The High Price of Cheap Food

Scott LaFee on Sep 2, 2026

Dollar stores aren't classified as traditional grocery stores and so aren't usually included in studies comparing access to healthy foods with customers' health. But they do sell food, mostly stuff with long shelf lives.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, looked at the distribution of dollar stores (there are more than 34,000 nationwide with surrounding health indexes). In parts of the country where dollar stores were more prevalent and presumably more likely to be a source of groceries, health indices were lower.

"I want to raise awareness that higher grocery costs are pushing people to buy highly processed, lower quality food at dollar stores, and it is negatively impacting their health in a similar way to fast food," said Ryan Bruellman, a UCR genetics, genomics and bioinformatics doctoral student and the study's first author.

Body of Knowledge

Looped back and forth on itself, the small intestine fits neatly in your lower torso. Stretched out, it is 18 to 23 feet long in a typical adult, or roughly four times as long as the average person is tall.

Mark Your Calendar

September is awareness month for blood and childhood cancers, food safety, cholesterol, sickle cell disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, sepsis, sports eye safety and pediculosis prevention. Yep, make sure your kids aren't taking some little buddies (head lice) back to school or bringing them home.

Doc Talk

Pandiculation: Generally refers to all of those things you do when you first wake up, such as stretching and yawning

Phobia of the Week

Scotophobia: Fear of the dark (Scottophobia is, of course, a fear of me.)

Life in Big Macs

One hour of vacuuming burns 238 calories (based on a 150-pound person), the equivalent of 0.3 Big Macs.

Best Medicine

Obstetrician: I'm going to deliver your baby.

Soon-to-be parents: Actually, we'd like him to keep his liver.

Hypochondriac's Guide

Uncombable hair syndrome is a rare genetic scalp condition that causes dry, frizzy hair to stick straight out in multiple directions. It is often light blond or silver with a glassy shine. It cannot be combed flat and mostly afflicts famous composers and theoretical physicists.

Observation

"A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow." -- English novelist Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

Medical History

This week in 1978, U.S. scientists announced the production of human-type insulin by a strain of E. coli bacteria that had been genetically engineered using gene-splicing techniques. The work was a joint effort by the biochemical firm Genentech Inc. in San Francisco and the City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles.

A normal body's production of insulin takes place within cells of the pancreas, programmed by certain genes. The scientists synthesized copies of these genes and inserted them into a weakened lab strain of the intestinal microbe Escherichia coli. In 1982, insulin was the first recombinant DNA drug to be marketed as Humulin by Eli Lilly & Co.

Listicle With a Twisticle

The Dirty Dozen Plus, compiled by the Environmental Working Group, lists produce with the highest measured pesticide residues in 2025.

1. Strawberries (consistently highest)

2. Spinach

3. Kale, collard and mustard greens

4. Grapes

5. Peaches

6. Pears

7. Nectarines

8. Apples

9. Bell and hot peppers

10. Cherries

11. Blackberries (newly added)

12. Blueberries

13. Potatoes (rejoined list)

Curtain Calls

The first known fatality from a powered airplane crash was Lt. Thomas Selfridge (1882-1908), who was riding as a passenger on a demonstration flight of a plane being considered by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Propeller damage and failure caused the plane to crash in midflight. The pilot was Orville Wright, who survived but suffered serious injuries.

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To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.