Poor and fat in the US?
Replies
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We weren't talking about beef:huh:
However, the droughts this summer are going to dramatically raise the price of all animal products and some grain products. Food for humans, food for pets, and consumer items you never even knew contained corn. :sad:
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The real sad part is almost everything processed contains corn. I love science, but selling the science experiments of over processed foods sucks.
I digress.0 -
First, about the article...80/20 beef is cheaper than 90/10 most likely because that 10% fat is cheaper than 10% of meat. If you pour off the fat after cooking it, it doesn't have to be fattier than 90/10. And the 1200 calories of chips is ridiculous. That's about education, not affordability. It's not as though someone who is poor is going to spend $1 on 1200 calories of chips for their daily calorie intake rather than buying healthier items. Instead, they're going to eat several portions of those chips and spend just as much as they could've spent on healthier, lower calorie alternatives.
Now as far as sources of healthy foods. Shop the sales, clip coupons, buy in bulk and freeze it. Boneless skinless chicken breasts and ground turkey go on sale frequently. So does peanut butter, whole plain almonds and eggs. Brown rice, beans and cottage cheese are good sources of protein. There's also protein powder (I use BSN Syntha Six) which you can buy online for fairly cheap. I might not be poor but I am frugal. If you're shopping sales and buying what you need and what's healthy versus what you want and what's easy, it's definitely possible to get by on limited funds.
An easy recipe that is super cheap is bean & cheese burritos. I made the tortillas and refried beans and bought the shredded cheese on sale. It came out to 31 cents per burrito and 235 calories. I made about 4 dozen, wrapped them in wax paper and froze them.
Here's the recipes in case anyone wants to do it:
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/03/and-end-to-my-quest-flour-tortillas.html
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/refried-beans-without-the-refry/ (only use 2t salt...trust me, 5t is WAY too much)
Then put refried beans (I forget what the weight was but it was about 2 spoonful) on a tortilla, add 1/8c of shredded cheese, wrap up and eat or freeze. To cook them, I let them thaw for a while and then just microwave (flipping once). The inside will be crazy hot so open it up, let it cool for a minute, re-roll and eat.
ETA: Lays chips are on sale near me right now for $2.15. That's 1,650 calories. 1,650 calories of the bean burritos above would be $2.11.0 -
Cheap food is fast food here. There are a LOT of people here living at or below the poverty line. Most of us have at least 2 or 3 jobs just to keep up. There is no "healthy" food for poor people. Fruits, veggies are EXPENSIVE..even at the farmer's market.0
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Back in the old days poor people just went hungry. Now poor people have access to so much delicious food that they can't stop themselves from eating too much and they become obese . . . . sounds tragic. Of course a massive amount of that obesity is due to people (from all walks of life) drinking their calories in soda and fruit juice, and please don't tell me that tap water isn't readily available!
In reality, the real reason poor people and rich people have different BMI's is more likely due to education than access. Many of the poor people I work with are simply grossly misinformed about food. I'll tell them to stop drinking soda, and they start drinking Kool-Aid instead. Then I say drink water, and they refuse because it doesn't taste as good.
According to the article, it is alot cheaper for people to buy unhealthy food.. Apparantly they cant afford to eat healthy!0 -
Cheap food is fast food here. There are a LOT of people here living at or below the poverty line. Most of us have at least 2 or 3 jobs just to keep up. There is no "healthy" food for poor people. Fruits, veggies are EXPENSIVE..even at the farmer's market.
So how do you stay healthy?0 -
I live in a downtown area. FORTUNATELY, not with a struggling financial situation. I live in a fairly decent area, but, like most downtowns, you have scattered "good" and "bad" streets. Within a mile of my house I have 3 Irish pubs, at least 10 other drinking establishments, taco bell, arbys, two fast food chinese places, a fast food japanese place, a fast food mexican place, 2 ice cream stands, 3 sandwhich places, 3 pizza places, a giant burrito place, and a pharmacy with a huge processed and junk food section. We have pretzel stands, and hot dog stands. Guess what we don't have. A single grocery store.
To get to a grocery store, I have a 20-30 minute drive, depending on where I choose to go. It's a pain in the butt for ME, with a car, and money for food and gas, to get to and from a grocery store. Even I have to plan ahead though, there's no such thing as "grab something on the way home from work" The grocery store is a big deal outing.
After a pricing adventure, I learned that processed food, calorie per calorie, is MUCH more expensive than grocery items. for 5 dollars at taco bell, I can have over a thousand calories, easily, and a soda. There's a full meal. I can't get a full mean of healthy food, if I want, say, meat rather than beans as a protein source, for 5 dollars...
Therein lies the problem: Access to healthy food, convenience and availability of processed and fast food crap, and the cost of eating healthy as opposed to eating junk. We are a country that caters to the lifestyle that leads to obesity, and it shows in our statistics. They have made it so much easier to be unhealthy, and all the advertising caters to that.
Yes, it is much harder to eat healthy when you are living below the poverty line. Add to this a lack of education about healthy food choices, kids growing up with poor choices, living with poor choices, and feeding their kids poor choices. Wait: there I go calling them choices again... They aren't really, when it's the only accessible option, it's not really a choice, now is it.
Thinking back to my broke college days: Mac and cheese, Ramen noodles, and vending machine crap, because I didn't have a place to store anything else, and it was far cheaper than anything in the cafeteria, except maybe the drippy greasy pizza...
But hey, in corporate America, it's easy to get ahold of their product... Much harder to get ahold of a farmer's product....
You are saying that you can not prepare a healthy meal at home for less than $5? $5 a serving?!
This is problem of not knowing how to cook.
Trust me, I am no master chef. But I have learned the basics of cooking and do so regularly. I have never spent $5 a serving on ANYTHING. I average about $1.50 per serving, and that is with a goal of a diet that is 40% protein. And I live in one of the most expensive areas of the U.S.0 -
We weren't talking about beef:huh:
However, the droughts this summer are going to dramatically raise the price of all animal products and some grain products. Food for humans, food for pets, and consumer items you never even knew contained corn. :sad:
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The real sad part is almost everything processed contains corn. I love science, but selling the science experiments of over processed foods sucks.
I digress.
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I'd digress with you as I have some strong opinions about the subsidies that made corn ubiquitous and lowered the nutritional value of everything, but that is a separate topic.
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I think the biggest problem with food and obesity is that most of the poor obese people are totally uneducated about making good food choices. I see it all the time when you stand in line at the grocery store. An obese woman with her obese children will have a cart full of junk food, chips, pop, precooked toaster foods, Pizza Pops, ice cram, cookies, etc and when they go through the checkout the bill is twice as much as mine. If they took the same amount of money and bought some frozen veggies, brown rice, chicken, milk, eggs, etc they could have some nutritious meals for less money and not be obese but then again that would require someone to get off their *kitten* and cook it rather than have the kids stuff something in the microwave.
Do you think they don't know that these foods will make you fat? Sorry, but I think a lot of it comes down to being lazy. Most of these foods take no time to prepare and taste good. Like you said, get off your butt and put some effort into your meals.0 -
I get EVERYTHING on clearance or on sale.
The grocery stores around here have clearance price meats that they need to sell that day, way cheap and if you freeze them their good til whenever you want to eat them.0 -
Unless we are talking about ACCESS to food, income levels are not as much of a factor as people want to believe.
If you have no access to transportation and live in an area in which you can only access bodegas and convenience stores, yes, it's difficult to find what you need for a healthy diet. But if you have access to transportation and actual grocery stores, you can eat well on a budget. It takes planning and being willing to cook; and it helps if you coordinate your menu with sales, but it can be done.
If you look at the local grocery circulars to see what protein sources are on sale and then plan your weekly menu around those, it can be much cheaper than eating out or buying pre-made meals, not to mention far more nutritious.
This. When I had about $50-75 to last me two weeks, I would get the ads for Fresh & Easy and Frys. I'd figure out what meat was on sale and what fruit/veggies were the cheapest. If something I needed wasn't on sale (like soy milk), I kept a mental list of where these items were cheapest without sale (aka comparison shopped). It wasn't easy but I ate healthy and cheaply.
Specifically for you...if you are shopping at Fresh and Easy and Frys you NEED to check out Sprouts prices on produce they are .... better. And sometimes organic is even cheaper than the not organice (Ex: Organic pommegranate 1.89 this week) For non organic staples of zuchini, onion, apples, pears, red/oj/yellow peppers, romain lettuce etc. all .88 / lb this week. They also carry the cheapest grain fed meat imo.0 -
Cheap food is fast food here. There are a LOT of people here living at or below the poverty line. Most of us have at least 2 or 3 jobs just to keep up. There is no "healthy" food for poor people. Fruits, veggies are EXPENSIVE..even at the farmer's market.
So how do you stay healthy?
Fast food is not cheap in the long run. It never has been and never will be. Even if you are paying $2 a pound for beef, a $1 hamburger is not a bargain, as you could have made 4 hamburgers at $.50 each at home.
Fresh veggies are more expensive in some cases than meat in the U.S. Totally true. But canned and frozen are much more affordable.
Legumes are also cheap, protein per ounce.
Re: animal proteins: it's been answered repeatedly in this thread.0 -
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Average price of chicken breast in Canada is $8 a lb, I have friends in philly who won't pay more then $2.5. Sorry mate, Canada is waaaaaay more expensive then USA.
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Here it is 7-9 dollars a pound for chicken breast in the NJ/phila area (and parts of VA where I travel alot) My hub works at a groccery store as does my sisters husband.
Beef is the cheapest, dark meat chicken is much cheaper, fish is ridiculously expensive...even canned tuna is over 1 a can. Its true, the healither you want to eat the more it costs.0 -
I live in a downtown area. FORTUNATELY, not with a struggling financial situation. I live in a fairly decent area, but, like most downtowns, you have scattered "good" and "bad" streets. Within a mile of my house I have 3 Irish pubs, at least 10 other drinking establishments, taco bell, arbys, two fast food chinese places, a fast food japanese place, a fast food mexican place, 2 ice cream stands, 3 sandwhich places, 3 pizza places, a giant burrito place, and a pharmacy with a huge processed and junk food section. We have pretzel stands, and hot dog stands. Guess what we don't have. A single grocery store.
To get to a grocery store, I have a 20-30 minute drive, depending on where I choose to go. It's a pain in the butt for ME, with a car, and money for food and gas, to get to and from a grocery store. Even I have to plan ahead though, there's no such thing as "grab something on the way home from work" The grocery store is a big deal outing.
After a pricing adventure, I learned that processed food, calorie per calorie, is MUCH more expensive than grocery items. for 5 dollars at taco bell, I can have over a thousand calories, easily, and a soda. There's a full meal. I can't get a full mean of healthy food, if I want, say, meat rather than beans as a protein source, for 5 dollars...
Therein lies the problem: Access to healthy food, convenience and availability of processed and fast food crap, and the cost of eating healthy as opposed to eating junk. We are a country that caters to the lifestyle that leads to obesity, and it shows in our statistics. They have made it so much easier to be unhealthy, and all the advertising caters to that.
Yes, it is much harder to eat healthy when you are living below the poverty line. Add to this a lack of education about healthy food choices, kids growing up with poor choices, living with poor choices, and feeding their kids poor choices. Wait: there I go calling them choices again... They aren't really, when it's the only accessible option, it's not really a choice, now is it.
Thinking back to my broke college days: Mac and cheese, Ramen noodles, and vending machine crap, because I didn't have a place to store anything else, and it was far cheaper than anything in the cafeteria, except maybe the drippy greasy pizza...
But hey, in corporate America, it's easy to get ahold of their product... Much harder to get ahold of a farmer's product....
You are saying that you can not prepare a healthy meal at home for less than $5? $5 a serving?!
This is problem of not knowing how to cook.
Trust me, I am no master chef. But I have learned the basics of cooking and do so regularly. I have never spent $5 a serving on ANYTHING. I average about $1.50 per serving, and that is with a goal of a diet that is 40% protein. And I live in one of the most expensive areas of the U.S.
Can you please share what you cook?!0 -
I think the biggest problem with food and obesity is that most of the poor obese people are totally uneducated about making good food choices. I see it all the time when you stand in line at the grocery store. An obese woman with her obese children will have a cart full of junk food, chips, pop, precooked toaster foods, Pizza Pops, ice cram, cookies, etc and when they go through the checkout the bill is twice as much as mine. If they took the same amount of money and bought some frozen veggies, brown rice, chicken, milk, eggs, etc they could have some nutritious meals for less money and not be obese but then again that would require someone to get off their *kitten* and cook it rather than have the kids stuff something in the microwave.
True.
Only partly true. I was just in the grocery store. I wanted a cut of crock pot pork or beef. The prices have gone up astronomically for some reason and I had to do without. What will I use for those calories? Probably milk. Not as healthy by any means, but much cheaper per calorie.
Eggs, however, are pretty cheap sources of protein, OP. Tired as I am of them, I still eat them regularly for this reason.
We weren't talking about beef:huh:
However, the droughts this summer are going to dramatically raise the price of all animal products and some grain products. Food for humans, food for pets, and consumer items you never even knew contained corn. :sad:
That's bad news for me, since chicken makes me ill and low carb agrees with me, I'm a meat eater. A poor one. Well, I've been planning on leaving this wretched country, maybe I'll have to flee early.0 -
find a farmer's market - cheaper fruit, veggies and meat.
Not true in my area. Tried it. Left work early and was expecting low prices. Everything there was almost double in price. Tried another one the next week...same deal. I've given up...0 -
You do not have to be rich to eat healthy...you can buy your protein powders, etc online and a lot of places do buy one/get one free or 50% off...you have to watch for those and make sure you find all the good sites
http://www.znaturalfoods.com/ is a good source
http://www.puritan.com/categories?tab=4&Mcid=719&tab&cm_re=AZ-_-Main-_-Coffee_Tea
http://www.sunfood.com/
http://www.goraw.com/products/
http://www.greenpolkadotbox.com/food.html (I haven't actually shopped here, but it was recommended on one of the raw food sites)
For fresh vegetables & fruits: 1 you can grow your own (for some things) and for the things you can't....you can become part of a co-op; all he has to do is google co-ops to find one in his area; find local farmers that sell and there are usually local produce stands or stores that sell locally grown produce. It's usually more nutritious because it was picked ripe and didn't travel as far and it's cheaper.
Also -- it's cheaper to eat healthier than to be sick all the time, missing work and paying doctor bills and high medical premiums (js)0 -
Average price of chicken breast in Canada is $8 a lb, I have friends in philly who won't pay more then $2.5. Sorry mate, Canada is waaaaaay more expensive then USA.
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Here it is 7-9 dollars a pound for chicken breast in the NJ/phila area (and parts of VA where I travel alot) My hub works at a groccery store as does my sisters husband.
Beef is the cheapest, dark meat chicken is much cheaper, fish is ridiculously expensive...even canned tuna is over 1 a can. Its true, the healither you want to eat the more it costs.
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I have to dispute that chicken breast is $7-$9 dollars a pound. I'm in NJ/NYC and it is nowhere near that high. Even if you buy the Purdue Perfect Portions (boneless, skinless, individually wrapped, all same size breasts--one of THE MOST EXPENSIVE WAYS TO BUY IT) they are around $4 a pound on sale. If you simply buy the store brand boneless chicken breast, it is under $2 per pound. And a whole chicken is even less.0 -
A lot of good advice about protein and how processed foods actually cost more than eating healthy I have 3 comments to made....one is fact the other (S) my opinion...*Besides my comment about Sprouts earlier*
1. IF you live in the west US check out Zaycon foods to see if they deliver to your area. They bring organic meats unfrozen (chicken at 1.67/lb) and sometimes produce at rediculously low prices. The catch is you have to order in bulk, ahead of time...so you usually go in with another family. For example you must order 40 lbs of chicken and go pick it up on a certain day or two that they are delivering. If you have freezer space its a great idea...or a few friends and take turns picking up.
2. Learn to coupon...a lot of people say couponing is for junk food but its not all for junk food> Even if you focus on couponing for only paper goods and toiletries and cleaning supplies you can use that money saved for healthier every day foods. However, I do find deals on organic and healthy items also at times. My "buy" prices (price I will buy something at) for healthier foods includes: Special K (1.00/box), Mama's Best Cereal or Barbara's Puffins (.50/box), Blue DIamond Nut Thins (1.00/container), tomato sauce (organic .50, non organic I buy free only), Wheat Pasta (free-.50), Steam veggies ...try not to buy these but good in a pinch... (Free - .50). Edited: I mean real coupon strategy not just cut a coupon here and there in your sunday paper..... find a local couponers blog that will help you with learning local strategies for your drug and grocery stores.
3. Time. My theory is a lot of people in the US that are poor are overweight because it simply takes time to grocery shop smart, and it takes time to prepare the meals...and when you're exhausted you eat out or eat fast food or eat fast at home cheap crap like hamburger helper. When my husband and I both worked and were both in school we would pick up our daugther from aftercare at 6 PM (if we were lucky and not late getting a late charge)...if you think I was preparing a healthy meal while studying after getting home from work at 6 PM think again. We went OUT...maybe it wasn't fast food but Red Robin and Olive Garden and mexican restaurants don't do wonder for your health either. (The cost of constantly eating out factored into our financial analysis of me leaving my job actually...when you added the increased tax rate which reduced how much money we could keep, the gas, wear and tear on car, aftercare for kid, eating out constantly or eating more expensive prepared foods at home it was hardly worth me working.)0 -
Unless we are talking about ACCESS to food, income levels are not as much of a factor as people want to believe.
If you have no access to transportation and live in an area in which you can only access bodegas and convenience stores, yes, it's difficult to find what you need for a healthy diet. But if you have access to transportation and actual grocery stores, you can eat well on a budget. It takes planning and being willing to cook; and it helps if you coordinate your menu with sales, but it can be done.
If you look at the local grocery circulars to see what protein sources are on sale and then plan your weekly menu around those, it can be much cheaper than eating out or buying pre-made meals, not to mention far more nutritious.
This. When I had about $50-75 to last me two weeks, I would get the ads for Fresh & Easy and Frys. I'd figure out what meat was on sale and what fruit/veggies were the cheapest. If something I needed wasn't on sale (like soy milk), I kept a mental list of where these items were cheapest without sale (aka comparison shopped). It wasn't easy but I ate healthy and cheaply.
Specifically for you...if you are shopping at Fresh and Easy and Frys you NEED to check out Sprouts prices on produce they are .... better. And sometimes organic is even cheaper than the not organice (Ex: Organic pommegranate 1.89 this week) For non organic staples of zuchini, onion, apples, pears, red/oj/yellow peppers, romain lettuce etc. all .88 / lb this week. They also carry the cheapest grain fed meat imo.
I actually have been shopping at Sprout's lately. I never went in one because I assumed they were expensive (and are further from my house than F&E/Frys). I may be slightly obsessed with the bulk bins there. A zillion flavors of trail mix and granola? YES! I also get their soy protein from the bulk bins. Sprouts is my new favorite grocery store. :happy:0 -
Eggs, oatmeal, rice, pasta, potatoes, dried legume type products (beans, lentils, split peas), peanut butter, frozen vegetables, generic brand nuts (it's amazing how much cheaper you can find nuts and seeds at Walgreens than at the grocery store), popcorn you pop yourself, water instead of other beverages, fruit on sale and in season. Most of what I listed is pretty carb heavy, but depending on access and finances, sometimes you do what you've got to do. There are a lot of recipes online on how to turn many of these foods into snack foods or desserts. Sign up for email coupon programs at your local stores. A health food store near us texts the most amazing deals. Usually, they are "Spend $5 and get XYZ free." We've gotten a pint of blueberries, a pound of peaches, a pumpkin, a pineapple; I've seen them send coupons even for a free lobster.0
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This. When I had about $50-75 to last me two weeks, I would get the ads for Fresh & Easy and Frys. I'd figure out what meat was on sale and what fruit/veggies were the cheapest. If something I needed wasn't on sale (like soy milk), I kept a mental list of where these items were cheapest without sale (aka comparison shopped). It wasn't easy but I ate healthy and cheaply.
Specifically for you...if you are shopping at Fresh and Easy and Frys you NEED to check out Sprouts prices on produce they are .... better. And sometimes organic is even cheaper than the not organice (Ex: Organic pommegranate 1.89 this week) For non organic staples of zuchini, onion, apples, pears, red/oj/yellow peppers, romain lettuce etc. all .88 / lb this week. They also carry the cheapest grain fed meat imo.
I actually have been shopping at Sprout's lately. I never went in one because I assumed they were expensive (and are further from my house than F&E/Frys). I may be slightly obsessed with the bulk bins there. A zillion flavors of trail mix and granola? YES! I also get their soy protein from the bulk bins. Sprouts is my new favorite grocery store. :happy:
Awesome
I'm in the Ahwatukee/Phoenix area and our local sprouts just opened in August, I used to drive a little distance ONCE every 2 weeks to stock up when it wasn't close. If that's what you have to do go on Wednesday as it's 'double ad' day and you get the sales from the previous and current week. They do occasionally make the bulk bin stuff 25% off 
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A lot of good advice about protein and how processed foods actually cost more than eating healthy I have 3 comments to made....one is fact the other (S) my opinion...*Besides my comment about Sprouts earlier*
1. IF you live in the west US check out Zaycon foods to see if they deliver to your area. They bring organic meats unfrozen (chicken at 1.67/lb) and sometimes produce at rediculously low prices. The catch is you have to order in bulk, ahead of time...so you usually go in with another family. For example you must order 40 lbs of chicken and go pick it up on a certain day or two that they are delivering. If you have freezer space its a great idea...or a few friends and take turns picking up.
2. Learn to coupon...a lot of people say couponing is for junk food but its not all for junk food> Even if you focus on couponing for only paper goods and toiletries and cleaning supplies you can use that money saved for healthier every day foods. However, I do find deals on organic and healthy items also at times. My "buy" prices (price I will buy something at) for healthier foods includes: Special K (1.00/box), Mama's Best Cereal or Barbara's Puffins (.50/box), Blue DIamond Nut Thins (1.00/container), tomato sauce (organic .50, non organic I buy free only), Wheat Pasta (free-.50), Steam veggies ...try not to buy these but good in a pinch... (Free - .50). Edited: I mean real coupon strategy not just cut a coupon here and there in your sunday paper..... find a local couponers blog that will help you with learning local strategies for your drug and grocery stores.
3. Time. My theory is a lot of people in the US that are poor are overweight because it simply takes time to grocery shop smart, and it takes time to prepare the meals...and when you're exhausted you eat out or eat fast food or eat fast at home cheap crap like hamburger helper. When my husband and I both worked and were both in school we would pick up our daugther from aftercare at 6 PM (if we were lucky and not late getting a late charge)...if you think I was preparing a healthy meal while studying after getting home from work at 6 PM think again. We went OUT...maybe it wasn't fast food but Red Robin and Olive Garden and mexican restaurants don't do wonder for your health either. (The cost of constantly eating out factored into our financial analysis of me leaving my job actually...when you added the increased tax rate which reduced how much money we could keep, the gas, wear and tear on car, aftercare for kid, eating out constantly or eating more expensive prepared foods at home it was hardly worth me working.)
Re:2: Good advice. And I find the coupons for the FRESH, UNPROCESSED foods in the store's weekly circular, one of the annoying town newspapers that I receive once a month, and on the store's website and phone app.
Re:3: Time is a big issue. If you are working 2 or 3 jobs just trying to keep your head somewhere NEAR the poverty line, time is something you just don't have. The searching for coupons and best prices, the meal planning, the cooking are all things that seem to be too time-consuming when you just would like to get 6 hours of sleep a night. I get that.
If there is anyone in your household who is not working right now, delegate these tasks to them.
If not, do what you can to prepare meals in bulk so the cook time is less per meal.0 -
Beef might be expensive, but chicken can be very cheap. I see chicken leg quarters on sale regularly for 69-79 cents a pound - hard to find protein less expensive than that! Eggs go on sale for $1/dozen, and are rarely more than $2/dozen. Even fish can be purchased relatively inexpensively. I see fish on sale for $4/pound, and Walmart sells frozen salmon for $5/pound.
Of course, all these prices are for factory-farmed animal protein, so if you're a stickler for free-range/wild-caught everything, you will have to pay more.
These prices are a lot cheaper than here on Long Island! We're lucky if we can get eggs for $2 a dozen!0 -
A lot of good advice about protein and how processed foods actually cost more than eating healthy I have 3 comments to made....one is fact the other (S) my opinion...*Besides my comment about Sprouts earlier*
1. IF you live in the west US check out Zaycon foods to see if they deliver to your area. They bring organic meats unfrozen (chicken at 1.67/lb) and sometimes produce at rediculously low prices. The catch is you have to order in bulk, ahead of time...so you usually go in with another family. For example you must order 40 lbs of chicken and go pick it up on a certain day or two that they are delivering. If you have freezer space its a great idea...or a few friends and take turns picking up.
2. Learn to coupon...a lot of people say couponing is for junk food but its not all for junk food> Even if you focus on couponing for only paper goods and toiletries and cleaning supplies you can use that money saved for healthier every day foods. However, I do find deals on organic and healthy items also at times. My "buy" prices (price I will buy something at) for healthier foods includes: Special K (1.00/box), Mama's Best Cereal or Barbara's Puffins (.50/box), Blue DIamond Nut Thins (1.00/container), tomato sauce (organic .50, non organic I buy free only), Wheat Pasta (free-.50), Steam veggies ...try not to buy these but good in a pinch... (Free - .50). Edited: I mean real coupon strategy not just cut a coupon here and there in your sunday paper..... find a local couponers blog that will help you with learning local strategies for your drug and grocery stores.
3. Time. My theory is a lot of people in the US that are poor are overweight because it simply takes time to grocery shop smart, and it takes time to prepare the meals...and when you're exhausted you eat out or eat fast food or eat fast at home cheap crap like hamburger helper. When my husband and I both worked and were both in school we would pick up our daugther from aftercare at 6 PM (if we were lucky and not late getting a late charge)...if you think I was preparing a healthy meal while studying after getting home from work at 6 PM think again. We went OUT...maybe it wasn't fast food but Red Robin and Olive Garden and mexican restaurants don't do wonder for your health either. (The cost of constantly eating out factored into our financial analysis of me leaving my job actually...when you added the increased tax rate which reduced how much money we could keep, the gas, wear and tear on car, aftercare for kid, eating out constantly or eating more expensive prepared foods at home it was hardly worth me working.)
Re:2: Good advice. And I find the coupons for the FRESH, UNPROCESSED foods in the store's weekly circular, one of the annoying town newspapers that I receive once a month, and on the store's website and phone app.
Re:3: Time is a big issue. If you are working 2 or 3 jobs just trying to keep your head somewhere NEAR the poverty line, time is something you just don't have. The searching for coupons and best prices, the meal planning, the cooking are all things that seem to be too time-consuming when you just would like to get 6 hours of sleep a night. I get that.
If there is anyone in your household who is not working right now, delegate these tasks to them.
If not, do what you can to prepare meals in bulk so the cook time is less per meal.
Absolutely time consuming. I do think even 10 minutes a day on a local blog can save you 25% on your bill because a good one will lay out the BEST deals that week by deal or store or both so you don't have to look over ads a ton. If you have an older kid you can teach them to do it...my daugther learned by watching me over the years but I could have taught her faster 0 -
It truly is a challenge. It depends on the person though, my dad can eat anything, anything at all and be healthy. Me my body knows the difference between what is natural or organic and what isn't. I made the mistake of eating a dannon yogurt the other day I thought was natural and it didn't go well. There is a HUGE difference in meat that is naturally raises without antiobotics and most of the conventional stuff. For the most sensitive, being on a "diet" will not matter as much when consuming the wrong products. But like I said it depends on your friend. Hopefully they are more like my dad or my husbands Grandma who is 98, lived through lard sandwhiches in the depression, still drinks a beer a day and is healthy as a horse...she will outlive the rest of us.
I have to feed 3 people on less than 100 dollars a week, which is doable at Whole Foods because we get a 20% discount for working there adn I only buy whole food, and their store brand when available. But I don't buy food for lunch for any of us, my son gets a free lunch at school and typically I make enough dinner to be leftovers. Otherwise I graze for lunch like nuts, avacodo, and luna nutrition bars. I also don't buy any beverages except juice boxes for my son, a few vitamin waters for when feeling run down or ill and coffee. We drink filtered tap water, or brewed unsweetened tea. I do not buy novelty food either, like ice cream bars or snacks like frozen meals/appeitizers, cookies ect. (but i do buy nuts, fruit, cheese, yogurt, peanut butter and those things are our snacks) Its not that we don't eat cookies and goodies, but its more for when we go out, or on the day I shop because I get it fresh at the bakery.
Typical list - canned beans (about 90 cents a can, gives you 2-3 cups per can
- 3 lbs of leg quarters. costs about 5-6 dollars, it will make 6 servings, so we get dinner and lunch or breakfast
- 2 giant yams and bag of baby carrots to go with leg quarters about 3 dollars (again, gives about 5 servings, usually we have one piece of chicken on its lonesome)
- pound of ground turkey for chilli costs about 5 dollars for breast, 4 dollars for thigh.this makes 5 servings also with 2 cans of beans and one green pepper (also only 300 or so calories a serving)
-half gallon of almond or soy milk is 3
-1 pound of whateever meat is on sale for 5 bucks or less
-bag of swai fish from target for 5-6 dollars, there are 5 fillets, therefore 5 servings each being 4-5oz
-bananas and apples
2 cans of nuts for about 8-10 dollars
my son likes macncheese, its a dollar a box at wholefoods but gives 3 servings and not full of a bunch of weird ingredients, just add 2 tbsp of butter and some water
box pasta once a week for 88 cents on sale at shoprite
couscous is 2 a pound at wholefoods, we eat this sometimes or quinoa which is twice the price but better for you
frozen broccoli, spinach, kale and broccoli rabe...all about 1.50 a bag
eggs are 1-2.50 depending where you get them and the sale...though I have been getting the cage free lately. I cut back one of my vitamin watesr to have the extra 1.00
typically we do not eat dinner every night, but we do at least 5 nights a week. Breakfast for me is usually leftovers or eggs, my hub eats oatmeal and my son eats dry cereal or waffles. This is just off the top of my head but I have been shopping at wholefoods for almost 7 years since my son has been on a gluten/dairy free diet and it was the only place to find things (and the cheapest for that type of stuff). It is a challenge, there are sacriffices with supplying food for guests. I use coupons wherever possible , but I am able to schedule a few hours a week to do so.0 -
A lot of good advice about protein and how processed foods actually cost more than eating healthy I have 3 comments to made....one is fact the other (S) my opinion...*Besides my comment about Sprouts earlier*
1. IF you live in the west US check out Zaycon foods to see if they deliver to your area. They bring organic meats unfrozen (chicken at 1.67/lb) and sometimes produce at rediculously low prices. The catch is you have to order in bulk, ahead of time...so you usually go in with another family. For example you must order 40 lbs of chicken and go pick it up on a certain day or two that they are delivering. If you have freezer space its a great idea...or a few friends and take turns picking up.
2. Learn to coupon...a lot of people say couponing is for junk food but its not all for junk food> Even if you focus on couponing for only paper goods and toiletries and cleaning supplies you can use that money saved for healthier every day foods. However, I do find deals on organic and healthy items also at times. My "buy" prices (price I will buy something at) for healthier foods includes: Special K (1.00/box), Mama's Best Cereal or Barbara's Puffins (.50/box), Blue DIamond Nut Thins (1.00/container), tomato sauce (organic .50, non organic I buy free only), Wheat Pasta (free-.50), Steam veggies ...try not to buy these but good in a pinch... (Free - .50). Edited: I mean real coupon strategy not just cut a coupon here and there in your sunday paper..... find a local couponers blog that will help you with learning local strategies for your drug and grocery stores.
3. Time. My theory is a lot of people in the US that are poor are overweight because it simply takes time to grocery shop smart, and it takes time to prepare the meals...and when you're exhausted you eat out or eat fast food or eat fast at home cheap crap like hamburger helper. When my husband and I both worked and were both in school we would pick up our daugther from aftercare at 6 PM (if we were lucky and not late getting a late charge)...if you think I was preparing a healthy meal while studying after getting home from work at 6 PM think again. We went OUT...maybe it wasn't fast food but Red Robin and Olive Garden and mexican restaurants don't do wonder for your health either. (The cost of constantly eating out factored into our financial analysis of me leaving my job actually...when you added the increased tax rate which reduced how much money we could keep, the gas, wear and tear on car, aftercare for kid, eating out constantly or eating more expensive prepared foods at home it was hardly worth me working.)
Re:2: Good advice. And I find the coupons for the FRESH, UNPROCESSED foods in the store's weekly circular, one of the annoying town newspapers that I receive once a month, and on the store's website and phone app.
Re:3: Time is a big issue. If you are working 2 or 3 jobs just trying to keep your head somewhere NEAR the poverty line, time is something you just don't have. The searching for coupons and best prices, the meal planning, the cooking are all things that seem to be too time-consuming when you just would like to get 6 hours of sleep a night. I get that.
If there is anyone in your household who is not working right now, delegate these tasks to them.
If not, do what you can to prepare meals in bulk so the cook time is less per meal.
Absolutely time consuming. I do think even 10 minutes a day on a local blog can save you 25% on your bill because a good one will lay out the BEST deals that week by deal or store or both so you don't have to look over ads a ton. If you have an older kid you can teach them to do it...my daugther learned by watching me over the years but I could have taught her faster
Yes!
And it's the start-up that is the most difficult. Once you have a few go-to inexpensive recipes that freeze well; once you have determined the store in your area that is most likely to be the cheapest overall per grocery trip based on what you are likely to buy; once you've found the best sources for deals and coupons--it's no longer terribly time-consuming to plan and cook. It might take two hours a week. But determining all of that is going to take some investment of your time upfront.0 -
Definitely create your menu around the sales flyers. Chicken, eggs, beans, and rice are all cheap.
Most importantly, water is cheaper than soda!0 -
Average price of chicken breast in Canada is $8 a lb, I have friends in philly who won't pay more then $2.5. Sorry mate, Canada is waaaaaay more expensive then USA.
Here it is 7-9 dollars a pound for chicken breast in the NJ/phila area (and parts of VA where I travel alot) My hub works at a groccery store as does my sisters husband.
Beef is the cheapest, dark meat chicken is much cheaper, fish is ridiculously expensive...even canned tuna is over 1 a can. Its true, the healither you want to eat the more it costs.
[/quote]
I have to dispute that chicken breast is $7-$9 dollars a pound. I'm in NJ/NYC and it is nowhere near that high. Even if you buy the Purdue Perfect Portions (boneless, skinless, individually wrapped, all same size breasts--one of THE MOST EXPENSIVE WAYS TO BUY IT) they are around $4 a pound on sale. If you simply buy the store brand boneless chicken breast, it is under $2 per pound. And a whole chicken is even less.
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note: quote didn't seem to work
I'm in the Detroit suburbs and boneless, skinless chicken breasts at the little store on the corner of our block are $3.99 a lb. This store is more expensive than the larger stores in the area. Chicken thighs were just under $2 a lbs the last time I looked. You can buy a rotisory chicken (whole) for $5 pretty much anywhere in the area. (not $5 a lb. just $5) If I drive to Costco everything is cheaper still accept the rotisory chicken. It is still $5.
If you have to pay $9 a lb for chicken breasts in the US, I find that very suprising.
Ok, I just pulled up a flyer to see if I was remembering correctly and right now "Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast (hormone free-Gluten Free- Non Enhanced" are on sale for $1.77 a lb. Here is the link
http://findnsave.detroitnews.com/Circulars/1000514/Hillers-Markets/22633-v73424
You will never convince me that I can save money by eating junk food when I know what I can make, how much I eat and what it costs. I have eaten more than my share of junk food and always spent more, had less to show for it and felt worse.0 -
I think the biggest problem with food and obesity is that most of the poor obese people are totally uneducated about making good food choices. I see it all the time when you stand in line at the grocery store. An obese woman with her obese children will have a cart full of junk food, chips, pop, precooked toaster foods, Pizza Pops, ice cram, cookies, etc and when they go through the checkout the bill is twice as much as mine. If they took the same amount of money and bought some frozen veggies, brown rice, chicken, milk, eggs, etc they could have some nutritious meals for less money and not be obese but then again that would require someone to get off their *kitten* and cook it rather than have the kids stuff something in the microwave.
Agreed0 -
@gregcharland: (Since the quote button is not working) I'm in suburban Manhattan, just outside of in NJ. When I lived in Manhattan though, groceries were 25-35% higher. It actually was about the same price to eat at local restaurants as to cook for myself as one person in Manhattan.
When I moved to the burbs, I literally danced through the aisles of the store as everything seemed so cheap! LOL
When I lived in upstate NY, I figure out that driving south 20 minutes saved me 20% on groceries. Same grocery chain, but worse neighborhood, so it was all cheaper.
And when I lived in Cambridge, going over the bridge to Allston also proved advantageous in prices. If you have a "less desirable" area near you, shop there. Always cheaper, even in the same grocery chain.0
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