You Are What You Eat

“The deepest problem that local-food efforts face, however, is that we’ve gotten used to paying so little for food” (McKibben 89). You are what you eat. That expression is probably the one most commonly heard over the past several years. Obesity has been a severe problem in the United States since the explosion of fast food restaurants. With food so cheap and inexpensive comes the price of what is actually in it. Many would be repulsed to find out what really is in their Big Mac. But why do we keep eating such unhealthy food? The answer is simple; it’s cheap. In times like these, who has the time and the money to pay for organic locally grown food? I know I do. “In the 1930’s a family might have spent a third of its income on food; middle-class Americans now spend more like a tenth” McKibben stated. In the 1930s fast food was none existent. So in fact, locally grown, fresh food is not as expensive as the hospital room most Americans will have to pay for after their heart attack.