my article weighs the value we get from a meal choice and considers the time cost as well.

The True Cost of a Meal: Nutrition, Dollars… and Time?

It is education and lifestyle choices that will ultimately change people’s health outcomes.

I read the Omnivore’s Dilemma and started to look at how pervasive corn is in our ‘natural’ bath and body products.

My company makes castile soap and I have created a video called ” Are You Washing With Corn”- view http://mountainskysoap.com/corn.php

People have to make choices as to what they buy, as that will drive the market, their health and the planet’s overall sustainability.

You are correct “…what we eat will create effects on our blood sugar and brain chemistry and lead to false senses of hunger…”

* Simple carbs have a negative affect on blood sugar.
* Trans fats make you feel hungry among other bad things.

So while it’s true that calories in/calories out is the formula for weight loss/gain/stabilization, it must be stressed that eating the right foods is very important also. There are lots of unhealthy skinny people walking the earth.

I for a kind of bad-food tax that makes the bad foods at least subsidize the good ones. I know it would be difficult to make a perfect bad-food tax, but anything would be better than what we have now.

Maybe it’s just me, but I find farmers’ markets a decent place to save a dollar or two.

We’ve been thinking of getting a CSA shipment as well. In fact it’s just Laziness that we haven’t.

Here is an interview from about 10 years ago. Read his (expert) thoughts on food production.
http://www.reason.com/news/show/27665.html

Reduce calories=>reduce bodyfat=>improve health=>reduce healthcare-related expenses. Improved health should lead to a better quality of life and improved job performance.

You can believe what you wish, but you are flat out wrong about Organic foods. They are NO MORE nutritionally valuable than any typical non-organic version of the same food.

This is a widely believed myth. Organic foods simply are not “better” nutritionally. That is not to say they do not have other perceived benefits. Extra nutrition is simply not one of them.

So yes calories in/calories out is true in that it doesn’t matter whether those are fats, carbs or proteins, but the real trick is to eat one percent less than you consume on a longer term basis, and is what everyone finds so difficult.

Lastly it is true that science has formulated modern processed foods to push all the buttons evolution has given us over thousands of years, but there is still flexibility there. That’s why the apple that may be unappealing while full, may taste much better when one is hungry. And getting unused to super high calorie foods can be done over time.

Akb, I agree. I have a fantasy that Congress will reverse USDA’s subsidy scheme. Commodity crops out – fruits and veggies in. That would go a long way in making fruits and veggies cheaper and processed food more pricey. I work in ag, most farmers just want to grow crops and make a decent living. With a little warning of the change, I think they’d get right on board.

So let me get this straight…you’re claiming that organic produce precludes using irrigation or damming rivers or large farms? That’s interesting, I’ve never once seen anyone attempt to claim that before.

How much would it cost to restore all the topsoil, sucked of all its nutrients and turned to blowing dust or polluted with salts by repeated re-use of irrigation water?

Have you ever been on a farm? What exactly do you think they look like?? This comment just doesn’t make any sense?

What’s the sum total of environmental damage caused by soaking petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers?

You tell us — what exactly IS the damage?

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/79/1/6.pdf

If all the externalities were priced in to the cost of processed foods and large-scale agriculture, I think the cost comparison would change dramatically.

What’s the cost of restoring a depleted aquifer, drained by irrigating huge monocultural fields? Or the loss of habitat for wildlife and fish, cause by damming rivers? How much would it cost to restore all the topsoil, sucked of all its nutrients and turned to blowing dust or polluted with salts by repeated re-use of irrigation water? What’s the sum total of environmental damage caused by soaking petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers?

It’s not so much that these things are “bad.” It’s that there’s no price signal to incentive behaviors that avoid the massive and long-term depletion of resources.

2. Every diet should consist of the correct amounts of fat, protein and carbs (fruits and veggies fit in the carb category).

Eating fat does not make you fat.
Eating carbs do not make you fat
Consuming more calories than your body can burn MAKES YOU FAT!

Spend the extra money it takes to live a healthy life. It will help to lower your health care costs as you get older.

All you need to know about weight loss

If you are concerned about cost, start with eating less. I am always puzzled by diet commercials that say “lose 20 pounds for only fifty dollars,” when losing weght will save money if one simply eats less. The other economiser is, eat food you prepare yourself. It costs less and is almost always healthier.

Lastly, the health benefits of fruits and veggies is enormous. They contain almost none of the bad fats that cause so many diseases. Their sugar absorption is slowed by the fiber they contain. Also, they contains lots of water and fiber which makes them satisfying if you don’t let yourself become too accustomed to eating unhealthier food.

Worry less about doctor bills, than what is is like to have your quality of life destroyed by poor health.

As far as organic is concerned, the current recommendations from pediatricians regarding organic versus pesticide/herbicide foods is that if you are on a limited budget you don’t have to buy everything organic. Stick to the foods that it makes a big difference with: ketchup (because kids eat a lot of it) and strawberries and other berries because the herbicides/pesticides can soak in to the fruit. Fruits with thick rinds aren’t as permeable to the chemicals so they aren’t as much of a concern. However, we like to go without the chemicals as much as our budget will allow.

Or am I missing something?

Alan, you can obviously choose to embrace whatever beliefs you want, but where’s the evidence?

Nobody in the entire world is going to dispute that vegetables are better for you than processed foodstuffs. Nobody in the entire world is going to dispute that FRESH vegetables generally taste better than unripe, non-fresh vegetables. But where is the evidence that organic food is more nutritious as you claim?

I know you think that “agribusiness” is a big evil entity, but who do you think grows most of the organic food in America (or in China, since a large percentage of organic food is grown in China)?

If livestock are involved, they must be reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones, and generally fed a healthy diet.

So far no scientific evidence supports the idea of organic fruit, vegetables and meat are more nutritious than other food. The main reason or benefit of choosing organic food over conventional food is that it contains less esticides, insecticides ,herbicides and growth hormones in the food we consume, which will defenitely benefit us in the long-run.