Cost of healthy eating 10 times higher

d2footballJRC

Just cutting out soda has lowered my food bill, then making small food portions. I don't get this ten times higher either. Soda and snacks are expensive compared to grapes and apples and water. I still eat meat, I don't eat as much at a time so that is cheaper. Now going organic is more $$ but I have decided to go that route since I feel better eating organic foods. That sector is more $$ but just cutting down portion sizes and watching what you eat is not more $$.

Grokette

It costs an average of 10 times as much to choose healthy food over "junk food"...WOW!

http://eatthis.womenshealthmag.com/slide/2-nutritious-food-costs-10-times-much-junk-food?slideshow=186413#sharetagsfocus

I can not agree with this. We spend way less money on whole foods than we did when we were buying the processed and packaged crap manufactured food - if you even want to call it food.

Plus I am off medications and not going to the doctor frequently so we are saving money in other areas too.

HMonsterX

Clearly its different for you where you live.

Here, in the midlands of the UK, it has added 20-30% to my weekly grocery buying fresh healthier food. Buying fresh meat compared to frozen meat is a prime example really. 4 chicken legs are around £4, for normal, non-organic, non-corn fed yadda yadda. £4 will get you about 10 if you buy them frozen. To me PERSONALLY this organic stuff is the biggest con since...well, since the last one. Things taste bugger all different, they dont last as long, and they cost 25% more?

But, threads like this make me appreciate our country more. I cant imagine having to pay for my healthcare. God bless the NHS! It may not be brilliant, but at least we have one, and its free

missy5277

i have a family of 6, 2 adults and 4 teenagers and i spend a ton less eating "healthier" my average grocery bill is $75-100 per week, rarely do i go over that. i buy whatever is on sale that week for fruit, veggies, and meat. no i dont buy the organic stuff, would love to i grew up on a farm in montana and we had everything fresh but i just couldnt afford to do that now. oh and i want to add when i bought more junk stuff for snacks it went fast considering there is like 6 in a box! Eating fresh fruit is way cheaper!!

HMonsterX

Eating fresh fruit is way cheaper!!

Yes, it is. It's not as nice though.

I will say this though. A possible reason why it costs more when you go "healthy" is that you buy all the new healthy stuff, and less of the old nice stuff. But you probably buy 40% ish of the old stuff, but 100% new stuff.

clong1985

I would have to disagree with the article. I think it is more a matter of ease/convenience/habit that we perceive as "cheapness." My husband and I inadvertently tested the healthy-costs-more-than-junk theory the other day. We had gone to the grocery store early in the morning and got 2 lbs of carrots for $1.00, 1 lb of celery hearts for $1.99 (would've been cheaper if we bought the whole celery instead of the trimmed), two large Spanish onions for $1.79, a gallon of skim milk for $2.19, 5 gallons of water for $4.50, 1 lb of rotini pasta for $1.49, 18 eggs for $1.79, a couple pounds of bananas for under $2.00 and a pound of strawberries for $3.99. When all was said and done, we spent about $21.
I pulled some miscellaneous chicken parts out of the freezer to thaw (thighs, drumsticks and one boneless skinless breast that was in the fridge.) We buy whatever kind of chicken is on sale and freeze it until we need it and get AMAZING buys... for example, $0.99 a lb for thighs/drumsticks, $1.19 a lb for bone-in breasts, etc) I also save the bones when I make a whole chicken or another bone-in chicken dish, and freeze them. I save my onion peels and ends, carrot ends, celery ends and the crummy inside pieces you can't eat, and into the freezer they go.
Took out a bag of bones and veggie scraps and made about 2 gallons of homemade stock which can be used for soups, sauce bases, flavoring rice or veggies, etc. No extra sodium or creepy preservatives, no packaging to throw away. Cool, package in reusable containers and freeze what you don't need.
I used a few cups of the stock with half the carrots, celery and one of the onions, half a cup of inexpensive chardonnay I use for cooking, and the chicken pieces, put it all in the crock-pot and let it cook all day. Home made soup for days, can be frozen if needed. Gets better after a day or two. Doesn't taste like an aluminum can. Want rice in it one night? Cook up a bit and toss it into your serving. Prefer pasta? Same deal.
By the end of the day, we were both feeling wiped out (we're in the process of moving and also recovering from food poisoning we got at a wedding this weekend.) We had the delicious soup cooking but decided we wanted to indulge in some old favorites... i.e. junk food. The rule was, eat some junk and then throw away the leftovers so we can just get it out of our systems. We went back to the SAME grocery store. We got frozen pretzels, pre-made cookie dough, bleached white flour tortillas, cheese, chips, ice cream... it was disgusting. We had fewer items than the morning's trip, with little to no nutritive value, and we spent $51!!! That's a little over 240% more than what we spent in the same day, same store, buying healthy items which we are still using days later.
Is it easier to buy crap? Sure. Especially with years of bad habits built up. Is it more economical? Absolutely not. Shop the sales, buy items you can use for multiple different meals (who wants to eat the same thing day in and day out?) minimize what you waste, clip coupons if you want. But we can't make excuses for making poor choices.

ebonyuk72

As someone else said, here in the UK it is more expensive to eat healthy. I have a 14 year old daughter and a husband too my weekly budget is £80 and that is for all three of us. I can't afford to buy mountains of fruit and veg because its just too expensive. I live in the South East of England and in my town we have no markets or fresh veg shops at all. I love going up north because there are markets and veg shops and everything is so much cheaper.

To prove a point with that article though I remember the day when McDonalds introduced a salad bowl a few years back. I thought "great finally something I can eat when we go in there." Yeah right...£1.99 for burger, fries AND a drink, the salad bowl on its own...£3.50!!!
I rest my case

firmbug

Cost of doctor bills and unnecessary surgeries from eating crap....30x higher! ; 0

scraver2003

I would have to disagree with the article. I think it is more a matter of ease/convenience/habit that we perceive as "cheapness." My husband and I inadvertently tested the healthy-costs-more-than-junk theory the other day. We had gone to the grocery store early in the morning and got 2 lbs of carrots for $1.00, 1 lb of celery hearts for $1.99 (would've been cheaper if we bought the whole celery instead of the trimmed), two large Spanish onions for $1.79, a gallon of skim milk for $2.19, 5 gallons of water for $4.50, 1 lb of rotini pasta for $1.49, 18 eggs for $1.79, a couple pounds of bananas for under $2.00 and a pound of strawberries for $3.99. When all was said and done, we spent about $21.
I pulled some miscellaneous chicken parts out of the freezer to thaw (thighs, drumsticks and one boneless skinless breast that was in the fridge.) We buy whatever kind of chicken is on sale and freeze it until we need it and get AMAZING buys... for example, $0.99 a lb for thighs/drumsticks, $1.19 a lb for bone-in breasts, etc) I also save the bones when I make a whole chicken or another bone-in chicken dish, and freeze them. I save my onion peels and ends, carrot ends, celery ends and the crummy inside pieces you can't eat, and into the freezer they go.
Took out a bag of bones and veggie scraps and made about 2 gallons of homemade stock which can be used for soups, sauce bases, flavoring rice or veggies, etc. No extra sodium or creepy preservatives, no packaging to throw away. Cool, package in reusable containers and freeze what you don't need.
I used a few cups of the stock with half the carrots, celery and one of the onions, half a cup of inexpensive chardonnay I use for cooking, and the chicken pieces, put it all in the crock-pot and let it cook all day. Home made soup for days, can be frozen if needed. Gets better after a day or two. Doesn't taste like an aluminum can. Want rice in it one night? Cook up a bit and toss it into your serving. Prefer pasta? Same deal.
By the end of the day, we were both feeling wiped out (we're in the process of moving and also recovering from food poisoning we got at a wedding this weekend.) We had the delicious soup cooking but decided we wanted to indulge in some old favorites... i.e. junk food. The rule was, eat some junk and then throw away the leftovers so we can just get it out of our systems. We went back to the SAME grocery store. We got frozen pretzels, pre-made cookie dough, bleached white flour tortillas, cheese, chips, ice cream... it was disgusting. We had fewer items than the morning's trip, with little to no nutritive value, and we spent $51!!! That's a little over 240% more than what we spent in the same day, same store, buying healthy items which we are still using days later.
Is it easier to buy crap? Sure. Especially with years of bad habits built up. Is it more economical? Absolutely not. Shop the sales, buy items you can use for multiple different meals (who wants to eat the same thing day in and day out?) minimize what you waste, clip coupons if you want. But we can't make excuses for making poor choices.

^^^ THIS ^^^ I could have written that! Chicken stock, veggie stock, I make my own pasta sauce. Hubs and I are sharing 1.5 shares of a CSA with my sister and her hubs. It ends up being an average of $13 and change a week for each couple. We get a TON of veggies each week - squashes, eggplant, cucs, parsley, cilantro, carrots, radishes, arugala, salad greens, garlic.... omg... the garlic. I had no idea fresh, organic garlic from the farm would be SO much better than the grocery store...

Anyways - I am getting off topic. Hubs and I used to do "Fat Sundays". We would go buy all the cr@p we felt like and eat it. Ice cream, cookies, cheesy poofs, pizza, chips, cheesy dip and pretzels, combos... I want to puke thinking of it now. But that was $30 - $60 for a Fat Sunday. now - we don't spend that AT ALL.

Chips are like $4 a bag. $3 for a case of soda. Ordering take out is $20 +.

AND the fact that we are just eating LESS. Hello... we don't BUY as much b/c we are eatting LESS.

Meat is expensive... but Like the poster above - I look for sales. I got a 50% deal for Big Y steak through groupon once. I get hormone free, no anti biotic, no nastiness Harvestland chicken breasts (in ready-to-freeze-packaging) for like $2 and change ($2.79, I think - SAME price as Perdue) a lb. at BJ's Wholesale.

ottawagirl613

I would argue that. For my hubby and myself I set a rough budget of 100 dollars a week for groceries. When we're eating "bad" i.e. processed, pre-packaged, junk we keep the grocery bill under 100 bucks initially. BUT we always head back to the grocery store mid week for something that we're craving, or head out to a fast food place or restaurant for the same reasons. It's a lifestyle thing I think. By the end of the week we could easily have spent another 50-100 dollars on self indulgent crap because we are essentially over-eating.

When we're eating healthy we still manage to keep the grocery bill close to the 100 dollar mark (unless we're buying our lean proteins that week). BUT we don't order out we cook at home, we don't head to the restaurant we invite friends/family over for home cooked fare, and we dont make mid week stops for candy or chocolate or chips. I guess even though the healthy stuff costs a bit more the argument is that we eat less of it because we're not over-eating?

In the end eating healthy benefits my body AND my pocket book. But I can only speak for myself here.

bcattoes

It costs an average of 10 times as much to choose healthy food over "junk food"...WOW!

http://eatthis.womenshealthmag.com/slide/2-nutritious-food-costs-10-times-much-junk-food?slideshow=186413#sharetagsfocus

It would depend on what "junk food" and what "healthy food" you were buying. It doesn't say they had to spend 10 times as much. It just says they did. A bag of brown rice, a bag of dried beans, a bag of carrots and 3 onions will cost you less an $10 and feed you for a week. What junk food will do that?? It's all about intelligent shopping.

kutterba

I literally almost cried when I was planning to buy the kind of meat that is the healthier choice (grass-fed, no hormones, etc etc yada yada yada). One pack of chicken, like a pound worth was like $8...I have a husband and 3 boys (ages 19, 17, and 14) at home. I would need to buy at least two packs of chicken just to feed them. It was then that I realized we just can't afford it.

It really is sad that it costs so much. Very discouraging.

I discovered that too - then I started really - REALLY - reading the labels. We have local producers of chicken & beef that are competitve. Yes, they have their brand, and they label it - No Antibiotics, No Hormones. It's a good compromise. But you CORRECT about free range chicken - Hoky smokes, Bullwinkle! its a fortune. You want a prics scare? jCheck out how much MORE it costs to buy gluten free. yikes.
keep looking & don't give up!

rosebarnalice

It took some digging but I found the ACTUAL study, and this is a case of bad reporting of the study results.

The study compared the TOP 20 MOST NUTRITION-DENSE FOODS witht he Bottom 20 least nutrition dense foods. They were comparing extremes on both ends-- not food prices overall.

Bad science reporting. Really pisses me off!

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science/Study-shows-growing-price-gap-between-healthy-and-junk-foods

Matttdvg

I'd agree healthy eating is more expensive. I'm just starting to try and lose a lot of weight, and I'm having to pay more for food. I'm unemployed so I don't have a lot of money and it's not easy. As an unhealthy dinner I might have Sausage, Egg & Chips. I can buy a pack of 8 sausages for 50p, a 2.5kg bag of potatoes for £1 and a dozen eggs for £1. That's £2.50, and as a meal for just me I only need to use half of the sausages, 2 eggs and a couple of potatoes, and all the stuff I don't used can be saved for other meals later in the week. Even if I want some nicer sausages (50p sausages aren't that great), it'll only be a little bit more. On the next few days I can just buy something cheap for about £1 to go with chips. And then not spend anything on another day and have the rest of the sausages. I can't get close to that sort of value when eating healthily.

bcattoes

I'd agree healthy eating is more expensive. I'm just starting to try and lose a lot of weight, and I'm having to pay more for food. I'm unemployed so I don't have a lot of money and it's not easy. As an unhealthy meal I might have Sausage, Egg & Chips. I can buy a pack of 8 sausages for 50p, a 2.5kg bag of potatoes for £1 and a dozen eggs for £1. That's £2.50, and as a meal for just me I only need to use half of the sausages, 2 eggs and a couple of potatoes, and all the stuff I don't used can be saved for other meals later in the week. Even if I want some nicer sausages (50p sausages aren't that great), it'll only be a little bit more. I challenge anyone to be able to find a healthy meal for that sort of price, with similar amounts of things left in my fridge for another day.

Same eggs, a couple of fresh veggies that are on sale that week and you have yourself a healthy omelet for about the same price. Or the eggs and a pkg of frzn spinach a small bit of cheese.

Q9S7

@destiny, thx! I try to remain as objective as possible...that's why I refrain from posting on most threads, and prefer to contemplate what people are posting.

Cornpuff32

That article is a load of crap and yet another excuse for people to use when justifying how poorly they eat.

I live in one of the most expensive areas of the US and have an extremely low grocery bill. I eat cheap vegetables in season, buy frozen veg (cheap!) out of season, and cook a lot myself. If you can cook, you can make tons of low cost meals, easily, even if you use all organic ingredients. People end up jacking up their grocery bill when they start buying fake healthy foods, like Fiber One bars and Skinny Cow ice cream.

I agree^^

I also wanted to point out that the link wasn't an article...it's just a slide from a sideshow... a "factoid". Here's a document that might be closer to actual facts. I actually think it might be the source document for This is definitely an interesting social economic discussion. They mention in this brief that it's the nutrient dense foods that are more costly...that's true. One of the cool things about our market in Syracuse is they give out food stamp like token things to folks that qualify! I think 10x higher is a little alarmist. I agree it's region dependent...if you live somewhere with access to farmers markets through out the year it's easier and cheaper to get these nutrient rich food items. if you live in the city without a car...and have to depend on public transportation or walking..you might only have access to small convenience markets or fast food. ...where nutrient rich foods are definitely the more expensive. Example: $2.00 huge bag of chips vs $5.00 tiny bag of trail mix.

http://depts.washington.edu/uwcphn/reports/brief1.pdf

EDIT - oops just realized that my link was a University of Washington not WI...still I think it adds some valid points to this discussion.

ArroganceInStep

Didn't read through all the posts, and I'm sure folks have said this already, but I love to hear myself talk. A lot of people are posting the dollar amount they budget for food, which really is misleading. Food budget changes TREMENDOUSLY based on where you live. When I used to go to Penn State they had a farmer's market right nearby where I could get a ton of fresh fruits and veggies for dirt cheap. I could fill most of the fridge for less than $50. Add in 50 lb bags of brown rice and dried beans and you have chili/stir fry/stew/soup for 4 college students who ate a ton for like 2 weeks. On weeks where I was a high roller (ie the times my parents were smart and sent me money mid week so I hadn't blown it all on booze yet) I'd purchase a bunch of bags of chicken and throw em in the freezer to add to the meals. I like to think I lived pretty healthy back then.

Working in Manhattan, yeah I can still find farmer's markets, but it's easily 5-10 times as much money for the same amount of food. Buying any food is a lot more expensive here than it would ever be in central Pennsylvania though, so it's not a valid comparison. (Also I can get much better quality fish for a lot cheaper here than I ever could in PA and I love fish).

The argument is bogus. I think for people with the means to travel at least a reasonable distance in the more fortunate parts of the world like the US or what have you, an intelligent buyer can get a lot more bang for his/her buck and still eat reasonably healthy.

By the same token, a store that sells grass fed/no pesticide/only ever spoken to in french/never allowed to watch tv/regularly exercised and forced to do keigels/only allowed to listen to beethoven music/foot massaged weekly meats and produce will obviously sell them at a much higher price than their 'regular' meats and produce. The argument that keeping hormones and pesticides and crap out of your food comes at a premium price is much easier to make and prove than the generic 'eating healthy is expensive!!!!!!' claim. Some would argue that they are one in the same argument, but it is important to clarify. Even with hormones and the funky HGH/BOTOX/STD stuff they pump into the animals, I think a $2 a pound bag of chicken should be placed in the healthy category when contrasted with a box of zebra cakes (mmmmmmmmmmm zebra cakes).