Preaching to the choir

This morning, I spent $110 on food at the grocery store.  Just for myself.  I didn't buy an exorbitant amount of food, either.  Maybe enough to get me through two weeks.  Is it any wonder why we have an obesity epidemic and diabetes cases are on the rise?  My grocery bill is that high because I put a premium on buying natural, healthy foods.  I buy 96% lean ground beef, which costs about $5.25 a pound.  I spend extra to buy chicken and eggs that come from animals who are only grain-fed, never eating animal by-products.  I spent several minutes reading the label on every package of whole wheat bread, finally buying the one with the lowest sodium content, regardless of price.  I load up on fresh vegetables and berries, never buying frozen or canned.  I do buy the occasional can of soup, but I only buy the $2 cans, never the cheap cans because I don't want to add that much sodium to my daily intake.  (Seriously, reading the sodium content on packaged foods makes my heart hurt.)

I can afford to shop this way.  I have only myself to feed and I make a pretty good salary.  But if I had a kid or two, if I made less money than I do, I would have to alter my purchases.  There are a lot of people in this country who make half what I do (or less) and have children.  Most people just can't afford to be as picky as I can and have to compromise on items with more sodium or fat or preservatives and less nutritional value.  When I was a poor secretary just out of college, I ate more than my fair share of $.08 ramen packages and cans of canned ravioli because I could only afford to spend $20 a week on food.  I can't even imagine what my diet would have looked like if I'd had to feed a kid as well.

While I'm thankful that I am lucky in this respect now, I can't help but be angered by how expensive it can be to eat well.  Healthy food should not be a luxury item.