Maintaining healthy diet is worth the extra expense

By Ira Zunin

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Aug 13, 2011

~~<p>Last week, as my son and I tackled Glenn Pass, one of the highest points of the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the food we brought was nutritious and tasty but above all lightweight. We had to carry our freeze-dried lasagna on our backs a good distance, and at almost 12,000 feet the air is thin. At home in Honolulu our family worries less about the weight of our food and, like most, more about health and cost, along with convenience and taste.</p>
<p>According to a recent study in the policy journal Health Affairs, most Americans would like to eat healthier but are limited by cost. Federal guidelines for healthy eating were revised in January with recommendations to include more vitamin D, calcium, potassium and dietary fiber. Fresh fruits and vegetables, especially organic produce, can be expensive. Not everyone can afford to shop at Whole Foods each week to stock up on blueberries and wild Atlantic salmon.</p>
~~

Last week, as my son and I tackled Glenn Pass, one of the highest points of the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the food we brought was nutritious and tasty but above all lightweight. We had to carry our freeze-dried lasagna on our backs a good distance, and at almost 12,000 feet the air is thin. At home in Honolulu our family worries less about the weight of our food and, like most, more about health and cost, along with convenience and taste.

According to a recent study in the policy journal Health Affairs, most Americans would like to eat healthier but are limited by cost. Federal guidelines for healthy eating were revised in January with recommendations to include more vitamin D, calcium, potassium and dietary fiber. Fresh fruits and vegetables, especially organic produce, can be expensive. Not everyone can afford to shop at Whole Foods each week to stock up on blueberries and wild Atlantic salmon. Login for more...