That is true only if the criterion for value is calories per dollar. It works the other way if you are valuing foods by phytochemicals or other nutrients or things like fiber content. Then apples are a much better deal than Snickers.

And the point is that if you are on a tight budget, it’s easier to skip on phytochemicals and fibre than it is to skip on calories. The market nudges people towards long-term malnourishment.

I go to the less expenisve grocery stores (Sav-a-Lot, Aldi, Dollar General Grocery, etc.) as much as I can. But the fresh produce sections are always pitifull. I am very picky about the produce I eat, and even if you do find what you’re looking for the quality of the product is often lousy. (Organic produce is nonexistant in those stores) So, I end up shelling out a couple of extra bucks that I sorely need on the “good stuff” at Kroger or Food Lion.

She has made an obvious category error, or probably she is exposing a category error. “People of color” as a term may have some value in some discussions, but the notion that Asians an African-Americans form some kind of cultural monolith called “people of color’ is pretty silly.

“They’re also expensive. The cost of 100 calories of Snickers bar is about 25 cents; the cost of 100 calories of apple is about $1. Give or take.”

That is true only if the criterion for value is calories per dollar. It works the other way if you are valuing foods by phytochemicals or other nutrients or things like fiber content. Then apples are a much better deal than Snickers.

They’re also expensive. The cost of 100 calories of Snickers bar is about 25 cents; the cost of 100 calories of apple is about $1. Give or take.

I don’t agree with everything Tara writes; for instance, I don’t agree that the fatosphere rarely brings up the connection between class and access to healthy food. (I rarely see it brought up anywhere but the fatosphere).

Are there many areas of this country that don’t sell fruits and vegetables or is the point that they are too expensive?

BTW, vegans discuss “the connection between class and access to healthy food” too. We’d love to see less KFC and McDonald’s and more farmer’s markets and cooperative natural food stores. IMO, it’s not so much an issue of lack of access, but more that 1) there is coercion, in the form of TV commercials and child-aimed marketing campaigns, to eat unhealthy food, and 2) there is misinformation about nutrition - the dairy industry would have you believe humans cannot live without cow’s milk, despite the fact that much of history and much of the rest of the planet disproves them.

Thanks for the shout out!

I realized after posting my speech/rant that I should have made my section on food access clearer. I agree that the FA movement talks about it as it relates to class, but not in terms of a racial justice issue as well.

Anyway, I appreciate what you’ve said here and also over at Racialicious!