A study recently published by the Harvard School of Public Health has shown "that the healthiest diets cost about $1.50 more per day than the least healthy diets."
While this study validates concerns related to food security and inequality, it also speaks to interesting question of values for those who do have some flexibility with their food dollars. To what extent are we willing to shell out for our health? Is healthy food more or less important than an iPhone? A drink? Living in a nice apartment?
Life is a series of choices. Is eating healthy too expensive, or do we want something else more? Sure, it's easier for the extremely wealthy to make healthy food choices, but is that comparison helpful or relevant to our individual choices? The system is unfair, and we must not compromise our pursuit of food justice, but that doesn't stop us from optimizing our own health to the extent desired and possible.
Until we change the food system, our answers to these questions will define how our lives unfold and how well our bodies hold up over time. That, and luck.
This post originally appeared on newfoodculture.com, where Leo Brown writes about food, nutrition, and health.