European Poor Not Getting Their Five a Day Say EU

People in the lowest income quartile in the EU are going without fresh fruit and vegetables to save, and a higher proportion are buying cheaper cuts of meat or buying less meat because of money concerns. This practice is occurring throughout Europe, but there are vast differences between Member States.

The findings from the European Quality of Life Survey 2016 show that economising on fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as meat, is less common in western and northern EU countries such as Sweden, Ireland, Austria and Finland; whereas it was much more common in eastern EU Member States such as Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Slovakia.

Differences were significant on the extreme ends of the scale. For example, 6% of people on the lowest incomes in Sweden have gone without fresh fruit and vegetables to save, whereas this was 42% of those on the lowest incomes in Bulgaria.

ABC Note: Epicurus (Greek Philosopher) belived, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by ataraxia—peace and freedom from fear—and aponia—the absence of pain—and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that the root of all human neurosis was death denial, and the tendency for human beings to assume that death will be horrific and painful, which he claimed causes unnecessary anxiety, selfish self-protective behaviors, and hypocrisy. According to Epicurus, death is the end of both the body and the soul and therefore should not be feared. He also taught that the gods neither reward nor punish humans; that the universe is infinite and eternal; and that occurrences in the natural world are ultimately the result of atoms moving and interacting in empty space. Courtesy Wikipedia.

We say eating properly is key to a happy life and the absense of illness and suffering.