True or an excuse?

Boardergurl

This has been very interesting.... There are lots of truths here and lots of excuses... I think it is an excuse but if you are of lower income you sometimes dont have a choice.... I am very frugal when it comes to shopping and go to 3 different stores to get the different things I get...

I think a huge factor to take into account is where you live ... I live in Canada (In alberta) depending on the season produce isn't cheap. Yes you can find meat, cheese and that kind of stuff on sale... You also have to take in account where you live and how much space you have... It costs me 18 bucks to make chicken to feed me and my husband and 16 year old son... Throw is some rice and veggies 25 a meal... Yes you can get take out at several places less then that..

I have lived in London England and groceries there can be very expensive aswell... And I have also shopped in the states and its WAY cheaper to buy groceries in the states.. I will fight that tooth and nail as I have friends who live in Vancouver and they WONT shop at the grocery stores there.. Instead they choose to drive over the boarder cause things like milk, meat and cheese are WAY cheaper...

You have to take into account many factors when it comes to this.. There is no right or wrong answer... It depends on where you live, how many people you are feeding and time of year to be honest...

When my boys go out of town I can live off spending 40 bucks a week for a whole week of healthy eating, and thats with eating subway for lunch and dinner every day...
I dont think I could feed myself produce and meat for that much to be honest

Hahham

oh and here is some food for thought. For those of you who drive to numerous stores to get everything exactly how much are you spending on gas versus how much you are saving at that particular store?? Studies have shown when you drive to numerous stores to save a penny you are spending a dime in fuel.

MissFit0101

To those of you who say that eating healthy is cheaper, did you used to eat out a lot before you started eating healthy?

I never really ate out much even when I was eating poorly, so I was already making meals at home, and for me, eating healthy has most definitely become more expensive. I'm completely okay with that, but the fact is that yes, my grocery bill is slightly higher than it once was.

I "could" make it cheaper by sacrificing some of the yummy healthier foods I really love but if I were to sacrifice much of the stuff I love to eat then I probably wouldn't continue to eat healthy.

irridia

I think the only way to tell is to take a meal that you could make yourselfrom scratch and compare it with what you would pay for a pre-made meal.

The meal that stands out in my head is Lasagna with spinach. I don't remember the exact price between the two but if you by the meat, spinach, cheese (mozerella and feta{we don't like ricotta}) sauce, and the noodles it costs more than the stouffers version w/the same ingredients... However, the frozen version has ridiculos amounts of sodium and the meat is not the standard that I buy which is 7% fat. The really healthy version would drop the pasta altogether and add in Kale or something else like long slices of zuchini.

if you drop the pasta and switch to something more veggie heavy it is then actually healthy, but this is more expensive.

Also a healthy plate (non-veggie and not for someone with an athletic build still trying to gain or even maintain muscle mass) should consist of 1/2 veggie (no starches here), 1/4 lean protien and 1/4 starch if it is even on your plate at all. All legumes are starchy, some more than others. Rice and Potatoes ar ethings no one trying to lose weight should be eating. Wheat has been shown to be inflammatory and therefore causes the glucose spike mentioned earlier. Guess what is cheapest to purchase...
grains, potatos and rice. Even oatmeal should be limited due to the carbs (I"m talking how quickly they are converted to sugar) you have to eat waay more veggies to get the amount of calories that a small amount of starches provide.

Other odd facts, frozen veggies are typically more healthy than fresh. Because fresh aren't picked at the peak of ripeness and they sit on the shelves or in transit and lose what little nutritional value they had, while frozen are typically frozen right after picking and can be harvested closer to ripeness. Canned foods, with the exception of tomatoes, are a waste of your money and your calorie alotment.

This is why people should come together and push edibles as landscaping options. It's better for us, better for the environment and could solve a lot of hunger problems within weeks of starting.

nitnole711

I know somebody that admitted to feeding herself and her whole family McD's everyday because it was more cost effective for her. Now, that's an EXCUSE. I think it's the same. It SEEMS more expensive because you're paying for everything at once. Organic is def more expensive.

The question wasn't "is eating orgnic expensive" it was "is eating healthy more expensive"... Just because you aren't eating organic doesn't mean you aren't eating healthy. If you buy everything organic, yes..its expensive. You can can eat heathly frugally.

KayteeBear

Way more. To begin with I don't eat a lot of fast food or a lot of junk food and I don't eat a lot in general so the volume doesn't change but I have to go to the store WAY more often so there's way more money spent on buying vegetables and fruits every week.

And I don't know about ya'll, but when seeing what other people list as prices for their food...was at least half of what I pay. I only have ONE grocery store in town and it's easily twice as much as other places. I went grocery shopping at my mom's when I was there (more grocery stores and better selection) and I paid $50 there but here it would've been at LEAST $80-$100.

So for me, where I live, it is way more to eat healthy. Heck, just buying the necessary things for me (milk, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables) all the time would get to be very pricey. I don't keep milk at the house all the time. I get eggs from my friends for free (they work at chicken barns) and I refuse to buy meat at the store unless absolutely necessary (my dad's farm has better meat :P) so I do get to try to keep the bill down (oh and I also make my own yogurt).

I want to plant a garden next summer hopefully so I can have lots of produce next fall. OR talk to my grandma and see if I can get some from her since she usually has a large garden...

I can try to make it cheap (right now I'm unemployed and not even spending more than $50 a MONTH on groceries so I'm not super healthy right now) but it is still more expensive than just grabbing convenience food.

And feeding my boyfriend would not be an option if I did healthy for everything. (Thank God he eats most meals elsewhere like at his dad's/work) he eats A LOT! Like he's a big guy (not like overweight big) and he can eat a lot before he's satisfied. His sister is only 5'4 and not very big but she has a bottomless pit for a stomach. She can eat a truckload before she feels half full.

mandasimba

I think what most people fail to consider is location.

Right now I live in the 'burbs with half a dozen grocery stores in 3 miles, all competing for business. Most people drive, most people can go to wherever, whenever. I can very easlily take advantage the fact that I can get nearly any fruit/veg for under $2/lb depending on the time of year.

However, I did used to live in a rough area in Chicago... I was lucky enough to have a car, but I never drove it anywhere because there was nowhere to park. The only place to shop in walking distance was gas stations. What a lot of people fail to consider is that a lot of people are poor and live in areas without great access to great grocery stores.

What do you get when the only place you can shop is a convience store? Bananas at several dollars a pound, or a frozen pizza and a couple hotdogs for the same price. If you do have a grocery store locally, often times the produce is picked over or rotten, good meat is nonexistant.

When it comes to healthy/unhealthy food, most people look at their current situation. I can buy a pound of apples for 79 cents, so why can't everybody? When in reality, a lot of people cannot afford to travel to a good store, stock up on food, even if it is on sale. They are stuck buying what they can afford at that moment in time, at a location that they can access. Also, many rely on food banks which many do not stock produce, but mostly non-perishable foods which usually consist of boxed and canned goods. Unfortunatly, that situation is not uncommon at all.

Time, also plays a huge importance. Many families are single parent, or even double parent who work 2 or more jobs, and they still can't provide enough. Even if they had the money to purchase the fresh meat and produce, they, frankly, don't have the time to cook the meals with those individual foods. You can tell your latch key 12 year old children how to cook a frozen pizza or something microwaveable, but what about steamed vegies and grilled meat? The extra hours they work feed their family, they can't quit it just to cook for their children.

I doubt anybody will read this and reflect on, they will just continue to rely on their own privileged, or even relatively privileged experience.

sweet110

Yes, and yes. All things being equal, it does cost more to eat healthy versions of the food that you currently buy that is unhealthy. Fresh produce and fresh fruit cost more.

But beans and rice are pretty cheap. And if you exchange some of those meals out for cooking at home, you can pretty much even the cost out.

So that's the crux of the problem...if you just want to exchange unhealthy for healthy, it does tend to cost more. (A sit down restaurant is more than mcdonald's, a good salad is more expensive than fried chicken). But if you change your LIFESTYLE to a healthier one (cooking versus eating out; eating less quantities of food altogether) then its probably a wash, cost wise.

So at the end of the day, its an excuse. But mostly because folks are ignorant, not because they are purposefully lying to themselves. When you listen to those nutritionists on the morning news show, they tell folks mostly about substituting this for that...(eat THIS, not THAT...buy little expensive, pre-packaged, skinless chicken breasts instead of the whole chicken). They don't tell them to change their lifestyles...because that's hard and no one wants to hear that.

There are some extreme cases that make things harder...people talk about urban wastelands, but the rural is ridiculous...you have to travel a helluva long time to get to a supermarket. And with no economies of scale, the produce tends to be wilted/disgusting and expensive. But, even in these cases, there are better options. Few people in the developed world have no choices, they just have different and more tightly constrained choices.

iuangina

I think what most people fail to consider is location.

Right now I live in the 'burbs with half a dozen grocery stores in 3 miles, all competing for business. Most people drive, most people can go to wherever, whenever. I can very easlily take advantage the fact that I can get nearly any fruit/veg for under $2/lb depending on the time of year.

However, I did used to live in a rough area in Chicago... I was lucky enough to have a car, but I never drove it anywhere because there was nowhere to park. The only place to shop in walking distance was gas stations. What a lot of people fail to consider is that a lot of people are poor and live in areas without great access to great grocery stores.

What do you get when the only place you can shop is a convience store? Bananas at several dollars a pound, or a frozen pizza and a couple hotdogs for the same price. If you do have a grocery store locally, often times the produce is picked over or rotten, good meat is nonexistant.

When it comes to healthy/unhealthy food, most people look at their current situation. I can buy a pound of apples for 79 cents, so why can't everybody? When in reality, a lot of people cannot afford to travel to a good store, stock up on food, even if it is on sale. They are stuck buying what they can afford at that moment in time, at a location that they can access. Also, many rely on food banks which many do not stock produce, but mostly non-perishable foods which usually consist of boxed and canned goods. Unfortunatly, that situation is not uncommon at all.

Time, also plays a huge importance. Many families are single parent, or even double parent who work 2 or more jobs, and they still can't provide enough. Even if they had the money to purchase the fresh meat and produce, they, frankly, don't have the time to cook the meals with those individual foods. You can tell your latch key 12 year old children how to cook a frozen pizza or something microwaveable, but what about steamed vegies and grilled meat? The extra hours they work feed their family, they can't quit it just to cook for their children.

I doubt anybody will read this and reflect on, they will just continue to rely on their own privileged, or even relatively privileged experience.

I said the same thing earlier. It did no good.

mandasimba

I said the same thing earlier. It did no good.

My apologies. I see threads like this and get so frustrated. But like I guess you said, it doesn't do much good, people will always judge others on their own situation. I wish even 5% of those who think the way they do would work with those impoverished, or even visit that area before they judge.

Check out the stats on obesity or being overweight with poverty levels and locations. Lower economic areas are more likely to have higher obesity rates, lower income areas are going to have a lot more barriers to physical activity and supermarkets. I would quote my sources but I've lost access to my good library access.

KayteeBear

I can't go back to edit my post anymore, but I was going to add that even though eating healthy means spending more money, i still try to eat healthy.

Lyadeia

I don't know about anyone else but I think it's cheaper. You have to make more trips to the store but processed boxed food is so much more expensive.

Exactly this. My grocery bill has gone down. I have always gone to the store every single weekend, and when I was buying all the boxes and cans of crap, it cost me more money than it does now. If I run out of something like strawberries, yeah, I do run back out to the store on Thursday or whatever, but that doesn't make the total bill more than what I was paying before.

And that's not even counting eating out.

It's a flat out excuse.

SergeantSunshine_reused

I said the same thing earlier. It did no good.

My apologies. I see threads like this and get so frustrated. But like I guess you said, it doesn't do much good, people will always judge others on their own situation. I wish even 5% of those who think the way they do would work with those impoverished, or even visit that area before they judge.

Check out the stats on obesity or being overweight with poverty levels and locations. Lower economic areas are more likely to have higher obesity rates, lower income areas are going to have a lot more barriers to physical activity and supermarkets. I would quote my sources but I've lost access to my good library access.

Not really sure how it did no good?

Like I said in an earlier post saying that it is an excuse is a generalization and there will always be exceptions. This kind of situation being one of them. No one is judging that I have noticed, just a casual topic :]

I still think that some can be healthier - for what they can make do with. Like i said before cooking chicken in bulk then using it all week - can be easily microwaved and served again. Many cheap health foods can be cooked and stored. Eggs, meats, rice, beans can be cooked ahead and used all week. Oats can be made in the microwave - doesn't always have to be an extravagant meal.

The lack of transportation to supermarkets is certainly an exception. Areas like that you will have to make due with what you have.
I cannot talk much on that, because I have never been in an area/ gas station store that had outrageous prices like you speak. I know they are out there, but just haven't looked into finding them for my own curiosity yet

daffodilsoup

Depends what your version of "healthy" is, I think, also the foods that your diet revolves around. A healthy vegan lifestyle is one of the cheapest out there - brown rice, beans, tofu, lentils, etc. are all about $1 per pound (usually less), plus fresh veggies. I am lucky enough to have a great produce store near my house in the US, but for the things that are more expensive, I use coupons or buy in bulk during a sale (lookin' at you, Boca Patties and Soymilk).

Regardless though, I do think claiming healthy eating is "too expensive" is an excuse. I feel like a lot of times, "it's too expensive" is just a cover-up for "it's too much work". Better to spend the money on healthy foods than medication and hospital visits later down the road.

taramaureen

Total excuse. I've done both... and continue to alternate, HA!

Per meal, it's cheaper. I think the biggest road block to eating healthier is lack of education on what's healthy, what's not, and that you dont' have to eat all organic, etc, to have a healthy meal.

bhalter

I do cut corners when it comes to eating healthy - I buy some fruit fresh, but some fruit I buy canned (the non-syrup, low sugar ones) and I buy most of our veggies frozen, which are super cheap and will last through a LOT of meals. I plan buying meat around sales and we don't eat a lot of meat anyway. Though packaged stuff is always on sale more than healthier items, we get a lot of oatmeal, veggie sauce, canned/frozen veggies, rice, whole-grain pasta, cheese, etc., on sale. When I ate cheaper "crap food," it didn't fill me up. So yes, it was cheaper to buy those things, but we went through a lot of it and were constantly eating. I personally think our healthier options that I make with a lot of protein and fiber fill us up more and cuts down on costs because we're not eating as much.

I have to count pennies and watch sales because my fiancee works part-time and goes to school, we have an 8-year-old he has from a previous relationship whose mother never pays her child support or contributes to her daughter's needs, and I'm technically the breadwinner with a full-time job and still don't make TONS of money, but comfortable enough so that we're not starving and can pay all our bills. We manage to get by with smart planning and watching sales. We do not keep chips, "convenience food," or many sweets in the house and I cook 90% of our meals from scratch. My fiancee's daughter is allowed one tub of ice cream in the freezer and one box of cereal that she only gets to eat on weekends. Breakfast for her and I is oatmeal everyda, and her snack options consist of fruit, kids' fruit snacks, or popcorn. Her dad is a weird eater and only eats 1-2 meals a day, which consist of dinner leftovers for lunch and then dinner that night.

Eating out, running through McD or Taco Bell, and ordering in pizza has stopped, which has majorly cut down on what we spend on food. Like most people have said here, everyone has different opinions and it depends on their budget, and grocery store options. I'm lucky in that we have 6 grocery stores all within 5 miles of each other, so I can get things at different stores, and have multiple sale options available to me.

redheadmommy

I think it is WAY more expensive. We are a family of 3 and I drop over $1,000 on groceries every month. I always so envy when people in the US write they feed a family of 4 from $500 . From that amount you can eat macaroni and cheese here not much more.

It is greatly depends on location though, where do you live geographicly and where do you live within the city. Fruits and veggies do not grow on cold climate. On cold climate all the fruits and veggies are green house grown or transported from thousands of miles away, and both methods makes them super expensive. I live in Alberta, Canada, where the climate only suitable for wheat and cows. Nothings else cheap here. When we travel I always amazed how cheap food are on other places, even within in Canada.

Also people tend to compare home cooked healthy food with restaurant eaten non healthy ones. Totally not fair comparison. If I eat in a restaurant, I pay for the people work who made for the food.

Lets compare homemade healthy food with homemade unhealthy food. If I cook a large bowl of home cooked pasta with the cheapest ( fattiest ) hamburger I can make dinner for 3 us for $5. If I want to buy the lean or extra lean veal and serve fresh fruit and veggies, with it, the price is 3 x more.

Or let compare the healthy fast food versus unhealthy fast food. McDonald is so freaking cheap. On the other hand if I go to OPA ( freash made greek souvlaki with nice salads), or Extreme pita ( fresh veggies , lean meat in a pita) I pay at least 50% more, if not double.

There are sociology studies related to food prices, and there are studies when they change school vending machine prices to make the healthy choices cheaper. The result is "surprise" people started to by the healthy food.

sarahgilmore

Lets compare homemade healthy food with homemade unhealthy food. If I cook a large bowl of home cooked pasta with the cheapest ( fattiest ) hamburger I can make dinner for 3 us for $5. If I want to buy the lean or extra lean veal and serve fresh fruit and veggies, with it, the price is 3 x more.

just drain the fat off the cooked meat before you add it to your meal
Also, consider if you're serving fruit or vegetables with the meal, you need serve less pasta and meat so can save there

redheadmommy

just drain the fat off the cooked meat before you add it to your meal
Also, consider if you're serving fruit or vegetables with the meal, you need serve less pasta and meat so can save there

Still the pasta is cheap and the veggies are expensive. If you replace cheap ingredient with expensive ones, it is still became more $$$$

BeeElMarvin

In many cases, it is indeed more expensive to eat fresh foods canned foods, but frozen are very healthy and are generally less expensive. Comparing the price of canned green beans to frozen and to fresh:
fresh = $.60 per serving
canned = $.45 per serving
frozen = $.27 per serving

This is pretty typical. Frozen is your best price and is relatively healthy.

http://nutritionbudgeteer.com/default.aspx


and we very seldom eat out, that is crazy expensive for a decent meal, I never have eaten much "fast food".

berryjwells

Here's my opinion for what it's worth. Yes it is less expensive than eating out and yes it is less expensive when you eat less. But when you eat the same amount and have to feed a family with it, the healthy recipes and foods cost more than buying boxed or frozen meals. Ex- Walmart brand lasagna frozen=4.26 all the ingredients to make a whole wheat turkey lasagna=12(ish) or ground chuck=2.88/lb vs. lean ground turkey=3.98/lb And keeping fresh fruits and veggies in stock for 2 adults and 5 kids is expensive
That's why we eat in ALOT and have 3 leftover nights a week to get the most out of what we buy.

PennyLane1114

I'm a college student and I think it is just an excuse. I used to do it!.. Until I actually stopped and looked at how much I was spending eating pizza on campus, late night fast food, and going out to eat with friends. Now that I am strictly eating at home, my bank account is thanking me. When I go to the store, I purchase mainly generic items (they all taste the same to me). Also, I buy frozen and canned vegetables and lean frozen meats such as ground turkey breast or seafood (if it's on sale). I feel so much healthier already and I've only made changes in the past two weeks. I used to eat ramen noodles all the time because it was quick and easy, but now I know that I was just making excuses for myself. it is just as simple for me to make a decent sized meal for dinner and save the leftovers to eat if I'm in a rush.

irridia

I for one would love to live in a "rural wasteland". My grocery bill would be spent mostly on materials for greenhouse and seeds. Though where I live you can totally garden with out a greenhouse year round if you have the correct type of land. Biggest requirement being unobstructed southern exposure. plant your stuff get it established in the spring and then cover with straw at night in the fall and winter. All the stuff you should be eating, Kale, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, leeks, anise, chard and rhubarb. Root cellar full of carrots, beets, winter squash, apples, yams and other overwinter items, would be heaven.

As a mother of a teenaged wrestler who uses somewhat questionable methods for making weight, I know that some people just won't listen until something wakes them up. But rather than looking down on them, we should aspire to give them all of the tools they need to make the appropriate choices.

The solution to unhealthy eating in this country includes things like pushing schools and other organizations to have onsite gardens for fresh produce. STOP the insistance that a balanced meal should include grain or other starchy foods for anyone not involved in an extremly active lifestyle, and accept that legumes are included in this catagory and should probably be limited for almost everyone not on a vegan lifestyle.

Boardergurl

oh and here is some food for thought. For those of you who drive to numerous stores to get everything exactly how much are you spending on gas versus how much you are saving at that particular store?? Studies have shown when you drive to numerous stores to save a penny you are spending a dime in fuel.

for me this doesnt cost more at all.... I rotate days I do my shopping when I know something is onsale.... Walmart/Superstore are in the same complex where i buy groceries so its not out of the way or more of a drive for me at all...
When something is on sale I stock up

anyonebutmehaha

imho- true.
but wow. i guess i have a very different definition of the word "healthy"! :noway:
guess it depends on how one was raised? i was raised to eat only fresh organic foods and so for the most part that is all i know.
hence to me organic (or at very least all natural)= healthy.
meat and dairy from factory farming loaded w/ drugs and hormones. produce from genetically modified seeds on soil riddled w/ synthetic chemical fertilizers, sprayed w/ pesticides and then passed through radiation for good measure.... those don't fall under the word "healthy" to me,..and that's just briefly touching on outer aisle of typical US supermarket. i haven't set foot in a typical supermarket for a long time but the inner aisles are simply frightening to me- super sugar artificially colored crackhead carbs in a box w/ 50 unpronounceable ingredients doesn't even fall in the food category for me.
does it cost more to buy organic, fair trade, trying to leave the smallest possible carbon footprint you can on the planet? hell yeah! i wish it didn't but there just isn't enough demand for this in the United States where the more sugar and empty carbs and bad fats and sodium and artificial crap a company can put into a product the better (the majority) of people will like it and buy it.

last night's "whoohoo it is pizza night!" (i loves pizza) dinner from local mom and pop place costs 10 bucks for a kick-*kitten* NY pizza delivered to my door and i made a nice salad for two so prolly $16 or so for dinner for two and since no way was i eating more than 2 slices and go into the red for day there was plenty leftover for him to take to work for lunch.
tonight's dinner? well haven't bought it yet but i was thinking about going down to fish market, something locally line caught, but i know i won't get outta there for under 20 bucks, i never do, lol.. then to organic/natural supermarket for veggies, etc.- dunno exactly but i just scribbled down approximately what that will cost and added up- gonna be something like $47.00 for dinner tonight's dinner for two. there will be leftovers for me for next day though for lunch.
can i afford to eat like this 24/7? in theory no, but i'm unwilling to eat any other way (minus pizza whoohoo night of course ). every time i shop i am voting with my dollars and for health, ethical, political, ecological, etc., reasons i don't feel good about giving money to companies that i feel are hurting the planet and living things on it. yeah organic fair trade coffee beans ground fresh for our morning coffee at $16/lb vs folger's or whatever for i'm sure what must be 1/5 the price is an expensive way to live......but i save money by not buying cosmetics or viewing clothes as anything but protection against the elements, never eating out (i honestly just don't like the taste and he hates to sit at table waiting to be served so that works for us) or thinking of a car as anything but 4 wheels and a way to get from point A to point B, my nails aren't done, last movie i saw hit the theaters in 1996, i don't own an i-anything, ~ but i feel i live very well.:glasses: