The price of healthy food in supermarkets influences people’s eating habits. The cheaper the fruit and vegetables are compared to fatty foods, the healthier people eat.
The difference is “significant” says Wilma Waterlander, a behavioural scientist at the Free University. To fight obesity, she researched whether people would buy healthier food in supermarkets if it were cheaper. At the moment it’s unhealthy products, containing too much fat, sugar and salt, that is usually cheaper than fruit and vegetables.
Virtual supermarket
Ms Waterlander got 600 people to shop in a virtual supermarket from behind their computers. Simply cutting the price of vegetables by 25 percent had a huge effect; on average people bought almost half a kilo more greens per week. The effect is even bigger when lowering the price is accompanied by an advertising campaign and the price of unhealthy products is increased.
All in all, Ms Waterlander have given the government a good reason to introduce price control and a fat tax.
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I don't trust anyone who leaves the fate of the world up to "invisible hands" that rely on humans being perfectly rational and omniscient, when anyone looking at reality (instead of economic models) can clearly see that's not the case! Policies should be built around the actual behavior of actual people, as Dr. Waterlander has done. Hopefully this idea spreads soon. :)
You in the Netherlands and elsewhere are much wiser than the corporate aristocracy of America. The levels of obesity here are far more than any nation of earth. We are severely malnourished and the obesity created simply by the quick fertilizers that accelerate food's growth (while literally crippling its nutrition) is setting up a pandemic the world has never known! Historically, a cup of spinach contained 250 mg's of iron. Today's spinach, less than 5! What does that tell you? American "justice" (for the quick dollar) betrays everyone under their jurisdiction. And as for you, overseas, who well know far above the average American the current rate of malnutrition guarantees the "dumbing down" of freedom, intelligence, liberty, and every advance the industrial age brought to mankind. While I cannot move to become a citizen of a better land, all I can do is to assist you, in any way possible, to hold back this tsunami of global loss of life under the auspices of the hypocrisy of "caring people." Every fraud of history was carried out under the auspices of care, liberty, and betterment of humanity. All Sin Must Be Exposed for what it is: the extinction of all intelligent life (John 8:58). Otherwise, we don't stand a chance. Thank you for this forum.
I am a Dutch woman living abroad and have spotted and discussed a similar issue with various people, in the past.
The price differences for healthy food and unhealthy food almost forces families on low budgets with children to feed those children unhealthy foods.
A.Lot...."market forces" there is no such thing...If we relied on market forces, which really means that company's get as much money out of you as they can, we would not have a euro to buy anything. Government has to control capitalist greed, who else is going to do it.....Albert Heijn? They left out an important factor about eating fruit....it has to taste like fruit. Again, you leave it up the Albert Heijns of the world and you just can't eat it, because it taste like plastic...go down to Alberts and buy a tomato....and if you know what a tomato is supposed to taste like, you just can't eat it....absolutely no taste at all.
Price control? Plase, no. Food prices shall be set by market forces, not by government intervention.
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