another post about food....

I never used to buy sweets. I would eat them occasionally, but just never really craved them. Then I went to Spain. I actually didn't really eat sweets much there either. My host mom never had them in the house. We always ate fruit for dessert. Which I love, usually that's what I'd rather have anyway. But for some reason, while I was there, I started wanting goodies all the time. I'm gonna go ahead and blame that on the 1 euro bags of gummy candies that were sold on every street corner. Anyway, it wasn't too bad while I was there because normally I was too cheap to buy a bunch of sweets.

But then I got back to the US. And then I started getting things for free with coupons. I cannot stop eating. In the last couple weeks, I have bought potato chips, fruit snacks (basically fruit-flavored sugar), candy bars, cookies, more potato chips....and then my roommates keep giving in to the adorable girl scouts and bringing home cookies. I'm surrounded by sugary goodness and I can't resist! Guess that means I'm really gonna have to get better about going to the gym...

All this goodness made me think of something though. I've learned in recent classes that people who live in poverty have poorer health and eat worse than other people. They teach that in poor, low-class neighborhoods, the only kinds of stores that are available are fast food restaurants. Which is true. People who live under the poverty level usually live in a certain area of town where there aren't a lot of fresh food options. Often buying McDonald's for the family is cheaper than buying something from a grocery store and making it.

But I've decided there is another reason, prompted by my recent couponing obsession. You see, you can get a lot of stuff for free with coupons. I mean a LOT of stuff. For FREE. Buuuut, the kind of stuff you get for free isn't really the best stuff. Well, some of it is. I've gotten 8 full-sized nice, name-brand face-washes for free in the last couple weeks. And enough medicine and other necessities to last me a very long time. But when it comes to food, you don't get fresh fruits and vegetables and meat for free. You get Betty Crocker fruit snacks (4 boxes for free...what, am I 10?). You also get Lay's Stax (Lay's version of Pringles. Amazing. And Disgusting, all at the same time. Two canisters. WHY?!). And Snickers candy bars. So these people who have hardly any money and want to make every dollar stretch, use coupons I'm sure. And with those coupons, they get junk. And because its free, they opt for those things instead of healthy stuff. Kind of sad. Why can't they make things easier for people that need help?

Anyway, I usually get the junk AND the fruits and vegetables. So I'm eating the crap, but also good stuff. It cancels out the fruit snacks and candy bars, right?!?!