Why is it so easy and cheap to eat junk food, yet so expensive to eat healthy food? It doesn't make sense.

Question

You would think that to eat healthy foods that have less or no artifical junk, additives and preservatives, etc. would be less expensive than all the foods that have to go through all those processes before they can be put on the store self. All over the news it talks about how Americans are dying younger and not taking care of their bodies. Well duh! Look how easy it is to eat junk!

Answer 1

I have been complaining of that for years!! I totally agree. Unfortunately it is cheaper to buy foods that are unhealthy. And yes, a lot of Americans are overweight because of it. I don't understand why the government isn't stepping in to help somehow. But, like Kevin Trudeau states in his book "Things they don't want you to know about", government agencies themselves are getting rich off people being unhealthy. More people are taking diet pills than ever before. More people are going to the doctor than ever before. More people are buying more prescriptions than ever before. So, it is to their advantage that we stay unhealthy.

The sad thing is if you have a set amount of income you use toward groceries and need to stretch that money out so your family has something to eat for the week, it is cheaper to buy that bag of chips than it is fruit or other healthy products. Really. What do I tell my child when she is hungry that she can't have anything to eat because the healthy stuff I bought is already gone and we are only a few days into the week? Stupid really.

This is one issue that really has me steamed, and always has. We should all stand up and protest it....but I don't think that will happen because too many people are afraid to "buck" the system...

Answer 2

Processed foods are cheaper to produce because they're mostly made in factories and have a long shelf life, whereas real food has to be planted, nurtured, picked and sold quickly. Even so, it's still possible to eat healthy and cheap foods, if you can be bothered to cook them. Why pay for imported fruits and canned cat-food when there's plenty of localy grown stuff around?

Answer 3

I think you have it backwards. Healthy food is cheaper then junk food. Fruit and vegetables are very cheap. Watermelon is like 20 cents a pound. If you look at how much a watermelon cost and how much you get and compare that to the cost of a candy bar, the watermelon is a better deal. Its also cheaper to cook your own food instead of eating out. Why don't you go through the grocery store again and look at how cheap the fruits, vegetables, chicken and fish is then compare it to a bag of chips or something like that.

Answer 4

I have also been annoyed by that. I truly think its because crap food is full of preservatives and fillers. Quality food is just that, nothing but all the good stuff. When they can add chemicals to boost or enhance the final product I think food processing companies can use "less than fresh" ingredients which may come at a reduced price? Not really sure but it kinda makes sense to me.

Answer 5

It is because junk food is made mostly from agricultural products (mostly corn) that are heavily subsidized by the goverment.

So the raw materials for junk food are cheeper to buy - so the products can be cheeper to sell.

It is also a lot of work to keep fresh foods fresh from the farm to the market - which costs money. On the other hand - a twinky is forever.

Answer 6

actually it does make sense a bit to me. junk foods are cheap so as the masses can afford it. would you buy a junk for a thousand bucks? i dont think so. however, good foods are a bit expensive because you get a lot on it. it'll make you healthy and make you well. consider eating as investment, you invest on cheap junks then you'll get what those junks offer, and invest on good foods, well be healthy.

it actuallly rises a new question: Why junk foods taste soooo good, while some good foods taste like a feet? :)

Answer 7

Because junk food tends to be low grade food that meets the bare mins to be consumed by humans. Healthy food on the other hand tends to be higher-grade food and therefore costs more. This is the same reason the fast food burgers are so cheap they have the lowest grade of beef that can be safely be consumed by humans.

Answer 8

Cheap, healthy foods - brown rice, bananas, yogurt, peanut butter, peanuts, low sugar cereals, carrots, milk, cheese, eggs, orange juice, sardines, tomato soup, all canned tomato products and pasta, beans of all kinds, whole grain breads, frozen green leaf vegetables, corn meal, ground turkey, potatoes. You can live on the above and come up with some creative combinations that po' folks have been surviving on for centuries. You can eat very healthily, you just have to do a little cooking. Most people from all socio-economic levels are just too damn lazy to cook. It's too easy to eat out of a greasy paper bag.

Answer 9

I think its because when u eat junks, the processes tend to b a lil bit lame, if u know.. the meat they use, is sumtimes juz a 'junk' as it is why it called junk itself.
for beef, pork, etc meat in burgers,they might include everything on such as their heart, ear, nose, etc n blend em into 1. n u wont even noe wats d difference when u taste it, also..
they d meat that.. say.. droped on the floor/ground/ wateva.. that suppse to b used for the healthy one, will b put to d junk one..
also.. to reduce their cost for production, they use used oil to cook rather than a new one.. n its soo.. not healthy..
thats why its cheaper to have junk than the healthy one..

Answer 10

Guilt is cheap...you know it is bad for you therefore it is easily available. Mass produced food is alway's cheaper anyway.