You Are What You Eat, The Complexities of Hunger

I don't know if it is because I am from New York or just because I like their writing, but I read The News York Times nearly every day. Through the wonders of technology, I get to read it on my Palm Pilot at the kitchen table over breakfast. Their were two articles this week that caught me attention and they were both about food. I usually hesitate to post NYT article links on the weblog because you need to sign up at the Times website to read them. But, it is free and if you sign up now, you can read more links I will post in the future.

Here is an excerpt from the first article entitled "You Are What You Grow "

A few years ago, an obesity researcher at the University of Washington named Adam Drewnowski ventured into the supermarket to solve a mystery. He wanted to figure out why it is that the most reliable predictor of obesity in America today is a person’s wealth. For most of history, after all, the poor have typically suffered from a shortage of calories, not a surfeit. So how is it that today the people with the least amount of money to spend on food are the ones most likely to be overweight?

The simple answer is that processed, high fat, junk foods are much cheaper, per calorie than the fresh, healthy foods. Which means, if you are eating on a budget, it is cheaper to eat badly and get fat. My wife and I have talked about this before. When we try to eat right, our grocery bill goes through the roof. We have the choice of making budget decisions to still eat well, but if we were living in poverty the decision would be much more difficult.

The reasoning behind all of this is more complicated and contained in the article. Give it a read:

You Are What You Grow

The other article that drew my interest is on international food aid. (I know, a riveting topic, but this is the sort of thing that interests me.) The reason I draw your attention to this article is simply that it shows how amazingly complex feeding the hungry can be especially on a global basis. It is a wonderful glimpse into government agencies, non-government agencies, American farmers, farmers in poor countries and how the whole mix works together to find the most efficient (and sometimes the most inefficient) ways to feed people who are starving. It was interesting to read of a group that, in order to me more efficient, raises crops and animals in America, sells them here and then sends the money to developing nations to grow their own food.

You can read the article here:

Bush Administration Gains Support for New Approach on Food Aid

peace,

will