Eat Well, Spend More

When I was growing up, the majority of the time we enjoyed home cooked meals. It was rare that we ate out, and there was no such thing as frozen food in our house. My mother, who spent the first 22 years of her life in a small town where everyone grew their own food and prepared everything from scratch, wouldn�t dream of serving processed food.

Anyhow.

Because these eating habits were such a huge part of my upbringing, three things happened when I left home:

1) Although I enjoy an occasional outing to a restaurant, there�s only so much of that I can handle before it sickens me. The taste of restaurant food just isn�t the same as a home cooked meal, especially home cooked meals that include fresh ingredients.

2) Aside from some frozen pizza, some of which isn�t all that bad, I really dislike the taste of frozen food that you buy at the supermarket. The few times that I�ve eaten it, it just sat in my stomach like a ton of bricks, my body refusing to digest.

3) I enjoy cooking. I spend a lot of time searching for interesting recipes on the internet, and I have a couple of shelves worth of cookbooks, some of which have become tattered from overuse.

Anyhow.

All this to say that I generally cook up a storm each week because I enjoy preparing meals and because it�s the absolute best way for the whole family to eat healthy since I have control over the ingredients that go into our food.

Well.

This is all fine and dandy, especially after reading this week that overweight and obesity rates have skyrocketed and that this is becoming a global epidemic. And because this has become such a hot topic, everyone has something to say about it. Blah, blah, blah. Magazines, books, newspapers, TV commercials, government bureaucrats, actors, etc, etc; it seems that every expert (sometimes self-proclaimed) is preaching about how we should eat healthy food and get off my butts. And of course, let�s not forget all the companies that are aggressively peddling their �low fat�, �lean� and �sugar-free� products. If you live in city, I don�t think you can walk a block without being bombarded by some type of advertising geared towards this �epidemic�.


Okay, we get the message. We understand that we should eat healthy food and do some kind of physical exercise. And many of us live that type of lifestyle, to the best of our ability.

But.

(And here is where I insert my two cents worth of a rant)

Has anyone noticed that the healthier the food, the more expensive it is? For example, I always make an effort to buy lean meats, which are less fatty and more nutritious. But sometimes I don�t. And you know why? Because they�re often too pricey. And like many other people that work with a grocery budget, unless this type of meat is on sale, I can�t have it. The same is true of fresh fruits and vegetables, and of quality fish and whole grain breads. And don�t get me started on the inflated prices of low-fat versions of common products such as mayonnaise, cream cheese, cottage cheese, jam and so on.

I guess what I�m trying to say is that there is a whole lot of preaching going on about the �right� kinds of food we should be eating. But one thing no one ever mentions is that when you do start buying higher quality food, your grocery bill will rise. And this, unfortunately, is something many people just can�t afford to do.

Eating right should not cost more. Damn it.

(End of rant)

What do you guys think?