Is it more expensive to eat healthy?

dym123

I've found it's been less expensive for me, mainly because I'm no longer buying junk or processed foods, I force myself to stay out of the prepared foods and bakery section. I plan out my meals for the week and I stick to my grocery list, sometimes planning my meals around what's on sale.

KrystalLight03

In my personal experience, the answer is both yes and no. I used to go to the grocery store and buy a lot of TV dinners and boxed meals, and my bill was about $150 every other week. Last semester I barely had time to go the grocery store and ate fast food 2 - 3 times a DAY, and I was living paycheck to paycheck because of it. Now, I'm going to the grocery store and buying mostly produce or organic items, and I'm spending about $60 a week because I'm only buying what I need to make meals I've planned in advance. Also, I found that my local co-op grocery store has healthy, organic meals pre-prepared, and it's about $20 for three meals (that's about on par with what I spent on fast food).

norcaligirl72

I think it depends on the store you buy from and what you buy. I live in Kona and Costco is my main source of food. I stick to things under $2 a pound for fruits and veggies. Buying chicken in bulk it works out better. You just have to be practical about all of it. If you don't have a warehouse store just buy on sale and stock up on what you can freeze. And quite honestly I do better eating the same stuff. I know people say they get bored but it just makes it easier and less tempting to over eat.

meeper123

I have found it cheaper that per boxed stuff is expensive and i can skip the junk food asiles that stuff is def notcheap

StheK

I think it's more expensive calorie for calorie, but less expensive overall because I'm buying less and not eating out 10 times a week.

cwolfman13

I guess it depends on one's definition of healthy vs non-healthy. If we're talking a package of Ramen noodles as compared to a home cooked stew made with whole food ingredients, then yeah...it's more expensive.

For the most part though, it seems to be about the same when you look at it serving to serving. Convenience is an entirely different matter altogether.

MissBernie73

My shopping is more expensive now. I find that buying the leaner cuts of meat, a lot more fruit, veggies and nuts costs a lot more then when i was buying prepackaged and cheaper cuts of meat. I never really ate out or brought takeaway. This is compared to my weekly shopping trip, maybe $50-$100 more now. It is worth it though

SmartAlec03211988

My grocery bill is about $100 LESS per month eating healthy than when I wasn't. So for ME personally, it is cheaper.

RadioactivePirate

It is probably cheaper, money wise, to cook from scratch than it is to buy takeout all the time. But time is a valuable resource as well, and cooking from scratch takes up a whole lot of that. Being able to plan out meals, grocery shop, prep, cook, store, etc all of your food can be very time consuming, especially if you have a family. This is the big issue that often gets overlooked in the "is it too expensive" question, and in my opinion is a HUGE driver of why so many low income people have poor nutrition. When you're working long hours for low pay, you just don't have the resources to do all that planning and shopping and cooking without a huge effort.

__Di__

So any studies/stats on this? I know that eating your allotted quota of calories using only healthy choices is tough and requires a LOT of food. Wondering if that also translates into more money spent on grocery shopping. And for this discussion, let us ignore the cost of healthcare to a person of poor eating habits.

I have found it cheaper actually, for a start I no longer buy cakes, biscuits, sweets or junk food which can be expensive.

Calliope610

Strip away all the chips, cookies, sweets, "instant" foods (individually packaged oatmeal, rice mixes, granola bars, etc), sodas and frozen dinners (SmartOnes, HealthyChoice, LeanCuisine) and replace with fresh produce (lots of in season/on sale veggies and fruit), lean meats, good diary products and bulk dry goods (rice, beans, rolled oats, grits). In the long run, it is much healthier and cheaper.

BrendaLee

I have no studies to back it up, but I think living it is good enough. Yes, it costs more to eat healthy -- maybe not if you're making the switch from take-out three times a day, but if you're living on a tight budget, and you make the switch from canned food and cheap frozen dinners, yeah.

ldrosophila

Cooking and making most things from scratch will save tons of money! We buy bulk freeze most of it and I end up making about 75% of my meals. Vegetables can be pretty cheap too. We eat out once a week, and buy groceries once a week to every other week. I cant really say what my bill runs a week because it varies depending on what we need, but we do have a little money left over at the end of the month. It's worth it in the long run when you look at the health benefits. Here's a little study I pulled up.


Cost of eating: whole foods versus convenience foods in a low-income model.

McDermott AJ, Stephens MB.
Fam Med. 2010 Apr;42(4):280-4.

Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Financial limitations in low-income populations, those at highest risk for poor health outcomes, may preclude adherence to recommended dietary guidelines. We examine the financial burden of shopping for foods to meet national dietary recommendations in a supermarket compared to eating primarily in a fast-food restaurant.
METHODS:
Using a single-parent, low-income model, we obtained whole food costs (healthy) from local supermarkets and from fast-food outlets (convenient). Using cost per calorie as a metric for comparison, we used estimated single-parent, low-income living expenses to determine the relative costs of meeting national dietary guidelines.
RESULTS:
Average food costs for healthy and convenience diets accounted for 18% and 37% of income, respectively. Dairy products and vegetables accounted for the largest cost percentages of diet costs (36% and 28%, respectively). The cost per calorie of a convenience diet was 24% higher than the healthy diet. Both models resulted in net financial loss over the course of a year for a single-parent, low-income family.
CONCLUSIONS:
Food costs represent a significant proportion of annual income. Diets based heavily on foods from convenient sources are less healthy and more expensive than a well-planned menu from budget foods available from large supermarket chains.

NormInv

So I infer the following: if you are eating somewhat reasonable with frequent episodes of bad food, eating healthy might be cheaper. However, if you are eating mostly junk food, switching to healthy eating might be more expensive. Fish is pricey where I live and my preferred source of meat protein.

clh126

I was spending a lot more money on boxed, pre-packaged foods than I am now even though I'm buying a lot more fresh produce.

I definitely agree with one of the previous posters that it is absolutely less convenient to eat healthy, both in the time spent cooking and the time I spend at the the grocery store. I have to go shopping at least once a week now that I'm buying fresh food instead of shelf-stable garbage. That said, I eat very little meat and if I were buying grass-fed beef or fresh fish, my grocery budget would probably be destroyed.

BrendaLee

So I infer the following: if you are eating somewhat reasonable with frequent episodes of bad food, eating healthy might be cheaper. However, if you are eating mostly junk food, switching to healthy eating might be more expensive. Fish is pricey where I live and my preferred source of meat protein.

Here, it's chicken. Four boneless, skinless chicken breasts cost me at least $12 or $13 on a good day.

Sqeekyjojo

Personally, I don't think healthy is more expensive.

I bought a 5 pound bag of oranges for $3.49. A 12 oz bag of potato chips would cost about the same.

I also got boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 a pound, frozen carrots for $.99 a pound, 10 pounds of potatoes for $3.99 (bogo special). That'll go a lot further than a couple McDoubles and fries. Anyone who thinks anything off the dollar menu is really a bargain needs to do some math and learn to cook.

Now, if you're talking about CONVENIENCE, that's another story.

I need to live where you do. In the UK, skinless chicken breasts in the supermarket are about $8.90/lb minimum and 10lb of potatoes would be about $4.80 minimum, usually more. But a box of 'chicken' burgers from the freezer would be about 75 cents for 8.



But still, I do agree that the heavily processed stuff isn't actually as cheap at it appears to be - and everyone needs to learn to cook.


But it's what is heavily marketed instore. And poorer people are less likely to be well educated or able to understand that it's anything but a healthy bargain that's being sold to them.

MissBernie73

I have no studies to back it up, but I think living it is good enough. Yes, it costs more to eat healthy -- maybe not if you're making the switch from take-out three times a day, but if you're living on a tight budget, and you make the switch from canned food and cheap frozen dinners, yeah.

Agree

Calliope610

So I infer the following: if you are eating somewhat reasonable with frequent episodes of bad food, eating healthy might be cheaper. However, if you are eating mostly junk food, switching to healthy eating might be more expensive. Fish is pricey where I live and my preferred source of meat protein.

What do you consider "junk food"? Is that fast food? Or unhealthy food?

dsjohndrow

Quality food IE: whole foods, health foods can run more. The trick is to prepare things yourself. Cut your own fruits and veggies, skip the sauces and all that - most are just calorie killers. I added about 10 percent to my budget because I like things like almonds. But you can save there too by shelling your own peanuts.