Food cops like Michael Pollan, Marion Nestle, and Kelly Brownell often gripe that unhealthy food is “too cheap.” Snack taxes, they claim, are a solution to this “problem.” Fortunately, the U.S. government disagrees (for now). The U.S. Department of Agriculture analyzed the cost of eating healthily on various budgets in a new report titled “The Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans.”
After releasing the report to the public, USDA Center for Nutrition Policy Promotion Executive Director Dr. Brian Wansink reported (earlier this week) that a food’s nutritional merit is not tied to its price tag: “Eating healthier does not have to cost more and can even cost some families less.”
