Why Is Good Food So Expensive? Part 2

In our last post we cited three suggestions as to why it feel like good food is a burden on our budgets:

~ 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.

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.

Today though let’s focus on the second two suggestions in our original list:  Our need to eat more of the cheap food in order to feel full, and intimidation of food preparation.