I think that there are two issues here:

It is certainly true that (in the UK) poorer people are more efficient 
in terms of caloric intake per penny than richer people. This is usually 
  because the food habits of poorer people usually predispose them to 
eat foods that are high fat and energy dense. This is for a variety of 
reasons to do including access (physical and economic), taste, being 
'filling', and the need to be sure that food bought will not be wasted.

However I am not so sure that in terms of nutrients this efficiency 
remains. Again, in the UK (and Europe), poorer people can often be 
malnourished which would indicate that diet quality and variety is not 
adequate. Similarly poorer people consume more processed foods for 
reasons of cost. These data can be easily found in the National Dietary 
and Nutrition Surveys undertaken by UK and other government.

Some general publications:

Kohler et al (eds). 1997. Poverty and Food in Welfare Societies. Edition 
Sigma. Berlin.

Low Income Project Team. 1996. Low income,  food, nutrition and health: 
strategies for improvement. Department of Health. London.

Best

Steve Cummins

-- 
Dr Steven Cummins
MRC Fellow
Department of Geography
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road, London E1 4NS

Tel: 020 7882 7653 (direct)
Fax: 020 8981 6276
Email: [log in to unmask]

http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/staff/cummins.html

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