Dori wrote:
. " I firmly believe many poor people are fat because starch is cheap."

You're absolutely right, Dori. In 1987 I wrote a thesis about how the USRDA is tied to the food stamp program. In short, if the government dieticians suggested children need a lot more protein or vitamin C, for example, someone has to find a way to pay for meats and vegetables. Or admit to the public that we really aren't the best fed nation on earth. Regardless of anyone's politics, the fact that the RDA always goes down despite the monumental evidence that we need more nutrients has a lot more to do with economics than health sciences. Macaroni and beans are cheap. It's as simple as that.
Monique