It was (and is) fairly hard to cut junk food out of my diet. I was talking with Aaron and Nan Kennard the other day about cutting out certain foods and I mentioned I have been struggling with cutting foods with processed sugars out of my diet. I still haven't completely done so - they're so damn addictive. Also, I have trouble giving up ice cream - what do they put in there? It's so damn good. I can easily put down a half gallon in a day or two.
I only bring this up because there was an interesting view presented in an op-ed about junk food, here. The gist of it is that junk food actually isn't cheaper than non-processed foods and that most people get too many calories, so that the traditional arguments for why poorer individuals eat fast-food or junk food don't hold (it isn't cheaper and they don't need the calories). The article argues that the process of cooking is a hassle and that going out to eat is a luxury that anyone can engage in. That makes some sense. But there are some pretty good quotes from the article:
A 2009 study by the Scripps Research Institute indicates that overconsumption of fast food “triggers addiction-like neuroaddictive responses” in the brain, making it harder to trigger the release of dopamine. In other words the more fast food we eat, the more we need to give us pleasure; thus the report suggests that the same mechanisms underlie drug addiction and obesity. I don't know if eating fast food is just like drug addiction or if it's an analogy, but it's interesting nonetheless. Anyway, just something to think about. Eat well and be happy.