Why does eating healthy cost so much 🤷♀️
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MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »It really varies based on location, but that seems really high? Did you buy all fresh? I only buy fresh veggies for my salads and then frozen for everything else (veggies that I use for sides, stir-frys, rice bowls etc). I also buy a lot of frozen fruit (smoothies, baking etc), which is cheaper than fresh fruit usually. Fresh fruit I only buy on sale/store's weekly loss leaders. We also use some canned veg/fruit.
Frozen shrimp-I can get 'salad' shrimp, which is cooked/peeled for around $5 a bag/4 servings. What did you pay?just_Tomek wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »Bought fruits, salad, and shrimp from the grocery store and it came to $90.33 🤷♀️🤦♀️😂 Oh well, now to devour it all
WTF? How much of that did you buy? I call BS.
It all depends!
In my area, organic berries (raspberries, blackberries) cost around $5.99-$6.99 per half pint. I usually buy at least 4-6 containers. That’s $24-$42, without accounting for strawberries, blueberries, and all other fruits and veggies. $90.33 sounds very reasonable to me where I live.
That is so disturbing. The blackberries were $1 each today at Kroger. Raspberries $2.99. I got 6 blackberries and 2 raspberries. If they go to $6 I'll shoot myself.
It's not disturbing when you realize people are willing to waste money on a meaningless label.
Often times it has nothing to do with a label and everything to do with where you live. I'm in Pennsylvania. If I want tomatoes in the winter, I'm easily paying $4/lb, but in the summer, I can go to a Farmers Market and get a huge box for $5 for the entire thing. Off season fruits and veggies can be very pricey which is why I try to only buy in season, and when things like green beans are in season, I buy in bulk and freeze.0 -
Think about how much you spend going out to eat. 1 week of food for $90 is equal to about a weeks worth of going out to lunch and starbucks once a day. My inlaws used to go out to eat twice a day at restaurants like chipotle or applebees and have started to only grocery shop, they save $900 a month by eating healthy.0
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102$ will get you this:
I live in a suburb of the SF Bay Area. The bay recently ranked higher, cost of living, than NYC.
Some of this is organic. Some of it is specialty.
I will add proteins (Costco, $1.99/lb chicken and pork) and this will feed me for eons. I will wind up preserving much of it.
ETA: I will also add fats (coconut and OO), vinegars, and nuts. All bulk-purchased at Costco. +Spices, purchased bulk from smaller ethnic groceries.
This did involve 2 grocery stores, and I do live in an area with good grocery access.
This will also take more time than most people will put in to prepare. I don’t have TV or kids. I cook
OP, your replies have been really gracious. I don’t mean to kick a dead horse. But it’s a personal passion, being part of the movement to dispel the myth that ‘healthy’ means expensive or complicated. Some planning, some flexibility//openness to seasonality and availability, and some culinary time and education: it’s possible to eat extraordinarily well, while minding cost, if one doesn’t live in a food dessert. And that’s a whole other issue..7 -
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Even with the prepackaged salads that total seems cheap to me for what you got. I spend 200+ per week on groceries.. I get pretty excited when raspberries are $5 per container. I think ultimately food costs depend on where you live. I'm in Alaska so there is a shipping cost added to everything. We don't have fresh farmers markets to speak of. I do belong to a CSA in the summer, but even that is a few hundred dollars per month. I'll never forget when I went to Illinois and seeing the prices of produce in the stores, it was so cheap! I was completely envious and wanted to hoard it all, lol.3
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cmriverside wrote: »Geez. I live in Seattle which is a pretty expensive city and I can buy enough shrimp for four servings for $5.99, a large bunch of romaine, some peppers, tomatoes, carrots and avocado for another $6, and then enough fresh fruit to last me a week for another four or five dollars.
Where do you live?
I’m in Memphis and a single piece of any fresh fruit other than bananas or tiny cooking apples sold by the bag is usually more than a dollar, as is a single small avocado. A bunch of romaine is several dollars. A single pepper is more than a dollar. Carrots are cheap, and tomatoes are cheap in season but not presently. Shrimp, even frozen is very expensive, even for small shrimp. Farmers markets are more expensive than the grocery store. Enough fruit for a day, not a week, meaning two or three servings, would cost me well over five dollars.
About the only fresh produce cheap here is potatoes.2 -
MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »It really varies based on location, but that seems really high? Did you buy all fresh? I only buy fresh veggies for my salads and then frozen for everything else (veggies that I use for sides, stir-frys, rice bowls etc). I also buy a lot of frozen fruit (smoothies, baking etc), which is cheaper than fresh fruit usually. Fresh fruit I only buy on sale/store's weekly loss leaders. We also use some canned veg/fruit.
Frozen shrimp-I can get 'salad' shrimp, which is cooked/peeled for around $5 a bag/4 servings. What did you pay?just_Tomek wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »Bought fruits, salad, and shrimp from the grocery store and it came to $90.33 🤷♀️🤦♀️😂 Oh well, now to devour it all
WTF? How much of that did you buy? I call BS.
It all depends!
In my area, organic berries (raspberries, blackberries) cost around $5.99-$6.99 per half pint. I usually buy at least 4-6 containers. That’s $24-$42, without accounting for strawberries, blueberries, and all other fruits and veggies. $90.33 sounds very reasonable to me where I live.
That is so disturbing. The blackberries were $1 each today at Kroger. Raspberries $2.99. I got 6 blackberries and 2 raspberries. If they go to $6 I'll shoot myself.
It's not disturbing when you realize people are willing to waste money on a meaningless label.
$2 here for both (regular, not organic, and of course it's out of season). (Frozen are still cheaper, though.)2 -
WholeFoods4Lyfe wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »It really varies based on location, but that seems really high? Did you buy all fresh? I only buy fresh veggies for my salads and then frozen for everything else (veggies that I use for sides, stir-frys, rice bowls etc). I also buy a lot of frozen fruit (smoothies, baking etc), which is cheaper than fresh fruit usually. Fresh fruit I only buy on sale/store's weekly loss leaders. We also use some canned veg/fruit.
Frozen shrimp-I can get 'salad' shrimp, which is cooked/peeled for around $5 a bag/4 servings. What did you pay?just_Tomek wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »Bought fruits, salad, and shrimp from the grocery store and it came to $90.33 🤷♀️🤦♀️😂 Oh well, now to devour it all
WTF? How much of that did you buy? I call BS.
It all depends!
In my area, organic berries (raspberries, blackberries) cost around $5.99-$6.99 per half pint. I usually buy at least 4-6 containers. That’s $24-$42, without accounting for strawberries, blueberries, and all other fruits and veggies. $90.33 sounds very reasonable to me where I live.
That is so disturbing. The blackberries were $1 each today at Kroger. Raspberries $2.99. I got 6 blackberries and 2 raspberries. If they go to $6 I'll shoot myself.
It's not disturbing when you realize people are willing to waste money on a meaningless label.
Often times it has nothing to do with a label and everything to do with where you live. I'm in Pennsylvania. If I want tomatoes in the winter, I'm easily paying $4/lb, but in the summer, I can go to a Farmers Market and get a huge box for $5 for the entire thing. Off season fruits and veggies can be very pricey which is why I try to only buy in season, and when things like green beans are in season, I buy in bulk and freeze.
Oh I understand that location and seasons can dictate prices, but that wasn't what I was talking about. I was talking about the people who purposefully waste money buying organic because it's "better".4 -
purplefizzy wrote: »102$ will get you this:
I live in a suburb of the SF Bay Area. The bay recently ranked higher, cost of living, than NYC.
Some of this is organic. Some of it is specialty.
I will add proteins (Costco, $1.99/lb chicken and pork) and this will feed me for eons. I will wind up preserving much of it.
ETA: I will also add fats (coconut and OO), vinegars, and nuts. All bulk-purchased at Costco. +Spices, purchased bulk from smaller ethnic groceries.
This did involve 2 grocery stores, and I do live in an area with good grocery access.
This will also take more time than most people will put in to prepare. I don’t have TV or kids. I cook
OP, your replies have been really gracious. I don’t mean to kick a dead horse. But it’s a personal passion, being part of the movement to dispel the myth that ‘healthy’ means expensive or complicated. Some planning, some flexibility//openness to seasonality and availability, and some culinary time and education: it’s possible to eat extraordinarily well, while minding cost, if one doesn’t live in a food dessert. And that’s a whole other issue..
Yes maybe better planning is needed. I admit I don’t do that much and I usually just buy what I want instantly without looking for the sale lol1 -
britishbombshell08 wrote: »purplefizzy wrote: »102$ will get you this:
I live in a suburb of the SF Bay Area. The bay recently ranked higher, cost of living, than NYC.
Some of this is organic. Some of it is specialty.
I will add proteins (Costco, $1.99/lb chicken and pork) and this will feed me for eons. I will wind up preserving much of it.
ETA: I will also add fats (coconut and OO), vinegars, and nuts. All bulk-purchased at Costco. +Spices, purchased bulk from smaller ethnic groceries.
This did involve 2 grocery stores, and I do live in an area with good grocery access.
This will also take more time than most people will put in to prepare. I don’t have TV or kids. I cook
OP, your replies have been really gracious. I don’t mean to kick a dead horse. But it’s a personal passion, being part of the movement to dispel the myth that ‘healthy’ means expensive or complicated. Some planning, some flexibility//openness to seasonality and availability, and some culinary time and education: it’s possible to eat extraordinarily well, while minding cost, if one doesn’t live in a food dessert. And that’s a whole other issue..
Yes maybe better planning is needed. I admit I don’t do that much and I usually just buy what I want instantly without looking for the sale lol
I feel like I spend more money sometimes when I look at sales and buy things I didn't really need. lol0 -
Even with the prepackaged salads that total seems cheap to me for what you got. I spend 200+ per week on groceries.. I get pretty excited when raspberries are $5 per container. I think ultimately food costs depend on where you live. I'm in Alaska so there is a shipping cost added to everything. We don't have fresh farmers markets to speak of. I do belong to a CSA in the summer, but even that is a few hundred dollars per month. I'll never forget when I went to Illinois and seeing the prices of produce in the stores, it was so cheap! I was completely envious and wanted to hoard it all, lol.
Oh wow, see when you put it like that.... I got off pretty good lol. That’s so crazy, never though about having the high shipping costs added in if living in a place like Alaska, that sucks 🤦♀️0 -
A medium size garden salad wit 1 cup of tuna platter with a bottle water cost me $16. I will say this...buying healthy products ( greens/veggies/fresh fruits) cost way less than buying meats and junk food.1
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sharbankst wrote: »A medium size garden salad wit 1 cup of tuna platter with a bottle water cost me $16. I will say this...buying healthy products ( greens/veggies/fresh fruits) cost way less than buying meats and junk food.
where at? are you talking like a go into a grocery store salad bar to buy a salad type place (where they charge by the oz?)2 -
Shop at aldi, its the best!4
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not only if your eating healthy for yourself but for your family, family of 5 eating fresh fruits and veggies is ridiculous, i try to supplement with my garden3
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I live in a country where preparing food at home is still cheaper then fast food. I visit the local farmer's market once a week - on a Wednesday they have a huge selection of half price fruit and vegetable products. In summer I prepare a huge bowl of mixed salad for the whole family - the trick is to constantly change the (homemade) salad dressings. We grow lots of herbs - a small balcony is all it takes. In Winter we prepare different kinds of homemade soups, again different flavours are important. We live at the coast and fish is cheap, plentiful and fresh. Generally meat is expensive here but locally produced ostrich is very tasty. But so far (after one year of weight loss) MFP and all those helpful and supportive members are the biggest bonus - plenty of information available and clever meal ideas as well.7
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britishbombshell08 wrote: »Bought fruits, salad, and shrimp from the grocery store and it came to $90.33 🤷♀️🤦♀️😂 Oh well, now to devour it all
Wow, that's nearly a month worth of groceries for me. I spend about 100 Euro per month on groceries. I usually have about 100gr of meat or fish with my dinner, a proper portion of veggies, and fill up the rest of my calories with rice, pasta, potatoes, or other such things. Breakfast is oats with skyr, raisins, and whatever fruit there is at the office (yay, free fruit). Dinner is bread with cheese, thinly sliced chicken, turkey or ham. With a few grapes or nuts from the office inbetween. Two candy bars each day, one with lunch, the other after dinner.2 -
Asparagus is in season - April being the high season for it - and it is currently $3.49/lb in the local Kroger's. That's in the interior PacNW. That is NOT organic. The only reason it is not $1.99/lbs. like it was at the end of March is because of some religious holiday(s).
Walmart may have kept their price at $1.99/lbs., but they also sold completely out well before those holidays with no apparent intent to restock any time soon.
The regional farmers market doesn't start up until May and only runs to October. The more commercial FF&V stands that operate longer located on vacant lot/street corners prices are sometimes even more than Kroger's.
Fresh fruit and vegetables (FF&V) is spendy in some areas; it all depends on supply lines and cost of goods sold (COGS - aka cost of inventory carried) to the seller. And, clearly, greed. That is why while SFO may have a higher cost of living that NY, I am paying substantially more for FF&V than someone living there at the moment when it comes to grocery stores.
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not only if your eating healthy for yourself but for your family, family of 5 eating fresh fruits and veggies is ridiculous, i try to supplement with my garden
It really depends on the particular fruits and veggies. Kale, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage are all in the cruciferous vegetables family and have wildly different prices per pound. Also, the price can vary per week - I've seen cauliflower as low as $2 per head to as high as $4.50 per head at the same store. I stock up on carrots and cabbage when they are on sale for St Patrick's day and they are good for a few months. (IME, baby carrots have a much shorter shelf life than whole carrots.)
Like others have said, when berries aren't in season I get them frozen - frozen strawberries are $2 a pound at Market Basket and while definitely not as yummy as strawberries from my garden, a perfectly acceptable substitute the other 11 months of the year.
I have chives and scallions ready to eat in my garden now, and will have kale, mint, oregano, and Swiss chard soon, followed by spinach, and later peas, basil, dill and more - can't wait!6 -
Cheap stuff for me to eat healthy:
- Optimum Nutrition natural whey. Gram for gram it's 1/2 the price of discount supermarket chicken.
- Sweet potato and black bean chili. A 24oz can of beans is $1.50, maybe $3 for two sweet potatoes. $2 for veg soup bouillon. Maybe another $4 in salsa, tomatoes, and spices. Serves 4, plus leftovers for tomorrow.
- Full fat yogurt. $4, 3-4 rather heavy duty servings.
- Broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, peas. All fried up in sesame oil. $3 ? You can buy the frozen versions as well.
- Natural non-roasted non-salted almonds are much less munch-able. I eat them, but I don't compulsively snack on them.
- Ground turkey, chopped cabbage, chopped bell pepper, taco seasoning, can of beans. $15? Feeds 4, plus leftovers.
If you want to eat cheap protein, use whey. If you want to eat "nice" then get shrimp, steak, properly caught salmon, etc.2
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