Eating Shit

The old adage that you are what you eat is, I think, a pretty good summation of the situation. We have a lot of problems in this country right now from health care to unemployment and even the education of our children but what we are putting on our plates is a whole different thing. It is something that we, as individuals, have complete control over. So...the following list of the top 10 items sold at grocery stores for the year(52 weeks) ending June 14, 2009 is really troubling. Ranked by dollar sales we spent our food money on...

1. Carbonated beverages
2. Milk
3. Fresh bread and rolls
4. Beer/Ale/Hard cider
5. Salty snacks
6. Natural cheese (whatever that means...as opposed to unnatural cheese?)
7. Frozen dinners/entrees
8. Cold cereal
9. Wine
10. Cigarettes

SOURCE: INFORMATION RESOURCES INC. (IRI)

Nothing healthy like fruits and vegetables or even meat. Yeah milk is number two but on balance that's just weird. Wouldn't you think produce would rank in the top ten? No flour or rice. Do you think Frozen dinners/entrees includes frozen pizza or "tater tots"? The thing is that when I think back to my experiences of shopping the markets in Europe(mostly France) the only things on this list are bread, cheese and wine. We need to do some serious thinking about the American diet. It's no wonder we have a health crisis in the country.

h/t Jill at La Vida Locavore