In This Economy, Everyone Has to Eat It

Unhappy meal

Tough economic times can impact all levels of your life.  Not only are many stressing about keeping their job or struggling to pay the rent or mortgage, but even day to day concerns like the food we eat present a layered challenge.  While there are many for whom the challenge remains putting food on the table, the rest of us face the increasingly daunting task of eating healthy at a time when cost and time constraints, coupled with the stress of worry, make it that much harder.

From Newsweek-- The Economics of Eating:

Living off a dollar menu may save you money now, but you'll pay for it in the long run:

Lean times lead to bad diets. Bad diets lead to obesity. And obesity leads to diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illnesses—not now, but sometime later in life, when today's recession is a memory but Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers are still groaning under its weight. "People are eating cheaper, more fattening foods; care is more difficult to find; and as a result we're going to have more and more people presenting at a later stage of the disease process," says Roslin. "If you're concerned about paying your rent and making ends meet, it's very hard to think about the future implications of diabetes and other illnesses."

Of course, even in flush times we face a smorgasbord of bad choices that are cheap easy and plentiful.  But a bad economy can make that worse:

But one of the most insidious health effects of a downturn is in the area of diet. Eating healthily can be expensive and time-consuming—two qualities Americans currently have little appetite for. Hitting up the drive-through is cheap, no-hassle and easy to rationalize; those off-the-charts levels of fat, sodium and sugar feel like they can be dealt with in better days. Owing in part to psychology like this (lower fuel costs helped too), McDonald's Corp. this week announced that it has defied the worldwide economic downturn, posting a first-quarter profit of $980 million, up percent from last year. Burger King's most recent U.S. sales figures were also up 1.6 percent, according to the chain.

Of course it's not a "happy" meal if it will eventually kill you.  So add food and health to the list of major impacts this recession brings home.  But it also may provide an opportunity to finally do something about the public health issue that processed fast food presents.  If you're interested in the politics and policy behind food, check out Recipe for America.  Change can be slow, but as we reevaluate the role of government and the safety net so many depend on these day, it's worth looking at the root of the problem.