In this blog, we often remind people to “celebrate their choices” when it comes to purchasing fruits and vegetables. It seems that most of us enjoy a plethora of options – organic, local, conventionally grown purchased at our favorite local grocer, warehouse store, farmers’ market or CSA. Then you read today’s Washington Post blog concerning a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) which found that America's wealthiest people are eating better, while its poorest are eating worse. And you realize what a luxury it is to have such a wide variety of choices.
This study measured the quality of diets among American adults between 1999 and 2010. Among the findings: "Socioeconomic status was associated strongly with dietary quality, and the gaps in dietary quality between higher and lower SES [socioeconomic status] widened over time."
"Price is a major determinant of food choice, and healthful foods generally cost more than unhealthful foods in the United States," the study said. “A significant portion of the U.S. population has enough trouble feeding itself any food with 15 percent of the U.S. population and 17 percent of U.S. households categorized as food ‘insecure,’ according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which means that they occasionally run out of money for food, or food entirely.”
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Alliance for Food and Farming