Why aren't healthier foods priced lower than junk foods?

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pastorcaz
pastorcaz Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Have you noticed that most buy one get one free and special offers are on junk food and high in fats and sugar? We have an obesity problem in this country and the supermarkets and government are not helping the situation. Food is an addiction just like smoking and drinking, yet the amount of help available is nil in comparison. I've just started getting together with other people who need to lose weight. If the government are not going to support us then people need to get into small self help groups and support each other. I'm not prepared to pay the high prices of weight watchers and slimming world just to weigh in and talk about food when we can do that for nothing. Get like minded people together near you. I only mentioned it last Monday in our area and we have 9 already signed up to meet weekly and we have a FaceBook page called Ibs for £'s. Some of us are raising money for charities by getting sponsors too to give more incentive to slimming. Start a support group near you and write letters to the supermarkets and government asking for them to help the obesity issues that are draining the NHS in the country. Together we can make a difference.
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Replies

  • blably
    blably Posts: 490 Member
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    i guess i can be happy to live in a place where gmo food isnt allowed to be old, and where fast food costs more than a normal lunch at a restaurant
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
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    Oh good grief :noway:
  • latewinterwolf
    latewinterwolf Posts: 79
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    Id love to know were you go shopping. general rule of thumb is to avoid at all costs big name supermarkets like tescos, asda etc (in uk anyway) and go to lidl EVERYTHING is cheap in lidl veg considerably more so. or if all else fails to and find a local farmers market
    Using junk food is cheaper is an invalid excuse because its not. You just need to shop around
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    Not this one again. If you shop around prepare you own food avoid things like ready meals eating healthier foods is no more expensive. It just takes people to actually cook their own food and no cooking your own healthy meals doesn't tajke an age just google and there are plenty of cheap quick healthy meals that can be done. The problem though is people want the work done for them.
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,179 Member
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    Have you noticed that most buy one get one free and special offers are on junk food and high in fats and sugar? We have an obesity problem in this country and the supermarkets and government are not helping the situation.
    Not their responsibility. The choose is on you, me and everbody else to either buy or not buy.
    Food is an addiction just like smoking and drinking
    Food is not an addiction. People my be addicted to surgar or to fats, in general people are not addicted to food.
    If the government are not going to support us

    They wont at the end of the day it is the people who choose to buy what they buy.. but don't worry, I predict that the government will tax higher the junk food.
    I'm not prepared to pay the high prices of weight watchers and slimming world just to weigh in and talk about food when we can do that for nothing.
    You have no idea what weight waters is..
  • plumsparkle
    plumsparkle Posts: 203 Member
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    If you are in the uk aldi sell a big range of fruit and veg each week for 39p and 69p! But even without that, i still save each week by not buying the crisps, biscuits and junk i used to buy, and cooking meals from scratch not using prepared sauces and things.
  • arl1286
    arl1286 Posts: 276 Member
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    This is the way economics works.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    What makes a food 'healthy' or 'unhealthy'?

    For instance, there's all sorts of benefits to getting the right amount of fat.
    It also tends to feel more 'filling'.

    I would suggest food is an addiction like MFP. I spend too much time with both.
    Never found alcohol addictive personally, so yes, like that too for me.
    Or any other 'thing' that people like doing.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    I've saved lots of money in the past year, we don't go out to eat as often. I look for sales on everything else, shop at the farmers markets etc. Now that I am actually eating a smaller portion of items, this usually means there are leftovers, so that also helps with cost.

    This is just one more excuse in the long list people use.

    I also don't label anything as junk or bad, but that's a whole different discussion.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    I love how "Government must support us!" is the first resort, and "If government won't support us, maybe we should just make better decisions for ourselves" is second.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    I love how "Government must support us!" is the first resort, and "If government won't support us, maybe we should just make better decisions for ourselves" is second.

    I was staying away from the government part of it, cause my opinion on that would probably get me a strike
  • lambchoplewis
    lambchoplewis Posts: 797
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    I agree that healthy food is more expensive than fat laden foods. Look at the mcdonalds dollar menu-do u see a salad or French fries?? The fries win every time. I eat healthy with fresh foods, veggies, skinless chicken, fish etc but the coupons for this type of food are few and far in between. I look at ads for all our grocery stores just to find veggies in sale or other foods. It takes longer but worth it.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
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    To answer the topic, not going to read the full question paragraph since there's no stops or breaks:

    Because it's bulk-made making it cheaper,
    because some 'junk' food isn't even really food,
    because when making the 'junk' food, many ingredients are added, allowing 1 meal to be made from less of everything. (if that makes sense.)
  • KeziaMalik
    KeziaMalik Posts: 4
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    Even in supermarkets the prices aren't bad for fruit and veg. I did a weekly shop in Marks and Spencer recently and there were loads of deals on the fruits and vegetables and pretty much all of their salad was on buy one get one free or half price. Buying loose produce always seems to dramatically reduce cost as well.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    OP you must be joking. :noway:
  • KentWhiteRabbit
    KentWhiteRabbit Posts: 92 Member
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    In answer to the topic question. They aren't!

    Currently available at my local supermarket to feed a family of 4.

    Easy 'junk' food
    Pukka pies (on offer) x 4 = £4
    McCain Chips = £2.60
    Frozen peas = £1.50
    Total = £8.10

    Healthier option (homemade shepherds pie)
    Lean mince = £4
    Potatoes = £2
    Carrots = 78p
    Cabbage = 80p
    Add 50p for stock cube and seasoning
    Total £8.08

    It really is possible to eat well cheaply, it is just used as an excuse. Shop around, and eat in season veg, and learn how to cook cheaper cuts of meat.
  • mlauster
    mlauster Posts: 60 Member
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    Really? You control what you put in your cart, don't you? I've never gone to the store where they forced me to junk food in my cart.

    The majority of my shopping is done around the perimeter of the store. I feed a family of 4 and our Bearded Dragon, Si for $25 or less a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. When it is on sale I buy my chicken breast and pork in bulk and portion it out when I get home. And in the summer I grow my own veggies!

    It is totally cheaper, you just have to want it and get rid of the excuses.
  • Greytfish
    Greytfish Posts: 810
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    Food is not an addiction.

    Behavior becomes habit. You either make good habits or bad ones, but you always have the ability to make new ones by changing your behavior.

    Less healthy and more processed foods have more sales and promotions because...someone's selling them and promoting them to make a profit.

    Unprocessed whole foods have no such promo backing and often cost more to transport and store, so less profit.
  • sunseeker100
    sunseeker100 Posts: 90 Member
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    Have you noticed that most buy one get one free and special offers are on junk food and high in fats and sugar? We have an obesity problem in this country and the supermarkets and government are not helping the situation. Food is an addiction just like smoking and drinking, yet the amount of help available is nil in comparison. I've just started getting together with other people who need to lose weight. If the government are not going to support us then people need to get into small self help groups and support each other. I'm not prepared to pay the high prices of weight watchers and slimming world just to weigh in and talk about food when we can do that for nothing. Get like minded people together near you. I only mentioned it last Monday in our area and we have 9 already signed up to meet weekly and we have a FaceBook page called Ibs for £'s. Some of us are raising money for charities by getting sponsors too to give more incentive to slimming. Start a support group near you and write letters to the supermarkets and government asking for them to help the obesity issues that are draining the NHS in the country. Together we can make a difference.


    I do understand what you mean..I think. .I live in the UK and can easily fall back into junk food eating and find it very difficult to keep my willpower in check in a supermarket. me and my partner often comment when in Asda or Tesco about the amount of special offers on primarily junk food e.g. bag of 100 chicken dippers for £1, bag of oven chips £1, large bars/bags of chocolate £1 and all these are situated at the end of aisles to get the most shoppers seeing them. Now I do believe that we are all able to chose what to buy, but if a mother is surrounded by her children asking for this sort of food it must be very difficult to keep saying no all the time. I do see some offers on fresh veg, fruit and meat but I can understand why someone who is struggling with money to resort to those things I mentioned earlier which may last at least 3 or 4 meals, instead of buying fresh chicken etc just for one meal. Even on special offers it can cost around £5 for 3 chicken breasts.....and all the time we're being told not to buy battery chicken etc but organic/free range is so expensive. I do buy organic as I can afford to, but there was a time when I was that mother having to provide hot meals on very little income. Do I spend less than £5 on main meals or at least double that....whilst having to pay out for everything else that children need. Some people don't have that luxury to choose.

    Personally, I do feel addicted to food, even if it's not physically possible and I'm currently following a low carb/high fat approach and I'm reading as much as I can about sugar and nutrition to educate myself. I am among those who feel the government need to change their advice (same as Sweden) and start to pressure the food industry to make changes and one of those would be to make high added sugar foods not as discounted. I've noticed in the UK press this is getting quite a bit of air time at the moment so I'll be watching with interest.

    A farmers market is great if you are close to one or have transport, but they are not available everywhere. We have one close to where I live which sells buffalo, venison and artisan foods....not what I'd call cheap meat and veg.

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