August 8, 2011 | 3:01 PM | By

“Body Wars: Does eating right have to be expensive?”

Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon.com takes on last week’s news stories about how the USDA’s Advice For Eating Right Is Hard On The Wallet:


It takes time to scope out sales and figure out what’s in season. It takes effort to support the local farmers’ market over ConAgra. At the end of an exhausting day, it’s hard work chopping up red peppers that the kids might reject anyway. And absolutely, food is both a social and economic issue. But remember that we’ve been living too long under the cheap-chicken delusion — that mass produced food, cheaply made and distributed — is both acceptable and a right. It’s neither — and the health benefits of proper eating should not be a luxury that only the wealthy should enjoy…To paraphrase that old saw about education: You think kale is expensive? Try heart disease and type II diabetes.

— www.salon.com

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DCentric was created to examine the ways race and class interact in Washington, D.C., a city with a vibrant mix of cultures and neighborhoods. Your guides to the changing district are reporters Anna John and Elahe Izadi. View all posts by Anna →