The Availability and Cost of Healthier Food Items

Chronic diseases and healthy eating An alarming increase in such chronic diseases as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and some types of cancer has occurred over the past decade (Kant 2004). Improving diet quality by eating more whole grains and fruit and vegetables, and by eating less fat and refined sugar could help lower the incidence or severity of these diseases. Meeting these dietary recommendations does not necessarily require consumers to make major changes in their diet. Simple changes can be effective, such as substituting 100 percent whole wheat bread for white bread, lean ground beef for regular ground beef, low-fat milk for whole milk, or canned fruit in a light syrup for canned fruit in a heavy syrup. Few Americans successfully follow the USDA dietary guidelines, and low-income consumers are even less likely to meet them. When asked about barriers that prevented them from eating healthier foods, low-income consumers frequently cited high prices and difficulty in accessing healthier choices. However, no comprehensive studies have compared the cost of standard market goods to the cost of healthier substitutes. Measuring availability and prices In this study we compare the availability and cost of the standard Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) market baske