so you can eat it it doesn't matter how much you want to.
So, what three things correlate?
1) Unhealthy food
2) Obesity
3) Poverty
But healthy food (not just organic) needs to be made:
1) Less and less expensive
and
2) More and more popular
especially in:
*** Restaurants of all kinds ***