Eating healthy is privilege of the rich?

CyclingDiva

DISAGREE! But you can always look at it this way, pay a little more to eat healthy or pay more in health bills down the road. I think I would chose to be healthy instead of sick, on meds and in the hospital all the time. It pays to be healthy in so many ways!

sarad777

our bills went up significantly eating healthier choices. I also think so many runs to the grocery store for fresh fruit, etc. It's annoying as we used to do once a week. Now we're there 2 or 3 times.

CyclingDiva

Of course this is true. It's cheaper for a family of 3 to eat off the dollar menu at McDonalds every day than prepare three to six well-rounded meals for each family member on a daily basis. I've had to learn to cut my expenses in other areas in order to buy fresh produce/healthy items.

This is actually something I did research on and posted on another topic.

"I actually disagree with the "fact" that it's cheaper to buy fast food than make, say, a salad. A head of iceburg lettuce that will easily feed 4 people costs about $1.79. Let's say you get one full-sized cucumber. That's anywhere from .79 cents to 1 dollar. Let's say croutons are 2 bucks. A bag of carrots is about $1.89. Let's say you even decide to do dressing, that's $3.00. You now have a salad to feed, let's even say just three people for a total of $9.68, but let's just round it up to $10.00 for the sake of argument.
Now, this same family can go to McDonald's and (assuming this 3 person family is two parents and a child) they get two small meals, and one happy meal. Around here, though I know it's different in different states, a small chicken nugget meal is about $4.50 each. A happy meal is about $3.50. You now have an unhealthy meal for three, for about $12.50. Not only is that more expensive, but even if it were the same price, it's still massively unhealthy, and still takes the time of getting up, going to the drive thru, and going back home."

And even off the dollar menu, people will still get a smaller burger for 1 dollar, small fries for 1 dollar, and a small drink for 1 dollar. Let's say that same family of three spends 3 dollars each, that's 9 dollars, only a dollar less expensive than a salad, and over-all, less filling than a salad. They will end up being hungry again later.

YES!!! I started a topic yesterday about people
not eating enough fruit and veggies. I also mention the time it takes to load up in the car and head out to a fast food joint to get unhealthy food. What a waste of time when you could be home preparing healthy meals for your family.

Grokette

I disagree., If you eat fresh food that is in season where you live, it will be fresh, local, and good value. Also if you have a little outside space it's easy to grow a little of your own veg as well.

This ^^^

Since buying into a CSA share, purchasing from local Farmers Markets and buying meats, eggs and raw dairy from local and sustainable sources, our food bill has decreased substantially.

CyclingDiva

our bills went up significantly eating healthier choices. I also think so many runs to the grocery store for fresh fruit, etc. It's annoying as we used to do once a week. Now we're there 2 or 3 times.

My husband and I do our major grocery shopping once a week. If we need more fruit or veggies my husband rides his bike to get it! Trust me when I say, years down the road you'll be thankful you chose to eat healthy. I work in surgery and see so many unhealthy people, young and old. I can't believe how many times a day the docs are talking about cancellong surgeries because the patients are too sick or obese and it's out patient surgery! I say take care of yourself now so you won't be over loaded with hospital bills and bad health later!

girlinahat

our bills went up significantly eating healthier choices. I also think so many runs to the grocery store for fresh fruit, etc. It's annoying as we used to do once a week. Now we're there 2 or 3 times.

'annoying' that you have to go more than once a week for a top-up suggests you don't perhaps appreciate how food should be a pleasant part of your life.

Yes, it's something we have to do to survive, but like breathing, is eating really such a chore? I love my food, I really do, and I want my meals to be exciting and full of flavour. I spend time thinking about what I want to eat, and get pleasure in innumerable trips to the shops to pick up little bits. Food is the source of LIFE and should never be anything but pleasurable. The Chinese believe that your intent and emotions go into your cooking - I think the same could be said from taking the time to source the food that keeps us alive.

brittanyjeanxo

Also, I totally understand the whole price of gas thing here in the U.S. and a lot of people can't afford the gas to make multiple trips a week to the store to re-stock on fruits and bread. For those people that are not within walking distance of a store like I am, here are some suggestions: for things like bananas, mangoes, plantains, tomatoes, or any other fruit that will ripen on your counter, buy those under-ripe a bit so that you can save those things for later in the week. For things that will not ripen any more or don't require any real ripening (such as zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce, etc.) try buying the cheapest brand you can, or at the cheapest store, and eat those toward the beginning of the week. Once those are gone, you still have other things to eat that have now ripened up and will last you the rest of the week.

8rules

I subscribe to the "good enough" philosophy.

You will go broke if you chase after 100% organic everything, but want the convenience of finding it all in one store.

When I can, I hit a farm nearby and stock up.

When I shop, I buy fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the province, but grown anywhere otherwise. So many foods are dirt cheap like cabbage and cauliflower and a big bag of fresh spinach already washed for you.

I will buy fresh or frozen meat so long as the frozen meat is not processed meat. You can get amazing deals on chicken if you are willing to break it down yourself.

Learning to prepare them is key. You gotta be willing to wash and eat raw, or cook from scratch.

Most always when I hear people state that it costs to much to eat healthy, they are talking about "faux healthy convenience foods" like weight watchers or blue menu or other processed nonsense.

Real food is really not as expensive as processed no matter how you look at it. Non organic fresh vegetables are perfectly good food if you cannot afford organic. I would buy non-organic fresh over organic canned ANY DAY!!!

Oishii

Of course this is true. It's cheaper for a family of 3 to eat off the dollar menu at McDonalds every day than prepare three to six well-rounded meals for each family member on a daily basis. I've had to learn to cut my expenses in other areas in order to buy fresh produce/healthy items.

This is actually something I did research on and posted on another topic.

"I actually disagree with the "fact" that it's cheaper to buy fast food than make, say, a salad. A head of iceburg lettuce that will easily feed 4 people costs about $1.79. Let's say you get one full-sized cucumber. That's anywhere from .79 cents to 1 dollar. Let's say croutons are 2 bucks. A bag of carrots is about $1.89. Let's say you even decide to do dressing, that's $3.00. You now have a salad to feed, let's even say just three people for a total of $9.68, but let's just round it up to $10.00 for the sake of argument.
Now, this same family can go to McDonald's and (assuming this 3 person family is two parents and a child) they get two small meals, and one happy meal. Around here, though I know it's different in different states, a small chicken nugget meal is about $4.50 each. A happy meal is about $3.50. You now have an unhealthy meal for three, for about $12.50. Not only is that more expensive, but even if it were the same price, it's still massively unhealthy, and still takes the time of getting up, going to the drive thru, and going back home."

And even off the dollar menu, people will still get a smaller burger for 1 dollar, small fries for 1 dollar, and a small drink for 1 dollar. Let's say that same family of three spends 3 dollars each, that's 9 dollars, only a dollar less expensive than a salad, and over-all, less filling than a salad. They will end up being hungry again later.

YES!!! I started a topic yesterday about people
not eating enough fruit and veggies. I also mention the time it takes to load up in the car and head out to a fast food joint to get unhealthy food. What a waste of time when you could be home preparing healthy meals for your family.

The problem I have with this illustration is that salad is not enough to fuel you. I agree veg is important, but with other things. The study the OP posted looked specifically at fibre, potassium and calcium, so let's add a jacket potato with cheese/tuna Mayo, and maybe a banana for dessert. Now's it's probably not very different from Mc D's, but it's still better for you.

The original article found a correlation between how much was spent on groceries and the quantities present of calcium, fibre and potassium... From which they extrapolated that it is hard for the less wealthy to afford these things... Which it doesn't seem to prove at all to me, as it may simply be a coincidence... Hardly anyone, rich or poor, is tracking those three things!

joseph9

Agree or Disagree?

Personally I agree, it seems like our grocery bill is higher now that we're making better choices food wise.

http://news.yahoo.com/study-healthy-eating-privilege-rich-040251076.html

Mostly disagree. It's *easier* to eat healthy if you have money, but almost everything is easier if you have money. It's completely possible to eat healthy on a tight budget -- take rice, potatoes, slow cooked meats, frozen or canned veggies, and some spices, and you can make lots of healthy inexpensive food.

ahavoc

Disagree. Fresh vegetables and fruit are not that expensive. I make everything from scratch because of food sensitivities, I have to know what is in what I eat. Sometimes I bake for my family. I can't eat any of it, but it is always cheaper to bake than to buy pre-made. And healthier too. Pies are the simplest thing to make, and very cheap. Apple or peach crisp is also easy and healthy, and not that expensive.

I worked in a grocery store for many years. I couldn't believe the crap that people would buy and eat. Fresh, healthy and clean, proper food proportions, and that will keep the food bill down.

lil_missfit

For our home it has been just a tiny bit more and I find myself having to make more than one trip a week to the store. We are snacking on a lot of fruit. That's probably why. At any rate....no one has medical bills....and I haven't had to take my kids to the doctor in over a YEAR!!! They haven't been sick other than a sniffle here and there. My husband and I haven't been sick in over a year either....I have to believe it has something to do with our diet and living a more active lifestyle. It feels good not to have to keep paying co pays for Dr. visits:)) I would sum this up to say...we may be paying more for groceries....but in the end you're saving on avoidable medical bills:))

KayteeBear

When I try to eat fresh foods (like fresh veggies) I definitely shop more often....I prefer to buy frozen veggies on sale though to use for casseroles and such.

I get most of my meat from my dad (yay for meat straight from the farm!!) and eggs from some friends so I do save money there and sometimes I get lots of veggies from my grandma's garden at the end of summer. I do wish to grow a garden some day so that I'll have more veggies but I hate gardening...maybe I can find a way to like it...

I do think it is more expensive though...when I buy some things it will last so much longer before I go have to go shopping but when I'm trying to use fresh veggies and such I end up shopping a lot more and spending more money just by having to buy it more often.

babyblake11

think like 10 bucks for a meal at maccas.
or you could red some brown rice, veggies and chicken for that or less that would serve four or more people!

Thamantha

So I must admit that I haven't read the article the OP was posting in reference to.

But one thing strikes me about the discussion so far. That is that the definitions of healthy eating and unhealthy eating are very subjective. For one person 'healthy' might mean cooking packaged meals but watching portion size instead of getting fast food, to another it means a raw diet on organic produce.
The cost associated with a 'healthy' diet is therefore hard to define.

I imagine that many people when they first chuck out the tv dinners, will spend more on fruit and veg than they spent on tv dinners, and perhaps not be used to how to best use the produce, or know the best time to buy something, or want to buy the mis-shapen 'value' vegetables. They also might not yet have the strategy of making several portions of food and freezing most of it for later. These are all things which will lower the cost of healthy eating, and I imagine they are skills that people pick up when required.

For me personally, and as a vegetarian, eating healthily has always been a cheaper option because of the above strategies, and making almost everything from scratch, but I can see why for some individuals it might be more expensive.

servilia

I'm not that sympathetic towards the "inconvenience" argument. Really - if you have a job and you don't work from home and if there's not one within walking distance, can't you stop at the supermarket on the way home? Is an extra half hour once a week really that big a sacrifice for healthy food?
If there's a store within walking distance (and by walking distance I mean anything up to half an hour walk), you can use that as a chance to get more exercise.

christine24t

I would disagree.

I find eating real food such as fruit, veggies, meat and dairy is less expensive that the pre packages and prepared foods.

astrosnider

Unfortunately for those of us in the United States, cheap but fattening food is subsidized by the government and constantly sold to us through advertising. High fructose corn syrup is a cheap ingredient that goes into so many things and makes us fat without providing significant nutrition. Still, it's easy to eat healthfully for a reasonable amount of money if you put your mind to it. I find a lot of great organic fruits and vegetables in season at the farmers market for much less than I would pay in a fancy grocery store. I also like lentils and brown rice, which are so cheap they are almost free and are nutritious and filling. We also need to remember what our grandparents learned during hard times -- don't waste so much. If you buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco, get a couple of meals out of it then boil up the bones with some carrots, onion and celery and make your own chicken stock. Cool it in the refrigerator, skim off the fat and you have the basis of a delicious soup that will cost you almost nothing.

servilia

Unfortunately for those of us in the United States, cheap but fattening food is subsidized by the government and constantly sold to us through advertising. High fructose corn syrup is a cheap ingredient that goes into so many things and makes us fat without providing significant nutrition. Still, it's easy to eat healthfully for a reasonable amount of money if you put your mind to it. I find a lot of great organic fruits and vegetables in season at the farmers market for much less than I would pay in a fancy grocery store. I also like lentils and brown rice, which are so cheap they are almost free and are nutritious and filling. We also need to remember what our grandparents learned during hard times -- don't waste so much. If you buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco, get a couple of meals out of it then boil up the bones with some carrots, onion and celery and make your own chicken stock. Cool it in the refrigerator, skim off the fat and you have the basis of a delicious soup that will cost you almost nothing.

Nice post!
Also, the resulting chicken stock won't be full of preservatives, sodium and msg or whatever they put it in these days.

pen2u

I feel so lucky to have the means to get the food I want. I can't imagine living far from healthy options and having to add an hour or so to an already long work day/commute via public transportation just to buy a day's groceries (since a week's groceries would be impossible to carry home.) I'm no one special, just fortunate...so I do not feel it's right to criticize those who aren't as lucky.

In some poor areas of the city, in addition to not having decent markets, community gardens that have been tended by local citizens for years have been shut down due to developers wanting the land. The community centers that used to provide exercise/healthy living classes are closing due to lack of funding. It's really frustrating and sad.

Rather than judging people whose shoes we've not walked a mile in, those of us who are passionate about eating healthy food (and by the looks of this topic we mostly all are) should pressure our city planners, grocery chains, and community leaders to encourage full-service markets/farmer's markets to open in ALL areas, not just the more middle-class or upscale ones. Every community deserves access to fresh, wholesome, affordable food.