Food spending in America. Dining out vs buying groceries

Evidence? Not saying it's necessarily false, but I can't help but notice that healthy food is much, much more expensive than food that's bad for you. Calorie-wise, eating food packed with high fructose corn syrup is probably one of the cheapest ways to eat. You end up spending way more (I know because I do) buying vegetables, lean meats, dairy, etc.

And if a wealthy person is fat is it because they're big-boned?

My theory is, farther up the social ladder, people become more "lifestyle conscious" -- it's hard to give a shit about that stuff when you're poor. The decision to lead a healthier lifestyle is often justified by health benefits, but the internal calculus is based on a desire to fit in and conform to social norms.

This matches my own life experience: When I was poor, I didn't give a damn about what I ate or whether I exercised. I got fat. As soon as I started making real money, I started paying more attention to these things, because everyone around me felt they were important and this rubbed off on me, and now I'm back to a healthy weight and not eating junk from a bodega.

I would seriously not go that far to say poor people are not too bright or have poor impulse control. That's judgmental without any data to back it up. Poor people are likely poor because they aren't well educated, or have professional white collar jobs like you and I. Lack of education and access results in lack of awareness. You and I sit in our comfy sofas watching Jamie Oliver give a talk at TED and hence we hail our organic vegetables and our foo-foo healthy lifestyles. You cannot compare this vantage point with the predicament of someone who is struggling to make ends meet. Or someone who grew up in a poor neighborhood.

Lack of money has absolutely nothing to do with "brightness" or impulse control. I grew up in India and know all too well that poor people can be very sharp.

I have seen well-to-do fat people who lack even basic self-control. In fact, much of America is not poor and the obesity epidemic here has nothing to do with income levels. It is the result of a simple fact that fattening, processed stuff is widely available at every corner for dirt cheap prices. And that stuff that tastes good. When a healthy meal costs $12, it is but natural that someone who earns minimum wage goes for the $3 burger at McD.

To disprove your argument, I put forward one simple fact. Majority of the population in developing countries is not fat and they certainly aren't dancing around in money.

I would be interested in running an experiment. What if all organic, fresh, natural, unprocessed food was made dirt cheap and anything that isn't was taxed like hell? So a lb of fresh vegetables and fruits costs $0.50. Unprocessed food is subsidized at 50%. That order of fries, soda, and cheezburger? $15.

What effect would it have on society?