The Challenges of Eating Healthy in Poverty



            Food, to be super simplistic and blunt, is amazing. It may be a need we all have but darn if isn’t an enjoyable one. How can it not be when the very chemistry of our bodies rewards us with things like taste and happiness for even that completely inadvisable midnight snack? It’s no secret that the junkier the food you eat, the more you crave that kind of junk but the enjoyment of that kind of eating is always mitigated a bit by the understanding that these behaviors aren’t good for us. Try and think of the last time that you ate too much pizza and thought “wow I’m really doing myself a favor health wise here.” It can’t be done. We are cursed to understand on some intrinsic level that there is a difference between eating well and satisfying a craving. But despite this understanding, it can be challenging to eat healthily in the best of circumstances, let alone anywhere in relation to the poverty line.
For starters healthier foods can be an expensive investment. Substituting in healthier options as just a preliminary step towards improving one’s diet can add up to on average an additional $1.50 a day. While that may seem miniscule in the short term, consider that that adds up to roughly $550 difference a year, a much more significant toll on certain families. When faced with these realities families often change the priorities of their diets from what is most nutritious to what is the most caloric bang for their buck. This was no surprise to Elaine Livas, who operates and runs a food pantry called Project SHARE. "A gallon of milk is $3-something. A bottle of orange soda is 89 cents. Do the math."
Another issue boils down to simple convenience. Despite its awful nutritional value, junk food and sugar being noticeably correlated with ailments like obesity and heart failure, there are certain practical benefits of junk. In terms of a quick to prepare or readymade meal, there isn’t anything easier than simply grabbing some chips or a doubt. No one is eager after a long day of work to fire up the stove, and if your brain is craving those easy calorie bombs it can be increasingly difficult to say no and choose a better option. But it’s important to do so. We need to understand our food and what we put into our bodies, and it’s just common sense that eating healthier can help make you healthier. Ultimately biting the bullet and eating well is an investment in yourself. The price and effort to eat healthy can be daunting, but doing so can cut down significantly on other preventable health care related costs, and free up families from far greater problems down the road.
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