Food prices vs nutrition

[SoCalDem]

Yesterday at Smart & Final, a THREE POUND box of frozen cod filets were $25.49.

The cheapest apples were $1.59 a pound. They DID have white grapes for 79 cents a pound, but they were not that great looking, and looked like they would not last very long unless they were eaten on Day ONE.

SIX slices of packaged swiss cheese? $3.99 (to be fair, the block of cheese was less expensive, but how many people really take the time to thinly slice a piece of cheese for a sandwich)..Kraft (artificial super-yellow) slices were $6.99 for a 3 lb box, but it's fakey & salty..

a 20 lb bag of decent sized potatoes were $8.99, (does anyone else still make their own french fries?) We like the big potatoes because we bake them and split one between the two of us, and they make much better fries when they are not teensy potatoes.

Cereal was relatively cheap, as were eggs $1.39 for an 18-ct pkg of large eggs.

Bread with any substance to it was at least $2.50 a loaf

Lunch meats were a bargain, as were hot dogs & the 80-20 ground beef (yuk)

Soda pop was on sale, as were most packages of cookies & chips.

Pasta was cheap..the cheapest brand was $99 a package (12-16 oz pkgs)

Frozen burritos ...bargain-time

Nutrition costs money, and money is something that poor people don't have much of. Many of the children of poor people fend for themselves at meal times, if the parent(s) are off at whatever odd jobs they can find.

It's easier, faster & often cheaper to fill a belly with pasta & snacks & sugary drinks.

If a family has 3 or 4 hungry adolescents/teens, it's no surprise that many of them are eating quantity over quality.

[Warpy]

1. Meat, dairy, and eggs are all subsidized

as are processed food producers and corn growers.

Fresh fruit and veggie growers are not subsidized.

You want more of something, subsidize it. You want less of something, allow the invisible free market hand fairy to take over.

The one thing I missed most when I was poorest was fruit. A jar of applesauce was a luxury and lasted weeks.

[tridim]

2. Apple prices have really been pissing me off lately

It costs about $8.00 to fill one pie. $2.00 more than an entire frozen processed apple pie.

That's not right.

[SoCalDem]

3. Just the way "Sara Lee" & "Mrs Smith" like it

:)

[tridim]

5. Yep, but I do want to know why bananas are $0.45/lb

and apples are $1.60/lb

Are apples really that much harder to grow and ship than bananas? Somehow I doubt it.

[SoCalDem]

7. Banana-monopoly & orchard land being sold off for houses

Every time I look at my back yard, I kick myself for not planting fruit trees in 1982 when we moved here:grr:

[Retrograde]

13. It's not apple season in many parts of the world right now

so what you're getting now includes the cost of storage and/or shipping from the southern hemisphere. Also, apples come from temperate climates where labor tends to be more expensive than in the tropics, where bananas grow. Throw in subsidies to banana growers, protective tariffs, etc. and the prices go up. Plus, as another poster pointed out, orchards are disappearing: California's apple growing region is too close to wine country to resist the higher prices (at least in the short run) farmers might get by chopping down trees and putting in vines.

[LaurenG]

4. The "real" food prices you are quoting seem really high

$9 for 20# of potatoes? :wow: No wonder America eats junk, it seems less expensive.

It's not quite as bad in Ohio.

http://meijer.shoplocal.com/meijer/default.aspx?action=entryflash&storeref=240

[SoCalDem]

6. To be fair... these are "restaurant-grade" large, blemish-free Idaho bakers

but I prefer to pay the price & not have rubbery marble-sized potatoes:)

[LaurenG]

8. That makes me feel a little better

I hate rubbery potatoes. :)

[Paper Roses]

11. I believe the price on Potatoes. I like Maine spuds.

If they are not available, I'll go for PEI or NJ potatoes. When I looked last week at the offerings, I was shocked at the prices of Idaho's and other regional potatoes. $5.00 five pound bag? $3.99 for 3 pounds. No Maine, PEI or NJ offerings.

My New England background allows me to buy only the spuds from our neck of the woods. I did not buy any at all.

Come on folks, these are potatoes, not asparagus or artichokes or other more exotic veggies.

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. I think you're conflating "wholesome" with "nutritious"

Cheerios is actually one of the most nutritious foods you can buy. Far more so than a cod fillet, and contains a hell of a lot less mercury.

[nenagh]

10. Never before have I tried cooking those white kidney beans before..

But tried them in a slow cooker

I'm 65 now, and wish I had tried them before..

Hope someone else on a smaller budget tries them... b/c beans are filled with protein.. and after the soaking and cooking.. no tummy problems at all :)

after adding onions, tomatoes, and the magic ingredients molasses, tumeric, thyme, and shredded ginger.. yummy.

[SoCalDem]

12. I cook Great Northern beans a lot

Makes a great big pot of beans and super cheap:

1 minced onion

2 lbs (dry) white beans soaked overnight (and rinsed well)

2 or 3 smoked hamhocks or a hambone

6-8 large carrots (pureed/finely minced in a food processor)

cover beans with fresh cold water add all the rest ..cover & simmer for a very long time..I do add some butter for flavor (I know:(..)

I remove the hamhocks & usually add some diced ham to each bowl as I serve it

[Ratty]

14. I'll have to try that

I love beans and eat a LOT of vegetarian chili. But every time I've tried to cook white beans without a hamhock in it they've turned out boring and bland. Don't get me wrong, I think a little hamhock for flavor won't hurt anybody but sometimes I cook for certain people who disagree. I'm going to try your ingredients.