Supply Chain Management Review

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Supply Chain Management and Eating Right
April 25, 2008

I've discovered recently that supply chain management is conspiring against my efforts to maintain a healthier lifestyle, at least when it comes to grocery shopping.

Well, ok, my zeal for pretty much anything with peanut butter in/on it is nobody's fault but my own, but everyone has noticed lately the price of fresh produce, milk, and other perishables has gone up. Clearly, rising fuel costs are the primary factor to blame for it, but it also serves as a reminder that it's not just the flabby people among us who are inclined to taking the quick, cheap, most pleasant way out. 

And can you blame the corporations? In some ways, especially factoring in higher fuel costs, it costs a whole lot more to get fresh fruits and vegetables, many of which come from South America, into this country in a hurry. Waste too much time, and your product rots on the dock.

Now, processed foods, well, hold everything! Worried about spoilage? Fine. Let's dry/freeze/inject chemicals into it! Now we're talking! No more mad rush to get the products to the stores! Air cargo? We don't need no stinking air cargo! Which is easier to store, fresh food that often needs a controlled environment, or "dry goods" that can often be stored anywhere (comparatively speaking, anyway)? No wonder TV dinners are loaded with sodium.

Some foods aren't even that complicated. Most junk food contains processed ingredients that only vaguely resemble what they came from (which looks healthier - a sugar beet or a palmful of white grains?). That stuff begins its life as processed food! 

Processed foods can also be stuffed into uniform packaging (try that with a fresh pineapple or a bunch of bananas!), which makes them easier to ship and store in bulk (easier = cheaper). If they're dried, salted, or otherwise preserved without freezing, they can stay put for months, or even longer. Looked at the expiration date on a can of green beans lately?

Paul Eilers, a blogger for Foxnews.com, in trying to explain why health food is so much harder and more expensive to come by than junk food, summed it up pretty well:

"Producing junk food scales; producing fresh vegetables doesn't. Which means (a) junk food can be very cheap, and (b) it's worth spending a lot to market it."

Should we be surprised, then, when people can pay less for candy bars than they do for sunflower seeds? And in this economy, which can we really expect America to turn to? Until we come up with a cheaper way to move bananas and oranges, the answer is obvious.

Hopefully I won't fall into that trap. Now, pardon me while I go tear into an individually-wrapped store-brand granola bar. Peanut butter flavored, of course! Hey, I've got a banana to go with it!

Posted by Sean Murphy on April 25, 2008 | Comments (0)