Spending more on my food

I'm looking forward to checking out a little shop in Chicago this weekend called the Green Grocer by Grand and Ogden. From what I understand they've got grass-fed meat, raw cheeses and a host of great stuff (who wouldn't want an organic locally made doughnut?!). Places like the Green Grocer (sort of the anti-establishment version of Whole Foods) and Whole Foods itself, are certainly for the wealthier residents of this world. Particularly in our current times, spending $9 for a jar of pickled tomatoes or $3 for an avocado is nothing short of comical to most Americans (who are of course overall some of the wealthiest people in the history of the world -- or dying middle class aside). It is not hard to spend $300 on a 45 minute trip to Whole Foods or spend $150 filling up a little basket at a place like Provenance, Olivia's Market, etc. Yet perhaps it is not that simple. There is some evidence that we has slowly but surely been spending less on food (as a percentage of our individuals incomes) as each century and decade goes by. Indeed, we spend less on food than anyone in the history of the world (or anyone else in our current world) -- that comes out to less than 10% of disposable income. Just in America, in the past 35 years, we have gone from spending on average just under 13% of disposable income on food to just under 10%.

What does this mean? I don't know if it means more of us are taking our families to McDonald's instead of Chili's or if it means that we buy the same eggs and bread at the same stores but the prices have overall come down relative to inflation. Maybe it means that we reach for the cheaper brands and economize on the bulk stores that let families pretend they are readying a bunker. Or maybe it means that we just don't consider food as much of a priority. That bread over there is certainly better for us and tastes better, but it's literally twice as expensive -- so this bread will be fine for little Jimmy's lunches. Have our taste buds been dumbed down to enjoy what's cheapest? Kids want white bread not some artisan whole grain loaf, or bologna over real prosciutto, American cheese over fresh mozzarella, Sunny-D over fresh squeezed juices, a Snickers bar over Dutch chocolates.

It's a complicated issue but it brings up one important point in my mind -- I can justify spending more on food. I can make high quality food a little bit more of a priority. Spending a couple hundred dollars at "Whole Paycheck" hurts, but gosh it tastes so much better and I believe it will pay for itself in the long run when it keeps me out of the hospital (though I'll ignore that dying prematurely is probably the best way to save money). My grass fed steaks from Tallgrass were pricey -- about $26/lb, but they are FAR healthier than the ones right next to them from corn-fed cows for $9/lb. If we want, we can make food more of a priority in our budgets and our calendars (I acknowledge that these little shops don't sell everything I need so the idea of one-stop shopping goes out the window). I look forward to spending some good, hard earned money at the Green Grocer tomorrow.