The wealthier the healthier

By Ethan Ravi, Frank Herman Assistant News Editor, Staff Writer

In the modern world, there are many ways to access food. From high-end restaurants to Walmarts, the range of options can seem virtually limitless to some. But there are many limiting factors that influence each individual’s mass produced and these products can be created in a non-perishable form. We have this situation where it is very easy to buy very cheap calories with very low levels of nutrients. Whereas the same is not true for some of the more nutrient-rich foods like fruits and vegetables.” Taylor says “If you have a lot of money, you can kind

“The only real grocery store within walking distance of campus is a Whole Foods, so if you want normal, cheap groceries you need to take bus or a car. Restaurants near the college are still pretty expensive. Most of the restaurants are catering to college students, so it’s a lot of fried meat and cheese” food choices, such as wealth, location and time. Around the globe, people have many different dietary habits, but what are Evanstonians eating, and why?

Although Evanston isn’t as geographically large or populated as Chicago, there are still distinctive ‘food districts.’ Downtown Evanston has lots of restaurant options to accommodate the larger concentration of residents, but other, more residential areas have limited options. While people can drive to other places to eat and shop for groceries, more often than not, they buy from establishments closer to their home. That, in turn, can affect their entire dietary lifestyle.

A major influence on dietary choices stems from economic factors. While it is well known that in general, wealthier people can afford to eat higher quality food, there are a lot of nuances that generally go unnoticed.

In recent years, many people have converted from omnivore diets to either vegetarian or vegan ones. According to GlobalData, between 2014 and 2017, the number of vegans in the U.S. grew by 600 percent. While veganism is great for the environment and has many health benefits, there are some real barriers for those trying to go vegan on a low budget. For example, alternatives to meat for vegans that have become recently popular, like Impossible and Beyond Meat, are quite expensive compared to their beef counterparts, making them less accessible. Pound for pound, regular beef is 43 percent less expensive than its non-meat alternatives, which is a significant cost increase to swallow when making your rounds at the grocery store.

Additionally, studies have shown that vegans have to spend 65 percent more on an average meal than someone without any dietary restrictions. If you have to spend a significantly larger amount of money each time you go out to eat when vegan, it becomes a luxury reserved for the wealthy, who can afford to spend that extra money. That is why grocery stores and restaurants that cater to people with vegan and vegetarian diets are found in wealthier neighborhoods, since that is where their main customer base comes from. All these factors, while not intentionally limiting access to diets such as veganism, all contribute to the exclusivity of these dietary habits.

It is true that vegan diets cost more than non-vegan diets, but we can classify the trend more generally by saying that eating healthy foods costs a significant amount more than less healthy options. This stems from the fact that manufacturers can produce processed, unhealthy food options at a much lower cost than naturally grown, nutritious options.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Anna Taylor, the executive director of the Food Foundation, speaks to this divide. “Unhealthy food is so cheap because the prime ingredients can be of buy your way out of the problem. If you don’t have a lot of money, you’re stuck with that really toxic combination of having not much money combined with the unhealthy food environment that we already have, which is leading to some of those really worrying health outcomes.”

Anyone can make the choice to eat unhealthy food, but not everyone can make the choice to eat healthy food. This is why people with a higher socioeconomic status are more likely to choose healthier food options, because they at least have a choice. This point is reflected in data showing obesity rates among people who live in the U.S.

According to a study on the socioeconomics of obesity, “Persistent household food insecurity, in particular when present without hunger, has been associated with a 22 percent increased odds of childhood obesity versus children who are food secure throughout childhood. Adults with food insecurity similarly have a higher prevalence of obesity compared to adults who are food secure.”

Socioeconomic status affects the diets of adults, but it also influences those of their children. Studies have shown that wealthier people can afford to feed their children healthier foods, like vegetables, without worrying about whether the child will waste it or not. Children who are exposed to nutritious foods early in life are more likely to choose healthier options in adulthood, which shows that socioeconomic status affects eating habits even throughout multiple generations.

An example of someone who was encouraged to eat healthily from childhood is Corinne Perez, a junior at ETHS and someone who lives in the same area as the high school.

“My mom always encouraged healthy eating habits,” Perez says. “We never really grew up with soda around the house. We would have a lot of healthy options and a lot of vegetables.”

When planning what to eat for the week, many people start by going to their local grocery store over the weekend. Most grocery stores have many options, but some are healthier than others. Whole Foods Market, where it is more strugglesome to find highly processed foods than somewhere like Walmart, is rated as one of the healthiest grocery stores in the United States.

According to Business Insider, the average income of the people that shop there is $80,000. Compared to the median income in the United States, which is about $30,000, it is evident that some healthy grocery stores, like Whole Foods, are a resource that only the wealthier can afford.

“We usually shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Jewel-Osco,” sophomore and North nie Gertz sees Jewel-Osco in a similar way. “We go to Jewel-Osco because it’s really close by and it’s kind of cheap, but it’s not that healthy. We usually have more quantity than quality.”

Perez’s family usually shops at Trader Joe’s and Valli Produce, and she agreed that one can find healthy foods to eat there if that is their goal.

Overall, wealthier people have the option to eat healthier and follow more diets than people of lower socioeconomic status and that often reflects in their overall health. It is still possible for people with lower food budgets to eat and shop healthy at their local grocery stores and restaurants, but the greater amount of money required to do so often outweighs the benefits.

Entire neighborhoods without so much as a corner store, blocks and blocks of residential homes and not a grocery store in sight. These are Evanston’s food deserts. According to the USDA, food deserts are areas where people have limited access to a variety of healthy foods, and there are plenty in Evanston. In areas such as the Fifth Ward, it’s near impossible to get groceries without driving, especially if you don’t want to pay the premium for front-door delivery. Even around Northwestern, an area which features some of Evanston’s preeminent restaurants, it’s not always easy to access healthy food.

Northwestern Senior Beni Keown explains, “The only real grocery store within walking distance of campus is a Whole Foods, so if you want normal, cheap groceries you need to take a bus or a car.”

The National Library of Medicine reports that placing food further away from people decreases likelihood of consumption, which makes food deserts especially devastating. This is also detrimental when close, healthy, options are scarce.

“Restaurants near the college are still pretty expensive. Most of the restaurants are catering to college students, so it’s a lot of fried meat and cheese,” Keown says.

It’s clear that a lack of accessible, affordable and healthy food options is present in Evanston. But it isn’t just Evanston. Over 6,500 food deserts still exist in the U.S., and they disproportionately exist in areas with high poverty rates. Food deserts exist in almost every major urban center in America, and lack of transportation options can leave families without access to the most basic human need: healthy food.

The proximity one has to grocery stores and restaurants is crucial to the availability of affordable and healthy food. As Gertz explained, one of the main reasons her family shops at Jewel-Osco is how close it is to them. Two of the restaurants Perez usually would go to were Dengeos or Paninos, both in close proximity to where she lived. When LaRosa’s family eats out, one of their standard restaurants is Bluestone, which is just around the corner from his home. LaRosa doesn’t think the food there is particularly healthy, but the convenience and easy walking

“Unhealthy food is so cheap because the prime ingredients can be mass produced and these products can be created in a non-perishable form. We have this situation where it is very easy to buy very cheap calories with very low levels of nutrients. Whereas the same is not true for some of the more nutrient-rich foods like fruits and vegetables.”

- Executive Director of the Food Foundation Anna Taylor

Evanston resident Anthony LaRosa said. “We go to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s if we want healthy food, but if we want more snack-like stuff, we go to Jewel, because the other places don’t have very much junk food.”

Sophomore and South Evanston resident An- distance play a part in why they go there a lot.

“I wouldn’t say it’s health focused. It’s fine, I guess,” said LaRosa. “You can get a salad, but the main things people get there probably aren’t great.”

It is impractical and sometimes impossible