The Cost of our Food

I recently read a letter to the News-Press complaining about the high cost of food. I can’t argue that food and other basic commodities have constantly risen over the years while most of us are dealing with tighter household budgets and trying to stretch our food dollars.
A sort trip through any supermarket and looking at what shoppers are buying often makes me wonder “what do most of us consider to be food?”
I usually make a trip to the Lee County Alliance for the Arts Green Market on Saturdays. When I returned home yesterday and looked at what I had bought for under $12.00, I couldn’t help but do a little comparison. Thus the two pictures.
The first picture shows my vegetable purchases at the Alliance for the Arts Green Market, for a total of just under $12.00, as well as other items which I purchased at Publix, such as the bottled water ($4.00) and two boxes of pasta ($2.78). I’m also including a two pound block of Cabot cheddar cheese which I bought at Cosco for about $5.00.The total cost for these items is approximately $24.00.
The second picture is a grouping of some things I had at home, such as the Pepsi, and the other items which I purchased at Publix, such as the chips, frozen pizza, and the potato skins. These were all items that I saw other shoppers purchase while I was at Publix. The cost of these items is approximately $21.00.
Is this a scientific study? Absolutely not, but I believe that it makes a point. I recently purchased ten pounds of organic carrots for just over $5.00 ($.50/lb). The potato chips in the picture cost just about $3.00, so ten pounds of potato chips would cost just over $43.00. I'm sure there's some logic here, I'll let you know when I find it.
So much of what we are blessed with in this country is very reasonable as well as plentiful. So much of the food that we consume and carries a high price tag at the same time is seriously undermining our health. This is certainly a case of adding insult to injury! Do your own test and let me know.

LouAnn Good
Fitness Together Fort Myers