The economy is recovering after falling a couple of years ago back. But it seems that people today have still not learned the tricks of the trade when it comes to eating and health.
When crisis struck the economy, admit it, majority of the citizens have been clinging on to junk foods, packed foods, and fast foods for a period of time. This is the time when healthy whole foods meant danger to the budget. To the people who belong to the high-income generating group, this is a scary idea, yet they can afford to purchase their wants as long they satisfy their needs. If the crisis was difficult for this group, what about those who are in the middle waged category, more so for those who earns lower than that? Processed/packaged, junk foods, and fast foods became their surviving trend, well, for most. These foods are a lot cheaper in selling price than the regular whole and healthy foods sold in the market today. People see two reasons for this cause. One is that the government may have provided more financial aid in the agribusinesses.
This event led to cheaper production and marketing of the food ingredients under more commercial and business ventures such as corn, wheat, and soy beans. But this is not the only thing that people see in this situation. As much as people do not want to disregard healthy foods, they became more expensive to their budget. Because of what happened to the economy, citizens, especially, breadwinners would definitely find ways to feed their families, even resulting to patronizing inexpensive, but not necessarily healthy food products. For some, it is not a choice to live unhealthily, but a choice for economic reasons. While there are others who can’t afford to buy healthy food products in the market, there are also those who can afford healthy options but instead, spend money on the latest gadgets and mostly things which are up for grabs in the technology department. It somehow upgrades their economic status but other aspects of their life are compromised, such as health.
Healthy foods are cheap, but somehow, fast foods, junks, and packaged foods are cheaper. Aside from subsidies that the products get, what makes them cheaper than healthy products is the fact that they do not contain all necessary nutritional values that a person needs. A person needs a complete set of nutritional elements for them to be able to function well in his/her body, and foods such as these cannot provide them all. This is what differs healthy whole foods from unhealthy products, most of which do not contain all the necessary nutrients for the well-being of a person. Another thing that keeps people away from healthy foods is the energy and time it takes to prepare a healthy meal. People nowadays are working outside their homes, which includes former stay-at-home mothers. Aside from the work they have in the office or careers, they also have responsibilities to their families when they come home. This includes worrying about what to prepare for the meals, grocery shopping, preparing, cooking, and even dish washing and stuff. Healthy foods are often available in raw and whole items. This means more labor is needed to be able to successfully finish a single meal. It causes exhaustion on the part of the person who prepares and cooks the food for the family. Thus, a drive to the nearest fast food chain or buying packed items and precooked foods would make their lives much easier.
Unhealthy foods may be cheaper in costs, but it does not count the expenses you will be facing once your nutritional values go down because of the unnecessary elements you get from these foods. Fast foods are high in fat, sodium, and calories. We all know what will happen to you if you take more than the allowed amount of these elements. It will only cause you a lot of health problems; it may not be now, but maybe in the future. This is what most people are not getting. The secret to being healthy is eating healthy foods and living a healthy and active lifestyle. Medicines can supply you with elements and such, but without food, medications will be nothing. It can only provide you energy and strength for a period of time, but if you manage to keep control of what you eat, you can prevent the rise of any health problems in the future.
Providing healthy meals depends on what your priority is. The government should be responsible in advocating what is healthy and stop what is detrimental to the people’s health. But people should also know their priorities, if it is for the short-term, or, for their long-term goals.