"America is a country where eating junk is far more affordable than eating healthy.."

I presume it is not specific to US anymore, and lot of other countries have caught on similar trends. But it was eye opening then, that eating home food with fresh produce, fruits milk etc was out of the reach of working class who normally had to depend on burger & fast-food often (at least during workdays). Growing up in S Asia, eating out was luxury (even McDonald's) as compared to home food which probably costed a fraction of the happy meals / dollar meals or equivalent - and understandably healthier.

I recommend watching that documentary on how American intensive cultivation along with proteins, steroids etc in their animal produce is harming the health. With purchasing power of lower & middle income group falling, they have to maximize their purchase by buying in bulk - usually from store chains, which source from run of the mill non-organic sources. Biomagnification of these steroids in human body becomes inevitable. Added to that, US loves it sugary drinks cheese & mayonnaise. Only a small percentage of population are genuinely conscious to keep a check on calories, food quality & regularly exercise - factors which can offset some of the adverse conditions available.

I really don't think this is the case. A ton of people in my family (and friend of the family) sphere eat well. Home cooked, good vegetables, maybe too many carbs, quality meats. But far too many of them are overweight or obese. You know what they do wrong? They eat too much.

I can't see it as anything other than a cultural misunderstanding of portion sizes and body weights learned over time. You notice it subtly in comments people make about how "small" some people look, or how "little" they eat. Yet, the person being commented on is probably 6' tall, 180lbs, and just ate a 1000 calorie dinner.

What? I’m not sure what you are referring to. Yes, there are lots of options in the grocery store that are horrible for you, but you don’t need to buy it. There are plenty of farmers markets around, there is good produce in many (most?) markets.

Personal choice is a huge factor in all of this. Time to prepare food is a problem for many overworked Americans, and I suspect this is the bigger issue. The choice for a quick and easy (bad for you) meal is enticing when you might be working multiple jobs.

Preface: I live in the EU (again) and worked in farm to table agrotourisms and even spent time in Michelin kitchens in both Europe and US and worked as a horticulture Farm manager on Biodynamc and Organic farms for the majority of my culinary career.

There is no need to fly anything in from the EU, other fine things like charcuterie, cheese or wine, because their is enough organic and biodynamic produce to feed a great deal of the US population; the issue is that very few Americans value good food and are prepared to pay the higher costs for cleaner more nutrient dense food--so produce managers are less inclined to buy more than 'just enough.'

Also, most in the US place greater value in quantity over quality and that is a quality that I really think holds things back the most.

It's a dilemma that I understand as a millennial, wherein you are constantly asked to take more and more of your paycheck to offset ever-growing costs of living and food ends up becoming the last part of your discretionary budget due to high rents with a majority of wages that cannot keep up with inflation. Gen Z is woefully stuck in this space by default.

Where I take issue is when those same people are buying new phones every year and leasing cars with high interest rate and ordering doordash after dropping $100+ at the bar and a uber ride home.

It's a problem without an easy solution because you can see it from both sides and it's not clear how to go about it, personally I always spent most of my money on food, be it at the grocery store or restaurants, but that is because I come from a culture that values the things cuisine avails about most things in Life, so it's not a hard sale.

Prior to COVID I really thought we were on the road to get food culture closer to European and Asian standards int he US, but sadly... most of that has been lost.

What should be noted is that their is a reason a hegemonic Megacorp like Amazon has not only purchased Whole Foods, but also moved into the medical field with it's acquisition of One Medical and they understand having a presence in all tiers of the spectrum and have tons of data from millions of people's food purchases via prime.

> All of America's problems I could have worked around, one way or another, but not the food.

>> Everyday, and I do mean everyday, back in the 'poor' western European country I now live, I celebrate and feel thankful for the decent clean tasty healthy food abundant everywhere.

Agreed, (to an extent), but I live in Eastern Europe and I have to settle for un-certified Bio farm products at the farmers markets and Bio stuff from Germany/Austria/Italy/Spain sold at the (mainly German) Super Markets. It's not inexpensive to eat this way, but it's worth it to me.