I read yesterday in my favorite fitness journal that in the year 2011 the average American spent $6,458.00 for food. I was a little surprised, so I did a little research. As it turns out the U.S. Department of Labor confirms this (+/- a few $) for the average American unit which is 2.5 people. I did the math. David and I, being a unit of 2, are pretty much on target. I would say that our weekly trip nets about $100.00 for the local HEB for food. Our highest priced item is usually a bag of organic fugi apples. The website went on to say that of that amount, $2,620.00 is spent on eating food prepared outside the home. If my math is correct, (and I checked it twice) over 40% of a food budget is being turned over to a stranger in the kitchen who doesn't care about a diner's weight or blood lab numbers . Joshua Carter, in a recent newsletter, wrote that the average restaurant meal is about 1200 calories. If I did the math it would not be a pretty picture. In my opinion, this is just wrong and gets a lot of people in a lot of trouble. Eating out should be a treat and a huge portion of meals should be prepared at home. That's my point and I'm sticking with it!
Resource: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cesan.pdf
IDEA Fitness Jouranl march 2013
