jones
Posted : 11/27/2006 1:07:06 PM
Eating healthily is expensive. Whether at the grocery store or McDonald's it seems the healthiest choices have a price premium attached. Its a shame. Especially in the US where the government subsidizes corn production leading to ultra cheap junk food ingredients like high fructose corn syrup.
Yes and no. It's true that fillers and corn-everything are super cheap... the cheapest possible diet in the short run would be nothing but junk food. However, like we say about our dogs, the "vet bills" are eventually going to even out the cost. I used to always think it was more expensive to eat healthy but I've found that's not the case at all... it's just one of those things you have to educate yourself about rather than running out and buying a package labeled "Healthy." To take just one example, which do you think is more expensive - a jar of premade tomato sauce (full of salt and sugar), or a couple of tomatoes, a couple cloves of garlic, a quarter of an onion, and a dash of salt?
I eat healthy and I don't spend a lot on groceries. For feeding my boyfriend and myself I don't have the convenience of picking up a bag of kibble, but I do have my grocery shopping down to a routine that keeps me from wasting money.
Produce is relatively inexpensive, and one way I keep the veggies up in the my diet while keeping the price down is I buy frozen veggies a lot. Frozen vegetables are as healthy as fresh and very cheap and easy to use in meals... not all frozen veggies taste good but I buy a lot of frozen broccoli and spinach. These dark leafy greens are super healthy and full of B vitamins which is important for us since we don't eat meat. Another thing to keep in mind about produce... organic is expensive and it's not always the way to go now that organic farming has merged with big agribusiness. It's far better to buy locally and in season than to buy organic, and buying in season keeps prices down since you are not paying for cross-continental shipping.
Meat is expensive! Chicken in particular has gone way up in price of late. Before I went veggie I saw prices go up from about $4 for a 3-pack of boneless breasts to about $8 (in Boston). Tempeh and tofu are not that expensive and are much better for you too. We do still eat fish, which is expensive, but it's more of an occasional indulgence and also a go-to for restaurant meals. Beans are another good protein source and they are cheap, cheap, cheap! And one more as long as you're not vegan - eggs are protein-packed and typically about 8 cents each.
Another way to eat healthy and cheap - we go to Whole Foods where you can buy grains, beans, flour, etc. from bulk bins, priced by the pound, and this is very inexpensive. You're not paying for packaging plus you get the added bonus of reducing waste.
I think one more big reason why people think of healthy food as expensive is that people are so used to eating gigantic portions... which you almost have to do if you are eating a lot of white flour and other fillers. (By the way, high fructose corn syrup has been found to flip "off" the chemical in your brain that tells you you are full, and causes overeating!) You will find if you eat a comparable meal made of whole grains and fresh vegetables and healthy proteins, you don't have to eat as much to feel full and you'll have more energy to boot. This means you eat less and spend less on food.
If your weekly food budget is $20 you could easily eat well! If you took things like toilet paper and cleaning products out of my grocery receipts, in a typical week I probably spend about $40 on food for the two of us.