Can Low Income Americans Afford A Healthy Diet?

In the November issue of Amber Waves, the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service asks Can Low Income Americans Afford a Healthy Diet?

Current USDA food plans as calculated by the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion include four variants: the Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans. As of June 2008, the cost of these USDA food plans for a family of four (two adults and two elementary school-age children) ranged from $588.30 per month for the Thrifty Food Plan to $1,151.40 per month for the Liberal Food Plan.

But can low income American families afford a healthy diet — even the thriftiest food plan? It seems such a simple question, but as you will see, it’s much more complicated than you imagine.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Continue Rising

The Energy Information Administration of the US Department of Energy has released its detailed 64 page study of Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2007 — the sixteenth annual report presenting estimated emission levels for carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases.

During 2007, total greenhouse gas emissions reached nearly 7.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, an increase of 1.4% over 2006. This represents an increase over 1990 of 16.7%.

The EIA attributes the increase primarily to greater carbon dioxide emissions, which, it explains, “resulted primarily from two factors: unfavorable weather conditions, which increased demand for heating and cooling in buildings; and a drop in hydropower availability that led to greater reliance on fossil energy sources (coal and natural gas) for electricity generation . . .”

For the complete documentation of the methodology and data used to construct the report, see this 262 page document most recently issued in October. For a quick summary of the report and its implication, see Science Daily’s report US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Still Increasing.