Prewrite 1 - Why is it more expensive to buy healthy food?

Prewrite 1

Why is it more expensive to buy healthy food?

From Wikipedia: Junk food is the slang term for food that is of little nutritional value, it is does often high values of fat, sugar, salt, calories and low levels of protein, vitamins or minerals. Examples is salted snack food, candy, sweet desserts, fried fast food, sugary beverages, processed food items. Not unhealthy if you eat it every know and than. A study by Paul Jonson and Paul Kenny from the Scripps Research Institute (2008) concluded with that eating junk food alters the brain activity in a equal way as what addictive drugs do. So if you eat this at a regular basis your brain gets used to it, and you need more to get the same “pleasure effect”. If the mother eats unhealthy during pregnancy it increases the risk for their offspring to continue the unhealthy eating habits. In 2012 Denmark started to tax foods that contain more than 2.3% of saturated fat (the unhealthy fat). Hungary also has a tax on foods that has high unhealthy concentrations. (In Norway I know that a grocery store chain called, Kiwi, removed the tax on all vegetables and fruit).

United States Department of Agriculture: Did a survey to figure out if healthy food is more expensive. The conclusion was that foods low in calories (fruit and vegetables) costs more per calorie than less healthy food. So this is an expensive way to purchase food energy. But if you measure it as edible weight or average portion size, healthy food are less expensive than unhealthy food (note form my self: but you need to purchase more fruit and vegetables to meet the energy level we all need!!). Following the study says that it is not that costly to meet the food recommendations when it comes to healthy food items such as grains, diary and fruit, but if you want to include vegetables or protein foods it gets more expensive.

Narroving my question:
Why is Americans internationally known for having unhealthy eating habits?
Or: Why do Americans purchase more fast food today, compared to 40 years ago.

NaturalNews.com: In 1972 Americans spent 3 billion $ per year on fast food compared to todays number: 110 billion $. America do subside factory farms, chemical-intensive farming and food processing a lot and there is a lot of advertising of junk food in the media. Americans pay many billions $ in health care related to diet-related diseases (obesity and diabetes)

New York times: You know find fast food chains every where in America: stadiums, airports, zoos, high schools, elementary schools, universities, Wal-Marts, gas stations even at hospital cafeterias. In 1970: 6 billions on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than 110 billion. “Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music - combined.” It is easy to order and buy, cheep, quick delivery. The growth of the industry is because of the change in the society.

My main points will be:
- America is Big in fast food industry
- Government do not do enough: educating, schools, tax
- It is cheeper
- junk food is addicting
- Store build up (maybe)
- What do other contries do?

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unhealthy_food

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib-economic-information-bulletin/eib96.aspx#.UXICe467wbA

http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/schlosser-fast.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/035164_obesity_diabetes_junk_food.html

I really like your research question. I also wanted to do a research on something related to food.

One of my research questions was "Why does increasing stress lead to food intake for women?"

I do not know if you like it or not. Why don't you combine my question to your question and make a new research question?
For example, why increasing stress lead to unhealthy food intake for women? , something like that.
My example is not good one but if you are interested in my question, you could find a better one.
I am pretty sure the new question will be very interesting. Also, The resources that you found such as Junk food are also useful, too.

Minsoo Soh wrote:I really like your research question. I also wanted to do a research on something related to food.

One of my research questions was "Why does increasing stress lead to food intake for women?"

I do not know if you like it or not. Why don't you combine my question to your question and make a new research question?
For example, why increasing stress lead to unhealthy food intake for women? , something like that.
My example is not good one but if you are interested in my question, you could find a better one.
I am pretty sure the new question will be very interesting. Also, The resources that you found such as Junk food are also useful, too.

Is it fine if I reply to you?
I read an article before that some researchers believed the flavor of sweet and fat would stimulate some particular area of human brain, therefore by consuming unhealthy food which contains high level of sugar and oil, people became satisfied.