conflict of interest

my tongue is [figuratively] bleeding, from biting it so hard.

the website where my message board resides has many boards, and i am a casual member of a few. on multiple, there are always threads regarding "how do i decrease my grocery bill?" families of 3, 4, 5, SIX wanting a grocery bill under $200/month. how one can do that and still eat food, is simply beyond me (and i mean food, not pre-packaged food products... you know, similar to cheese product - substances which resemble food but whose molecular makeup is based very little on food - and i think it has been determined that corn doesn't count, due to it's gross bastardization resulting in a total lack of nutritional value, as well as an over prevalence).

we, as americans, value quantity over quality. we want as much as we can get for as little as we can get, and the actual value of whatever we are purchasing is secondary. and why why WHY do we have to strive so hard to spend so little on something so important? food is not a luxury, it is a necessity to survive. why is it that we (and i mean the general "we", of course) elect to cut our food budget before we cut, for example, our entertainment or eating out budget? these same people who just must spend less on groceries are quite often at the same time spending $200/month on "entertainment/recreation" and just as much on "dining out." americans spend less on food than any other industrialized country in the world.

why oh why oh why?

but i do not get involved in these conversations, as my arguments will fall on deaf ears.

i am sad more people do not take the matter of nutrition - and i mean nature and common sense nutrition, not scientists' claims - more seriously. i am sad that it simply does cost more to buy fresh, whole foods rather than a box of something made in a lab.

we now have many more resources available to us, allowing us to take an active role in what we are eating. within the last 30 years, food revolutions have been taking slow hold. slow food chapters, farmer's markets, c.s.a.'s, co-ops, all sorts of local resources are popping up. and it gives me hope that as more people learn, more people will utilize these resources.

however, i think the mainstream american diet will continue to sway with whatever latest winds are blowing, telling us this is now bad for us, that is now good for us. other countries (especially the french) will continue to laugh at us. and as more and more research comes out about the real nutritional value and long term effects of not only the products available to us but also of those nutritional diet fads, it will become more clear that only one thing, really is good for us.

food. just food, plain and simple.