On "Obesity"

I was reading a forums area for one of the games that I play during downtime. They brought up a new law passed in California that meals have to meet certain nutritional requirements before they can include a toy with them. That of course spurred on the discussion of obesity. While listening to the back and forth about horrible parents that don't control what their kids are eating, I had to sit back and think about it for a moment.

When I was younger, I was taught that everything is not only healthier for you, but cheaper as well, if you make it from scratch. As an adult, I learned that yes, it is healthier for you but not cheaper!

For example, let's look at Macaroni and Cheese. Growing up, this was a favorite. It really does taste best home made, so let's look at that first.

Elbow noodles for four to six servings - about 69 cents. Not too bad.
Cheddar cheese - (not that Velveeta crap!) Two cups of cheddar cheese runs about $1.50 if you buy it blocked and shred it, or about 2.70 if you buy it preshredded.
Swiss Cheese - one cup, same as above (Since you have to buy the full amount just to shave off what you need.)
Butter - $2.69 per pound. We need about 1/4 cup. so about 67 cents
Milk - $3.80 per gallon, you need about a cup or so so about 50 cents.
If you add in ham, or tomatoes, or anything else, add that in to your cost. This also isn't including in spices or herbs either.


Okay, so just for the basic recipe we're looking at spending $4.86.

Now, buy a box of mac and cheese for 33 cents (67 for the name brand stuff.) Quarter cup of butter, quarter cup of milk. Your cost is now just $1.50.

Now I could sit here and type in example after example of how it's cheaper to buy the processed, pre-prepared crap than it is to make stuff home made here. The smaller your family is, the cheaper it is to purchase the prepackaged crap.

Now, is it really any surprise here that we have a bit of an obesity problem within our nation? I can buy hamburger helper, store brand, and feed my family on $3.50. OR, I can make it all from scratch and spend $3.00 on the hamburger meat alone. 69 cents for noodles, then we need to add in the veggies, etc...

Or, I can buy a huge can of Chef Boyardee ravioli for $1.69, and feed everyone. (That has two full servings of veggies in it these days!) Or, I can buy the hamburger meat at $3.00, the flour, eggs and such for the noodles, another $2.00, the veggies for the sauce, another $3.00. (Actually more, but I'm feeling generous) and the herbs and spices to make it taste good at whatever cost those are. $8.00 to make the same damned thing that I can buy already made for $1.69!

We're now at a spot where we can afford $10.00 per meal for the entire family. But, when you look at the fact that most of the country can't even afford healthcare, do you really think they can afford to spend so much to make full meals from scratch?

Can of green beans 48 cents. 1 pound of fresh green beans, enough to feed 4, $1.39! Can of tomatoes- 32 cents. One pound of tomatoes, 72 cents, for the cheap ones! Chicken Noodle Soup with veggies, around $2.00. It costs more than that just for the chicken! One 12 can of chicken, 1.28. One fresh chicken, $2.50. Yes, the chicken says it weighs more, but take off the fat, the bones, the grissle, and you have about a pound of meat there.

Ham lunchmeat, $1.50. Fresh uncooked ham, UNCOOKED, $1.69 PER POUND.

Look in your pantry yourself and in your freezer. I know you don't buy canned veggies because they taste better. So why did you buy them? You didn't buy that chicken noodle soup because it rocks your world. And it really doesn't take that much longer to make it from scratch. So why is it there? The mac n cheese? Does it really taste better than home made? What about that can of chilli, or the sloppy joe sauce?

Let's move on to beverages!

One gallon of Tampico orange drink (1% juice, 100% vitamin C, and more sugar than a can of soda.) $1.50
1 can of frozen juice, which is more sugar syrup than juice, just as much sugar as Tampico, 100% vitamin C, also around $1.50. Mix with water and YUM! (or so they say.)
Assorted tin flavored canned juices in your juice aisle, 1.79 to 2.25.
1 Quart of juice in a bottle, cheap stuff, $1.99. One quart of juice, expensive, up to $2.90.
5 pound bag of oranges to squeeze yourself, 100% vitamin C, no added sugar or crap, $4.00. You'll be lucky to get half a quart of juice from it.

Snacks anyone?

1 pound of peanuts, $4.29. Let's be nice. $3.50.
One pound bag of potato chips? 99 cents.
1 16 ounce container of yogurt - $3.30
12 snack packs of pudding? $2.50
1 pear (just one here) 79 cents
1 snack pack of canned pears? 79 cents. (gee, one person gets one pear one time, or there are four servings of canned pears.)

The point of this absurdly long blog entry is merely to point out that obesity is caused by not eating properly. Everyone knows that fresh foods, and foods that are made from scratch, are a thousand times healtheir. But here's the kicker here. It is cheaper to buy the crap than it is to buy fresh foods. It's the new norm to buy the processed junk than it is to buy the fresh and make it ourselves. Even resteraunts now use the crap.

Is this really something we can do anything about? No. We can't change the prices on everything. Packaged food manufacturers often own their own farms or pay lower prices for ingrediants because they do buy them in such huge amounts.

But there you have it. The real cause of obesity in America. If you want to cure the epidemic, then pull out the wallet because it's gonna cost ya!