One question that is often asked today is “Why is high quality, healthy food so expensive?” It’s a very fair question! After all, food costs have been sharply increasing for more than a decade and some families spend as much, if not more, on their grocery bill each month as they do on their housing. That’s a lot of money! Very few of us have enough money that we can simply buy whatever we want, whenever we want, and feel no financial pinch.
Young families have lamented that they feel forced to use their grocery budget to buy a greater volume of lower quality foods because “it makes more meals” than if they buy higher quality foods. To buy higher quality foods means they are concerned that there will not be enough to feed the family, and that is frightening. I can really appreciate this concern.
An example that I’ve shared with some young families is this: Years ago when our children were small my husband’s line of work was very unpredictable. We were really pinching every penny to make it through each month! One of the things I decided to do was to start making bread instead of buying it. At first it was a financial necessity, but at some point we realized that we preferred homemade bread over store-bought bread. The times I’d buy bread our family wouldn’t be satisfied with their toast or sandwiches and often felt like they needed to eat more just to feel full. This solidified my opinion that homemade bread is more than just a good financial decision because it cost less to make and we needed to eat less of it to feel full, it’s also a good health decision because I know that my family is eating quality ingredients. It was a win on several fronts. Once I got the hang of this concept, learning to make more meals from the food I had was a delightful way to make our food dollars really stretch into good healthy meals.
I’ve learned a few things about cheap food:
~ The business model of industrial agriculture has placed the dollar as the ultimate bottom line. While this is necessary for any business small family farmers have very different values.
~ Low quality foods (mass-produced processed foods) may have a greater volume on your plate but your body will need more of it to feel satiated. I believe this is why our standard portion sizes have grown so much over the years. There is even talk of our populations being malnourished because we aren’t getting the quality nutrition we require from our “Standard American Diet”.
~ Prepackaged and fast foods are convenient and have been on the market for so long that a great many people simply do not know how to cook anymore. Many people are intimidated by their kitchens and simply don’t feel comfortable trying something new.
Let’s tackle the first item listed above and save the next two for a later post. I’ve talked with people who say, “I can get chicken at the discount store for 99¢ per pound, why on earth would I buy chicken from you for $5 per pound?” This is a good question! Continue reading →
Our previous post talked about industrial factory farms looking for creative ways to reduce their production costs including using ingredients such as junk food and food waste when raising animals for consumption. We determined that “cheap inputs and a higher volume means a lower end price” and that industrial factory farms can bring in their materials at prices that are not available to small family farms.
Tikkun Homestead 