€ We need to look at real foods for real people, the foods that got us through the last depression, € said Adam Drewnowski, an epidemiologist at the University of Micheil € Center for Public Health Nutrition. I € m not going to suggest a nightly diet of stone soup or the cheap fat- and sugar-rich menus of the urban poor.

Eating Well on a Downsized Food Budget Now may be a good time to bring back the basics the nutritious and affordable foods that have been all but forgotten by many affluent families since the Great Depression. Those who have lost jobs may be able to turn some of their unwanted spare time toward the grocery and kitchen. € We must avoid the temptation to turn to cheap, empty calories. Others, like families with two working parents or working single parents, have to carve out time to provide economical, nourishing meals.

But many people who once gave little thought to dining on steak, lobster, asparagus, baby spinach or cr me br l e are now having to spend less on just about everything, including food.

Not only is it possible, but it can improve the health and reduce the girth of Americans, regardless of socioeconomic status.