Why Does a Salad Cost More Than a Big Mac? [InfoGraphic]

[accadacca]

Why does a salad cost more than a Big Mac? Part of the reason is that a huge proportion of our food subsidies go to meat while only 0.37 percent go to fruits and vegetables. That makes meat and dairy artificially cheap, so we end up consuming more of it than we should, and getting fatter.

Source: http://www.good.is/post/why-does-a-s...#ixzz0irCnaXFe

[jman]

Corn is a huge subsidy.
Thata why a lot of drinks contain "high fructose corn syrup". That's why you can buy a Pepsi with the fructose corn syrup and cost $1 or less. But if you buy the "throwback" version which uses pure sugar, it is going to cost a $1.50 or more.

Sadly, to be healthy costs much more money these days.

[Big Bone]

I like this, very interesting.

My wife and I have recently shifted our diets from carb rich processed foods with lots of fats and meats to simple proteins and complex carbs.

What we've found out is that eating healthy actually has been saving us money. Due of all the complex carbs my body doesn't get hungry nearly as fast as it used to and I don't have the desire to eat more then I should nor eat as soon. I mean how many of us have pounded down plate after plate of all-you-can-eat chinees food and felt hungry 2 hours later?

I'll give you a typical meal plan for any given day of mine-

Breakfast at 9:30 am- Two eggs (scrambled, fried, hard boiled, whatever)

Lunch at 1:00 pm- tuna sandwich (1 whole can of tuna mixed with olive oil mayonnaise, chopped green onions, and on two pieces of whole wheat flax bread)

Snack at 3:00 pm- apple

Snack at 5:00 pm- Banana

Dinner at 7:30- grilled chicken breast, stir fried zucchini/summer squash, and salad made with baby spinach, tomatoes, and cucumbers (with a little bit of ranch dressing).

I also will walk about 1-3 miles in a day and weight lift 3 times a week.

I always keep fresh fruits and veggies around to snack on just in case but our current grocery bills have shown we've been saving ourselves about 40 bucks a week by not eating crap.

It can be done so IMHO a big mac does cost more then a salad but I absolutely see your point.


BB

[Scott P]

An even better question is "why is tobacco subsidized?

[savanna3313]

Something I started researching awhile back is how gluten in food affects your health. I have been eating nearly 100% gluten free for several months now (along with eating mostly whole/natural foods) and have never felt better. I've lost a lot of weight, and no more sinus issues which (according to the info I read) was one of the side effects for people who are gluten sensitive. But heaven knows - temptation is everywhere, especially when I was down in New Orleans!

[R]

Vegetarian for 21 years now; have been happy with my diet every minute of it.

FWIW, Big Macs and salads in restaurants are priced almost entirely based on business modeling, which is only loosely connected to base cost of ingredients. If you really want to beat the subsidy machine, eat at the base of the food chain. Have you priced lentils lately?

[mattandersao]

There have been some awesome documentary's/books about this subject over the last couple years. Food Inc. is a great one that totally changed my diet. Not only is Corn heavily subsidized but also soy. What is really insane are the libel prosecutions from agribusiness. "

At their urging, 13 states passed laws to help protect farmers and food companies from criticism that could lead consumers to shun their products. One such law was used, unsuccessfully, by a group of Texas cattlemen to seek damages from Oprah Winfrey, the talk-show host, after she made disparaging remarks about beef."

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/01/bu...pagewanted=all

[trackrunner]

Corn is a huge subsidy.
Thata why a lot of drinks contain "high fructose corn syrup". That's why you can buy a Pepsi with the fructose corn syrup and cost $1 or less. But if you buy the "throwback" version which uses pure sugar, it is going to cost a $1.50 or more.

Sadly, to be healthy costs much more money these days.

You also left out that we have a sugar quota which states we can only import so much sugar. Hence we have a sugar shortage. So corn syrup is used as a substitute. If the quota was removed and the US traded freely with low cost sugar producers candy bars, soft drinks, etc would be $0.10 or more cheaper.

[Scott Card]

Vegetarian for 21 years now; have been happy with my diet every minute of it.

FWIW, Big Macs and salads in restaurants are priced almost entirely based on business modeling, which is only loosely connected to base cost of ingredients. If you really want to beat the subsidy machine, eat at the base of the food chain. Have you priced lentils lately?

Hey Richard. I am not a vegan but I try to eat less meat than I used to eat in my younger years. So, where is this magic lentil recipe that tastes good? Please share. I'd like to be a fan of lentils but so far I haven't found the taste I am seeking.... maybe it is the texture. Hmmmm.

[Scott Card]

The thing that always irritates me is the cost of water or juice vs. soda pop.

[cachehiker]

Have you priced lentils lately?

Yes. I have. And also rice and potatoes and beans and pasta and ...

Although far from vegetarian, my Sunday routine is to cook a big pot of something wholesome and to make a couple of more nutritious and inexpensive meals out of the leftovers later in the week. Better for my body and better for my pocketbook too.

[R]

The thing that always irritates me is the cost of water or juice vs. soda pop.

Bottled water is just filtered tap water. If your home water is clean, buy some reusable bottles and drink that. Abby and I made that change last year and have been perfectly happy with it, even for hiking.

I like lentils with chopped spinach or kale, diced tomatoes, a little garlic, and sometimes ziti pasta thrown in for a little texture. I don't have cooking times in front of me, but lentils cook fast. I also make an amazing split pea soup, and my wife's red beans and rice (she lived in Baton Rouge for 15 years) are unbelievable. I also like to have some pinto beans with onions made and stored in the fridge in case I want them as an ingredient, like for burritos.

[R]

After I wrote that, I went straight to the pantry and got a bag of 15-bean soup, which I am about to put in the crock pot. Dinner is on!

[jman]

Corn is a huge subsidy.
Thata why a lot of drinks contain "high fructose corn syrup". That's why you can buy a Pepsi with the fructose corn syrup and cost $1 or less. But if you buy the "throwback" version which uses pure sugar, it is going to cost a $1.50 or more.

Sadly, to be healthy costs much more money these days.

You also left out that we have a sugar quota which states we can only import so much sugar. Hence we have a sugar shortage. So corn syrup is used as a substitute. If the quota was removed and the US traded freely with low cost sugar producers candy bars, soft drinks, etc would be $0.10 or more cheaper.

Reason why I didn't include that info is because I didn't know that quota existed for sugar. Care for a reference?

[trackrunner]

Corn is a huge subsidy.
Thata why a lot of drinks contain "high fructose corn syrup". That's why you can buy a Pepsi with the fructose corn syrup and cost $1 or less. But if you buy the "throwback" version which uses pure sugar, it is going to cost a $1.50 or more.

Sadly, to be healthy costs much more money these days.

You also left out that we have a sugar quota which states we can only import so much sugar. Hence we have a sugar shortage. So corn syrup is used as a substitute. If the quota was removed and the US traded freely with low cost sugar producers candy bars, soft drinks, etc would be $0.10 or more cheaper.

Reason why I didn't include that info is because I didn't know that quota existed for sugar. Care for a reference?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=sugar+quota

just type it in a search engine. It's all over the place. There is a Cato instatue article on it. The Sugar quota is brought up in almost all introductry economics courses when going over quotas.

And if think tank policy papers are too political for you then go to the US Dept. of Agriculture webpage on the sugar quota
http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/imports/ussugar.asp

[mattandersao]

ABC's "FOOD REVOLUTION" goes along with a lot of what has been discussed on this thread. It is on FRIDAY nights. I think friday they are showing a repeat of the first episode as it has only been on air for two weeks now.

[StudChild]