Excerpted from Cold Cereal & Toast
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In the June issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, I read an interesting nugget of nutrition research worth sharing:

In the United States one can purchase 1,000 calories of energy-dense snacks for approximately $4.00, whereas 1,000 calories of fresh produce may cost up to $20.00.

This supports the idea that the high cost of fruits and vegetables can be a consumption obstacle for many. However, the article goes on to note:

$4.00 would procure approximately 0.44 kg (.97 lb) of fresh produce (nutrient-dense foods), but only 0.2 kg (.44 lb) of energy-dense snacks.

This notion of nutrient density, or the amount of nutrients for a given volume of food, deserves consideration when it comes to developing nutrition messages for the public.  Essentially, you can achieve satiety at a lower price while increasing your nutrient intake and reducing your calorie intake.  May be a mouthful, but has great potential as a convincing public health message.

To back up, nutrient-dense foods, such as fruits and vegetables, have lots of nutrients with fewer calories in general; while energy-dense foods, such as potato chips and cookies, have more calories for the same volume of food and generally fewer nutrients.  Most processed foods, which we are constantly cautioned against, fall under the energy-dense category.  There has been a lot of research in this area (Barbara Rolls comes to mind) but, to my knowledge, no successful public health message exists to relay this concept, particularly for vulnerable low-income populations.  With access to these healthful, nutrient-dense foods in the forefront of the media, viable research and science needs to support local and national initiatives as we strategize towards a healthier country.

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