I try and give the general population a little more credit on these food issues - it appears to me that the main factor is time. People do not have enough time and energy to prepare every meal from whole fruits/veggies/whatever. Certainly laziness/lack of food education is an issue, but working eight hours plus an hour commute each way (like in the DC region) knocks out ten hours of your day already. Now adding on top of that the time it takes to think of a meal idea, purchase the goods, and prepare them, and this becomes an exhausting affair - one that never ends! And three meals a day? People need more free time to take care of themselves.
I try and give the general population a little more credit on these food issues - it appears to me that the main factor is time. People do not have enough time and energy to prepare every meal from whole fruits/veggies/whatever. Certainly laziness/lack of food education is an issue, but working eight hours plus an hour commute each way (like in the DC region) knocks out ten hours of your day already. Now adding on top of that the time it takes to think of a meal idea, purchase the goods, and prepare them, and this becomes an exhausting affair - one that never ends! And three meals a day? People need more free time to take care of themselves.