How Income Inequality Effects What We Eat

A week or so ago I wrote a short post about income inequality and it seems to be a sticky issue. This week I was reading an article about the "food divide" when I found more evidence of how income differences are effecting us here in America.

Among the lowest quintile of American families, mean household income has held relatively steady between $10,000 and $13,000 for the past two decades; among the highest, income has jumped 20 percent to $170,800... Whole Foods—the upscale grocery chain recently reported a 58 percent increase in its quarterly profits—while the number of Americans on food stamps has surged by 58.5 percent over the last three years.

The article Divided we Eat, was in the 11/22 edition of Newsweek, and you can read it on their website. The story is quite compelling, and basically outlines how wealthier people can afford to eat better than poor people (and by better, I mean healthier).

While food prices overall rose about 25 percent, the most nutritious foods (red peppers, raw oysters, spinach, mustard greens, romaine lettuce) rose 29 percent, while the least nutritious foods (white sugar, hard candy, jelly beans, and cola) rose just 16 percent.

This is probably not a surprise, but what is a surprise is how government programs reinforce the problem. There are also some creative solutions out there that local governments are coming up with to help, like making your food stamps worth more if you use them at a farmers market. Another interesting finding is how Americans think of food versus other countries, most notably France. If you have ever been to France you know they have quite an incredible foodie culture, but did you also know they all tend to eat lunch at exactly the same time (and they see it as a time for social interaction, not a time to provide nutrition):

In surveys, (researchers) found no single time of day (or night) when Americans predictably sit together and eat. By contrast, 54 percent of the French dine at 12:30 each day. Only 9.5 percent of the French are obese.

In case you are wondering, more than 30% of Americans and 17% of American children are obese. And obesity is more prevalent among the poor than the rich. The USDA found that people on food stamps are more likely to be obese than those who are not. One of my favorite food writers, Michael Pollan puts it in succinct terms, “Essentially, we have a system where wealthy farmers feed the poor crap and poor farmers feed the wealthy high-quality food.”

So, I will leave you with the most startling paragraph in the article, and the reason I can't stop thinking about income inequality:

According to studies led by British epidemiologist Kate Pickett, obesity rates are highest in developed countries with the greatest income disparities. America is among the most obese of nations; Japan, with its relatively low income inequality, is the thinnest.