ABSTRACT
The US population pays for the cost of poor diets many times over. Consumers pay once for the foods that they buy at grocery stores and restaurants; twice for the healthcare required to treat diet-related diseases; and three times in the reduced quality of life they experience, owing to sickness and early death. Much of the economic burden of diet-related disease is also borne by the federal government, which subsidizes health and nutrition programs for millions of people. These costs represent the true health costs of our diets and are key considerations for applying the True Cost Accounting framework to the food system. However, the utility of this framework will ultimately depend on how—and which—actors play a role in accounting for the consequences and true costs of the current food system.
