Food, Survival, and Thriving

"All businesses must be mindful of how operating costs affect the bottom line, and food companies may be under a greater burden than most, since American grocery shoppers and fast-food eaters have become deeply attached to the idea of inexpensive food. The amount we pay for our food has declined dramatically over the last six decades, from 20.5 percent of disposable income in 1950 to now 9.8 percent." (Pandora's Lunchbox, Melanie Warner, p.6)

I have begun reading Pandora's Lunchbox this week, and when I read the above statement towards the beginning of the book, I did a double-take and read it again. Then again, and then one more time just for good measure. I had been assuming that spending more on groceries was a new struggle we had due to our fast paced culture, inflation, food shortages - any number of factors really. What I realized even more in my reading this week was how our culture has shifted to come firmly behind the idea that food should be cheap and easy all the time, and that spending more money on food must mean there is a problem.

I am not a stranger to researching and learning how the fast-food industry has changed our cultural expectations for meals, having read books such as Fast Food Nation, among many others. Nor am I a stranger to understanding the role of processed food and preservatives in disease causation, and the role of exercise and nutrition for disease prevention, having paid handsomely to be able to have the title of "Master of Science" appear behind my name as an Exercise Physiologist. But what I had never thought of before was that perhaps my expectations for the amount of money I spent on food were unrealistic. 

My husband and I spend approximately 20% of our annual income on groceries in our attempt to have quality nutrition at every meal. We have continued to do this even though we now live on 1/2 the income we did when we were first married. I had always thought this was in part due to the fact that groceries were "just so expensive," and often felt frustrated about spending so much money on quality foods. But now, after reading further in Pandora's Lunchbox, it appears that even as recently as six decades ago, spending 20% of your annual income on food was considered normal.

Hmmm... Now I don't feel as bad...

And really, if you think about it, doesn't this make sense? Why do we want our food sources to be "cheap" and "inexpensive" when that is the main thing that keeps us alive? If food is cheap and inexpensive all the time, it means that it's been mass produced, processed, chemically altered, and not real food in the same sense that a chicken breast or a sweet potato is a real (and recognizable) food.

So now...I'm going to keep moving forward with my same convictions and purchasing real, quality food, but this time without any frustration associated with doing so. My hope in writing this particular entry is to encourage you to do the same, and feel good about buying the quality food that you need to survive. 

No, not just survive, but thrive in your health, and feel better than you ever have before!