Why is healthy food so limited & expensive, while foods that kill you more quickly are plentiful & cheap?

Question

& they say organic fruits & veggies are healthier than regular fruits & veggies. I noticed that lean ground beef is more expensive than fattening ground beef. From what I see, there is a wider variety of types of candy bars ALONE, than the variety of fruits & veggies PUT TOGETHER! The 2%, 1%, skim, low fat, soy, & fat free milk are usually more expensive than homo milk. Healthy, whole grain cereal is $5 for 12 oz. box, while you can get 15 oz. sugary cereal for $2.50.

& with McDonald's, you can buy a whole Extra Value Meal for under $5, depending on what you get. Many people say that McDonald's is a heart attack in a wrapper.

Answer 1

because it's easier to make it?

Plus if the big mac was expensive, people would not buy it

since it's clearly not good for you.

Answer 2

it is mainly due to higher production costs.. organic vegetables are harder to grow. lean beef has to be trimmed first etc etc. if it takes more man power or resources to serve or produce, expect higher prices at the sales counter.. McDonald's has a assembly line cooking and service system where they can cut costs and because of the volume that they sell.. in my future restaurant, we will serve a quarter pound wagyu burger (meat costs more than triple regular beef) that has to be cooked and prepared to order by trained chefs served with organic tomatoes, vidalia onions , lettuce,  house prepared ketchup etc so of course it will cost you a lot (a lot more!!)more than McDonald's..

as they say, garbage is free...

Answer 3

Thank you I feel the same way!  Poor people always seem to be fat.  I am becoming better off financially so I am buying healthier food but when I was dirt poor I always made the worst choices because of price.

Answer 4

Some healthy foods are more expensive because of processing costs. Free range hans and cattle need more space so your paying to that. Organic farmers loose more of their crop to insect damage, so your paying for that.

Most junk food is less expensive because it's made with cheap ingredients. Candy, and soda are over 90% white sugar.

Meat Burgers are cheaper then stake because the meat used in them is a lower quality, often taken from sickly cattle, or parts that no one would buy unless it's ground up. Veggie burgers are more expensive then meat, because more processing goes into makiing them and the market for them isn't as large.

These are just a few reasons, but their are many more.

The exception to all this is beans and rice. You can feed a family on beans rice and veggies for the price you can feed one person who want's lean meat 3 times a day.

Answer 5

Economies of scale.

Answer 6

I think it's because of the way certain foods are produced or manufactured. If you compare the ingredients list of the average potato chip with some potato chips found in the health food section of a store, the difference is night and day. The healthier variety might use higher-quality products to make the chips and contains more natural products as opposed to the normal chips that use synthetic material.

It is more expensive to use better ingredients and that cost is usually passed onto the consumer.

I always say, you get what you pay for.

McDonald's IS a heart attack in a wrapper - have you ever seen the documentary "Super Size Me?" Enough said.

:-)

Answer 7

Simple, there are people out there that want to be rich.  The way to become rich is to limit things to others, such as land, water, the ability to be self-sustaining, grow your own food, etc.  Processed food is really CHEAP to produce and the quality of the ingredients are totally hidden... and they add colours, flavours, preservatives, salt, msg, etc. to further hide the (poor) quality.

Answer 8

Because vegetarians and organic food consumers are naive and cost ignorant.

Price doesn't enter the equation till they find out if its organic.

Salad and vegetables are one of the leading cause of salmonella poisoning. I think shallots are # 1.

as long as people demand organic they will make it.If they continue paying luxury prices they will always cost more.

Also , since there is nothing used to stop infestation and disease ,much of the crop is lost.

Also the fact that you consume these foods as if it were a religious tenet doesn't help either. Kosher foods cost more too.

I avoid fast food and organic food , unless I know the grower.

Answer 9

ogranic does not really mean healthier one

Two it cost more to produce good food lean meats means someone had to cut the fat off for you so that is why it cost more.  

That is why the poor are the least healthy in this country they have to buy the cheap food which is bad for them. Many think that they don't know any  better many do but they don't have a choice.

Answer 10

Because the dangerous/unhealthy ingredients are cheaper to make. That's why prepared/processed foods are loaded with sodium, to keep the price down.

That's not to say all cheaply priced foods are unhealthy. When you buy things in their basic form and cook them yourselves, you decide what goes into the meal and the level of health it provides.