Why is healthy eating so expensive?

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  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
    for the yogurt, buy the big tubs of it instead of the single servings. I used to buy single servings of everything because it's easier, and it is, but more expensive as well. What's is quorn or whatever, and what's wrong with meat?
  • Bailey543
    Bailey543 Posts: 375
    When veggies are on sale, stock up and freeze them! I do all my cutting on Sundays so my veggies don't go bad. If bell peppers are on sale, I freeze them. Try canned veggies, frozen. Not as good as fresh, but better than chips and fries!
  • ChristineDiet
    ChristineDiet Posts: 719 Member
    I hear you. I have a family and the other day I had gone to the shops to buy chicken, vegetables, herbs, and some fresh fruit for afters - it came to just under £30 - this was enough for one meal. I could have bought a giant pizza and bag of oven chips for £5!!!

    sometimes we have to make some compromises I guess. x
  • TrimAnew
    TrimAnew Posts: 127 Member
    Can you pair up with anyone else in your area, then order what you want in bulk and have it shipped in? If the bulk price is cheap enough, then it might be worth the shipping cost. This would probably work best with staples like dry rice, beans, etc, but it might work for fresh and frozen goods too. Basically, you'd cut out the middle-man (your store) if it works.

    If you know someone coming to visit (or who frequently travels to/from) places with cheaper prices, you might also be able to have them make purchases for you and bring them to you (possibly for a small fee). My extended family live in a very rural area, so while prices are somewhat of an issue, the bigger issue for them is variety. If we travel to see them in summer, we make sure to bring fresh peaches for example. (The sight of small round globes with dark pits did briefly freak out an airport security x-ray operator on one trip. Never knew fresh peaches could look so dangerous. She had a good chuckle when she opened the box to see what on earth we were carrying.) Other times, we make bring sauces or other items that we can easy pick up and, with a little care, take with us to them. We've even shipped huge 50lb bags of pecans in the shells!

    When I was in high school, the marching band had a great deal on winter fruit from a vendor down in Florida, so, yep, we even ordered band fruit to go directly from our vendor to ship to family out west. I'm told it arrived timely and was not over-ripe and was the best quality grapefruit and oranges they had all season.

    On the flip side, my grandpa has sent us home with a cooler packed to the brim with frozen beef because they raise it there, have an area butcher cut it up as directed, and then pack it up in a deep freezer in the garage for the rest of the year.
  • BillyPinky
    BillyPinky Posts: 104 Member
    I hear you. I have a family and the other day I had gone to the shops to buy chicken, vegetables, herbs, and some fresh fruit for afters - it came to just under £30 - this was enough for one meal. I could have bought a giant pizza and bag of oven chips for £5!!!

    sometimes we have to make some compromises I guess. x

    Tell me about it. I think I shop at the same shop you do :)
  • starmichie
    starmichie Posts: 14 Member
    Buy in season, in bulk...take a day aside to cook things you can freeze like chili, vegetable lasagna (light cheese, substitute noodles with long slices of zuchhini, moussaka, stew, soups...etc.
    It takes some time, but is really worth it in the end.
    There are also a lot of veggies that you can just blanch quick and freeze for later use.
    Good luck, and enjoy!
  • DesireeLovesOrganic
    DesireeLovesOrganic Posts: 456 Member
    I think we have to view it differently. In the US as a nation we spend only about 6% of our income on food (well, the study I read was from 2007 so may be slightly different now.) That is really low seeing that eating good food is one of the most important things we can do for our health. I think of it as health insurance. You can pay now or pay later. If you eat crappy cheap food now, eventually you will pay for it with medications and co-pays from poor health.

    I would give up hair appointments, new clothes, entertainment before I gave up quality food...which is why I am sporting 6 inch roots at the moment, haha.....what? It's ombre. ;) Hahaha

    I spend about 25% of our income on food (fam of 4) but we cut costs on a lot of things to be able to do so. I also can't afford gym or exercise classes (except maybe the occasional yoga groupon or something) but I can do things like run around my neighborhood for free.

    I find that staying around the "rim" of the grocery store keeps the bill lower too. Produce foods and plant based foods are generally a lot cheaper than the packaged crap in the middle. I do get some bulk stuff from Amazon (like the organic brown rice that I like, it's about 30% cheaper buying 5 at once from Amazon.) I like vitacost too. They have a great referral program too where I get $10-20 off my orders frequently. (Free shipping over $50 is great too.)
  • brickdm
    brickdm Posts: 1
    Revamping my shopping MO helps. I find it easier to stop by the grocery store a couple times a week and buy fresh fruits and veggies... Spending maybe $15 each time. I used to go to Wal-Mart and get a cart and fill it up once every two weeks on crap foods and I felt like that drained my wallet and the produce wouldn't last.

    Personally, I also feel like the idea fresh or healthy food is "expensive" is propaganda. I'm not going to get all conspiracy theorist about it, but I think the mentally should be that junk food is just cheap. You pay for what you get.
  • opuntia
    opuntia Posts: 860 Member
    I think we have to view it differently. In the US as a nation we spend only about 6% of our income on food (well, the study I read was from 2007 so may be slightly different now.)

    Surely those results are skewed by the incomes of the very rich, who will naturally be spending a very low percentage of their income on food, because their income is so high. The majority of people, surely, couldn't really afford to spend as little as 6% of their income on food. For someone who gets a monthly income of $1,000, for instance, that would simply be $60 a month.

    Surely it's the amount of money, rather than the percentage, that is meaningful. If someone is earning $10,000 a month, 6% would be $600, which would be an unnecessarily large amount of money to spend on monthly groceries..
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Nice options are always...

    Chicken a whole one will save money. However the breasts arent that much more expensive
    Tuna
    Frozen Tilapia I saw a big bag at walmart the other day for like $4
    Rice and Beans (pinto, kidney, white, navy, ect)
    Turkey
    Ham (I know a lot of people will cringe on this but you can get a lot of fairly lean protein for little money, relatively) (high in sodium but 1g of fat to 19g protein)
    Peanut Butter
    Of course some nice lean beaf and pork steaks
    Dairy

    I can buy a ton of veggies at walmart for <$15 inculding tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers. We also get a lot of our veggies from costco like romain which saves money
    Look for local farmer's markets
    Canned and frozen fruits and vegetables are also inexpensive

    It can be done just takes more planning, time, and a bit of creativity. Tonight were making shrimp stir-fry. I'm using part of the bulk frozen we bought $15 and canned grean beans, chopped onions, and any other veggies I can scrounge up. It will be a nice filling dinner for a little price.
  • love22step
    love22step Posts: 1,103 Member
    Grow stuff or join a co-op. Raise chickens, if you have a yard and it's not illegal. If you can't do any of that stuff, maybe consider moving? Good luck!
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    This website is full of great tips:

    http://www.choosemyplate.gov/healthy-eating-on-budget.html
  • cindaboo1
    cindaboo1 Posts: 150 Member
    bump!!!
  • dmisty24
    dmisty24 Posts: 26
    I don't know if u have a 99cent store in your neighborhood.......bndI buy a lot of my produce there. It comes in daily and some stuff granted isn't that desirable...but I find most of it to be very good. I also buy a lot of healthy foods at Trader Joes and have found them to have good prices. I don't buy my produce there because like Walmart....their produce is a little pricey.

    Good luck ,trust me I know how hard it is....cause I don't just live on a shoe string, I live on 1/2 a shoestring!!

    Take care.......MIsty
  • LeeshaNichole
    LeeshaNichole Posts: 179 Member
    If you have a local farm that has a fruit/vegetable stand on it, go and ask if they have anything that is discounted. My husband and I stopped at a local farm the other day, we stopped to ask if they took debit because we wanted to do the u-pick peaches, they only took cash and we only had $5 on us but they had a box of peaches for $5. The woman told us they were only $5 cause they were so small and not many people would buy them-so we said we will take them, then she said she had a bigger box for the same price. SO, we ended up getting 10lbs of peaches for $5! I am gonna freeze most of them, so they don't go bad. I'm sure a lot of farms does this, so they don't end up throwing them out.
  • Gidzmo
    Gidzmo Posts: 906 Member
    I have been trying to eat a lot healthier and so for the last three weeks or so i have been buying alot of fresh produce, low fat yogurts, 'whole' foods, quorn (instead of meat) but can not believe how expensive it is! I have done my months shopping budget in 2 weeks!!! Any advice on healthy, cheaper options???

    Some fresh fruits can be frozen and/or dried. If you can get a dehydrator, you can try dehydrating. If freezing berries, layer them on a cookie sheet and freeze. Then store in a ziptop bag (make sure all the air's out).

    Canning is also an option, if you have the hardware and time (and patience).

    Do you have a farmers' market in your area?

    I don't know what space you have, but someone did suggest a garden. We have tomato plants at home and have been harvesting tomatoes all summer.

    Part of the answer to your question: if the stuff got to your store on a truck, some of that price is the cost of gasoline. :sad: :angry:
  • Jolene8992
    Jolene8992 Posts: 127 Member
    You know the gov does all these studies on the reasons americans are fat? Cause for a 1.50 for hamburger helper and 3.00 for a lb of hamburger we can feed a family of 4. Fresh vegis and fruit is expensive for a family. I should know. It was always a luxury to splurge and buy some apples when you can barely pay the electricity. Processed carbs are cheap. Seems like I'm always buying produce. Its getting expensive. But its better than having diabetes and hypertension.
  • beejelblor
    beejelblor Posts: 123 Member
    Farmers markets really make a big difference and then you have the pro of eating and supporting local as well. For a cost example, target sells a tiny bushel of cilantro for $2.99, for $0.50 at our farmers market we get a whole plastic bag worth of it. My boyfriend and I struggle with this same problem every week but have decided it is very much worth the expense to each healthy and fresh. Its a challenge really worth taking , we can feel the difference in our bodies!! Another thing that helps is Costco, we can not eat that quantity so we share with my parents and really see the results on our budget.

    Good Luck and keep with it!!!!!
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