Guest guest Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Apropos our recent discussion on whether or not a vegetarian diet is more expensive, these folks also hashed it out on this blog: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2006/new.you/blog/2006/02/does-living- healthier-cost-more.html -Erin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 I think that besides the financial side to this question there also is an educational and political aspect to this - I live in a moderately affluent area and there are fresh fruit and vegetables widely available. When I used to work in one of the more deprived areas of the city I had to always ensure that I took a packed lunch with me as the few pieces of fruit and vegetables that were available were far from fresh and in fact would have been removed from the shelves and thrown out where I live. Was the lack of choice and availablity because no-one bought them or did no one buy them because shops didn't stock them? I know that there have been successful initiatives selling subsidised fruit to children in schools in these areas to tempt them away from buying junk food snacks. I suspect that many of their parents don't know how to prepare anything other than junk food, because they have not been taught these skills. Any BOGOF or similar offers in the supermarket are always for junk foods, rarely for anything else. The food manufacturers have a huge influence in all this - they pay the farmers a pittance for their crops so that they can afford to sell their food at rock-bottom prices and get a higher market share and people are definitely seduced by the thought of getting something for nothing, not seeing the hidden cost behind buying this sort of food. I do also see people with plenty of money with shopping trolleys piled high with rubbish food, but they at least have a choice in terms of money, availability and in education. Christie , " cronzen " <truepatriot wrote: > > Apropos our recent discussion on whether or not a vegetarian diet > is more expensive, these folks also hashed it out on this blog: > > http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2006/new.you/blog/2006/02/does-living- > healthier-cost-more.html > > > -Erin > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 This seconds what I said earlier, thanks Christie. The chicken definitely came first in this scenario of real life, and it's up to us to put an end to it. It's but one of the vicious cycles of communities living in poverty, and communities who were raised in poverty. We live what we learn. There needs to be programs in these communities. I am so ignorant when it comes to political crappola, but tell me a way and I will lend a hand to help educate. I wish I knew how to start it. Blessings, Chanda - christie_0131 Tuesday, February 07, 2006 5:58 PM Re: the cost of healthy eating I think that besides the financial side to this question there also is an educational and political aspect to this - I live in a moderately affluent area and there are fresh fruit and vegetables widely available. When I used to work in one of the more deprived areas of the city I had to always ensure that I took a packed lunch with me as the few pieces of fruit and vegetables that were available were far from fresh and in fact would have been removed from the shelves and thrown out where I live. Was the lack of choice and availablity because no-one bought them or did no one buy them because shops didn't stock them? I know that there have been successful initiatives selling subsidised fruit to children in schools in these areas to tempt them away from buying junk food snacks. I suspect that many of their parents don't know how to prepare anything other than junk food, because they have not been taught these skills. Any BOGOF or similar offers in the supermarket are always for junk foods, rarely for anything else. The food manufacturers have a huge influence in all this - they pay the farmers a pittance for their crops so that they can afford to sell their food at rock-bottom prices and get a higher market share and people are definitely seduced by the thought of getting something for nothing, not seeing the hidden cost behind buying this sort of food. I do also see people with plenty of money with shopping trolleys piled high with rubbish food, but they at least have a choice in terms of money, availability and in education. Christie , " cronzen " <truepatriot wrote: > > Apropos our recent discussion on whether or not a vegetarian diet > is more expensive, these folks also hashed it out on this blog: > > http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2006/new.you/blog/2006/02/does-living- > healthier-cost-more.html > > > -Erin > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 I first went veggie cuz I couldn't afford meat (the classic starving student days) It's definitelty cheaper to eat healthy if you're a veggie my trade lists http://www.geocities.com/realshows my launch radio station http://launch./lc/?rt=0 & rp1=0 & rp2=1281193352 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 I wish I had an answer, Chanda. This is not my area of expertise. I guess we need to start by educating children to eat better. There has been quite a push here to get healthier food for children's school lunches, pioneered by a series of programmes by Jamie Oliver. It took quite a while for the children's tastebuds and prejudices (against " real " food) to get re-educated as they have become accustomed to lots of salt and artificial flavourings. Then you also need to educate the parents so that they learn what a healthy meal comprises. In Scotland, with European and lottery funding, various initiatives have been set up in deprived areas. These may be ones like " Barry Grub " (roughly translates as " good food " in local parlance) which tries to get healthy snacks into schools and to supply cheap fruit and veg in the neighbourhood. Then there are similarly funded women's groups which include classes on nutrition and cookery. There may well be more. Christie , " PuterWitch " <puterwitch wrote: > > This seconds what I said earlier, thanks Christie. > The chicken definitely came first in this scenario of real life, and it's up to us to put an end to it. > It's but one of the vicious cycles of communities living in poverty, and communities who were raised in poverty. We live what we learn. > > There needs to be programs in these communities. I am so ignorant when it comes to political crappola, but tell me a way and I will lend a hand to help educate. I wish I knew how to start it. > > Blessings, > Chanda > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 My $100/week shopping bill and I disagree, but we seem to be in the minority. -Erin , cd trader <realshows wrote: > > I first went veggie cuz I couldn't afford meat (the > classic starving student days) It's definitelty > cheaper to eat healthy if you're a veggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 I save about $20/wk now by not buying meat for the 6 of us, and we always ate cheap cuts. My husband buys it on occassion, I never do. I think the key is not to replace the meat with costly meat substitutes, but to only use those sparingly and concentrate on other foods mostly. I spend an average of $150/wk for the 6 of us and 4 animals. I used to spend $130, but I gave us another $20 recently. Meg cronzen wrote: > My $100/week shopping bill and I disagree, > but we seem to be in the minority. > > -Erin > > > , cd trader <realshows > wrote: > > > > I first went veggie cuz I couldn't afford meat (the > > classic starving student days) It's definitelty > > cheaper to eat healthy if you're a veggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 problem is, with children, if lunch isn't what they want,they just won't eat it, and wait till they get home to the snacks. ( - christie_0131 Wednesday, February 08, 2006 1:42 PM Re: the cost of healthy eating I wish I had an answer, Chanda. This is not my area of expertise. I guess we need to start by educating children to eat better. There has been quite a push here to get healthier food for children's school lunches, pioneered by a series of programmes by Jamie Oliver. It took quite a while for the children's tastebuds and prejudices (against " real " food) to get re-educated as they have become accustomed to lots of salt and artificial flavourings. Then you also need to educate the parents so that they learn what a healthy meal comprises. In Scotland, with European and lottery funding, various initiatives have been set up in deprived areas. These may be ones like " Barry Grub " (roughly translates as " good food " in local parlance) which tries to get healthy snacks into schools and to supply cheap fruit and veg in the neighbourhood. Then there are similarly funded women's groups which include classes on nutrition and cookery. There may well be more. Christie , " PuterWitch " <puterwitch wrote: > > This seconds what I said earlier, thanks Christie. > The chicken definitely came first in this scenario of real life, and it's up to us to put an end to it. > It's but one of the vicious cycles of communities living in poverty, and communities who were raised in poverty. We live what we learn. > > There needs to be programs in these communities. I am so ignorant when it comes to political crappola, but tell me a way and I will lend a hand to help educate. I wish I knew how to start it. > > Blessings, > Chanda > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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