Is Healthy Food Too Expensive?
New research has highlighted three barriers to eating healthily; income, education level, and perceived price of healthy food.
Higher socioeconomic groups ate less fat, saturated fat and cholesterol and ate more fiber, fruits and vegetables, and had more calcium in their diet. (source)
I would suggest that education is the single biggest barrier to eating a healthy diet. For many people - most nutrition education comes in the form of market-speak from food manufacturers.
The price of wholesome food is the subject of considerable debate. Many argue that they can source fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods at cheap prices. This comes from using farmers markets, bulk buying, or from other whole food stores.
The thing is, the supermarket became popular for a reason. Time and convenience: the one stop shop.
Anecdotally, I believe that certain healthier options (via the supermarket) are more expensive. Fresh fruit and vegetables, lean cuts of meat and poultry - are more expensive than white bread and poor-quality sausages (for example).
However, with enough education, it is possible to help balance the equation. Buying oats instead of high-priced sugary cereals (for example), buying produce in season, drinking more water instead of sweetened drinks, are just a few ideas.
Any more ideas for reducing the cost of healthier foods?
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And it is a no-brainer type meal too. You can make a salad the same way in the summer - beans, lentils, any kind of meat you have, whatever vegetables. It is "leftover soup" when it is cold, and "leftover salad" when it is hot.
ReplyI thought I said this already but I think my comment got eaten.
ReplyAnyway- it's not realistic to expect most people to be able to buy bottled water. That's a luxury that a lot of people can't afford.
ReplyNot to mention it is a burden on the environment, if everytime you drink water you are getting it from a single-serving bottle.
First thing is determine what can be bought in bulk at Costco or a place like it. Massive sacks of dried beans and rice are available (I don't really eat much of either but these can be part of a sensible diet) - what I do is buy 3 pound bags of raw broccoli florets every two weeks, a big container of pre-peeled garlic cloves (not pickled - I am surprised how much these cloves keep their kick; I personally cannot distinguish these cloves from freshly peeled.) about once a month, a massive bundle of asparagus every 2 weeks or so, and a 4-pack of romaine lettuce twice a month.
I also buy pre-wrapped individual portions of Kirkland-brand boneless/skinless chicken breasts - they come in packs of...maybe 8 breasts, I think. Also, they don't appear to be brined (unlike the pre-frozen portions) which I like. These are much cheaper by the pound than buying chicken breasts from the supermarket in smaller portions.
Then I visit the supermarket for tomatoes, mushrooms, and a few other items that Costco doesn't sell, or that don't keep well. I have noticed that Roma tomatoes tend to be the cheapest kind, and they work fine for my purposes, so I buy them rather than the gourmet hot house / hydroponic tomatoes. Romas are usually something like $1.49 - $1.99 a pound vs. $3.99 a pound for the neon-red hothouse ones.
I have to say that one thing that really adds to cost is spoilage. An ideal scenario is that you shop daily and buy the freshest ingredients and only as much as you need, to cook in pre-planned meals. I am particularly sensitive to the suburban situation where you have to drive to get anywhere, and where there are few mixed-purpose zoning areas where you have homes near stores.
At least part of the problem with obesity, and why people eat processed foods has got to be suburbanization - longer commuting times, and the impracticality of walking anywhere as a normal part of daily life (I walk, but I do it just to exercise, which is tedious beyond belief). Ideally, we'd get home from work and have the time to take a 20 minute walk to the store, buy just what we need, walk home, and cook a healthy meal.
Still, I have adapted my diet and shopping habits to achieve some sort of balance. Both broccoli and asparagus are durable vegetables to store, so I've standardized on them as my "most used green vegetables" and stock them as a matter of habit, buying other vegetables sporadically as I use them in recipes.
A few months ago, The Nation did a "food issue" where someone contended that it wasn't so much that quality food was expensive, but that junk food was artificially cheap (as a result of corn subsidies and so on). I'm curious about this...
ReplyIggy, very helpful post.
On the subject of durable vegetables, I can't stress how much I love Chinese cabbage. It lasts forever. You can eat it sauteed or in stir-frys and it can replace lettuce in a salad without the... side-effects, if you will, of regular cabbage. It is huge, but it easily lasts 1 month in the vegetable crisper, without spoiling. At most you'll toss the two outer leaves and eat the rest.
Replymy boyfriend, who never has the money for healthy food, spends more per week on choclate milk, candy bars, little debbies, and food off the roach coach at work than I do buying natural and organic foods. I rarely spend over 30 dollars a week to feed myself.
ReplyThis is the argument my sister-in-law gives me...I am currently living with her family to help them through a crisis, and I am incredibly frustrated. I have lost 200 lbs by ditching the SAD and "typical" couch-potato lifestyle for veganism and green simplicty. Now I have to prepare meals for these children that have absolutely NO real food in them (every morsel is super-processed/engineered/refined CRAP loaded with sugar, sodium, hydrogenated fats) The kids and the adults here are constantly sick, tired, depressed, angry, grouchy, and MISERABLE. S-I-L knows a thing or two about nutrition, but claims she can't afford healthy food...but then hands me a grocery list that includes roughly one case of soda PER DAY, several boxes of "juice" pouches per week, lots of sweet, colorful cereal, chips, snacks (that would last a decade without spoiling), etc. And chocolate milk. And cigarettes. And pizza, Chinese, Burger King mega-meals several times a week. Scented candles (at least 5 a week, they are always lit in every room). The amount of money spent on medications for absolutely preventable illnesses is incredibly ironic! Not to mention the video games, toys, electronic gadgets, DVD's, and other STUFF that the family HAS TO HAVE that are used briefly then forgotten or broken. And the amount of food that goes to waste here turns my stomach. I am running out of patience and sympathy... every parent who claims to be too poor to feed their children healthy food in this country might be shocked into reality if they kept a journal of exactly where their money is going and how much they waste. We cannot afford NOT to feed our children well!!!! Thank you for giving this very concerned auntie a chance to vent. ;-P
ReplySometimes we preach to change others, and sometimes we preach so that others do not change us!
You stay strong, Jeanette, knowing you are doing it well, and you are not the only one :-)
Replyhuh!
ReplyI think it is quaint to hear all of the "oh, when I was poor" stories. And it is fascinating to hear everyone's "oh, all you have to do is...." suggestions. Not that I am dismissing all of your comments out of hand - there have been some valid points... but it still remains a fact that I pay $5 for a gallon of milk and $.50 for a 2L cola. Yes, some privileged people spend as much money on junk food as they could easily spend on healty food. But when you depend on the city bus for transport, and work from can to can't, and don't have someone to do all of your homecooking for you, and you only have $50 a week to feed a family of 4... that $1 frozen pizza is WAY more attractive than a several dollars worth of chicken...
ReplyJust try to remember that the people who are impacted the most are NOT lazy over privileged middle Americans who just don't feel like cooking after work a full 7 hour day in an air-conditioned office... It is a shame that those kinds of people are turning everyone off to the whole issue...
Alicia!
ReplyI don't know if food co-ops are available where you live. I used to donate some work time to one where I live, and in return I was able to buy much healthier foods at a reduced price from them. Perhaps something like that would be helpful.
Alicia, the real issues sadly cannot be solved with a few helpful hints on a diet blog. They are political issues - city planning and zoning, transportation, labor laws... It is not that we are turning off to them, it is that they cannot be handled here at all.
And while this will not solve your or anyone else's real issues, I find this site really helpful:
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/
Replythank you .
Reply