STOP saying healthy food is more expensive

I don't know about you but eating more veggies and fruits is breaking the bank. It costs around 160-200 bucks for us. Produce is super expensive where I am at.

Try shopping Wholesale [ex. Costco], and you will get a lot for your money. The markup there is only 15%, which is a lot lower than the likes of Walmart, Target, Fareway, etc; just a thought.

Reasonable Quality Steak: $26.99 a pound
Potato Chips: $3.99 a bag

Just sayin!

Yep. Sorry to disagree with the poster, but eating healthy (i.e. organic, locally-grown produce, grass-fed beef, quality dairy, etc.) is way more pricey. In California I spend $100/week if I'm lucky for the two of us (and my boyfriend doesn't consume meat!)

If you go to Walmart and buy cheap, non organic, factory farmed, huge industrial foods (and foods based around lots of soy and corn) then yes, it'll be cheaper.

I guess it all depends on what you consider "healthier," OP. To this person I have just quoted, I am in California too and I feel your pain. My family eats all organic produce---mostly local (plus we grow our own)---and we only eat pastured animals and animal products. So grass fed beef, truly free-range chickens, raw milk from grass fed cows, etc. We buy very little processed food and when we want baked desserts I make them from scratch. But you get what you pay for. Our milk alone is $14.99/gallon and I still spend a ton at the farmers' market, even though it's "supposed" to be cheaper. We're a family of 4 including a 2 and 4 year old. I plan my meals and shop according to my meal plans, and still I spend between $250-500 a week on food. It is our biggest expense by far. We are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but we make good food a priority. We've had to sacrifice some things to afford it but it's worth it to us. We look at it as an investment in future health. But to each their own. Our lifestyle is not for everyone and I wouldn't dream of pushing it on anyone else; I spend many hours in the kitchen every day and not everyone has that luxury. So I say live and let live.

I agree that eating healthy doesn't have to break the bank ... BUT it does depend on where you live, how much time you have available to cook, and your level of creativity in the kitchen.

I'm fortunate to live on the west coast of Canada, where family farms, and their corresponding produce markets, abound. Mid-summer it's not surprising to get two full grocery bags of produce for around $15. Then I get creative. I don't have a lot of money, so this is the type of thing I do to make healthy food on a budget:

- To a pound of lean ground chicken ($2.50), I extend it with oat bran, mushrooms, onions, grated zucchini and/or chopped spinach (2-3 cups of whatever was a good deal) ... and end up with about 8 healthy chicken burgers. No reason this couldn't be done with hamburger too.

- Or I'll cook a $1 head of cauliflower, toss it and the water into a blender, return to the pot and add half a can of coconut milk (about 75 cents) ... and end up with 4-5 2-cup servings of really delicious soup for $1.75.

- A friend just gave me a smoked trout, so I turned part of it into another fabulous soup, with onions, frozen chopped spinach, and a half a can of coconut milk.

- Instead of spending a lot of money on fresh or frozen juices, pick up a $2 bottle of lemon juice and make tons of lemonade.

- Freeze all leftover meat bones and make a delicious and very nutritious bone broth, which can be eaten on its own, or used to make other things such as soups, sauces and gravies.

These are just a few ways I've found to eat healthy without taking out a mortgage.

LOVE!! I'm going to try those chicken (turkey) burgers!! Thanks for sharing your recipes!!

Try shopping Wholesale [ex. Costco], and you will get a lot for your money. The markup there is only 15%, which is a lot lower than the likes of Walmart, Target, Fareway, etc; just a thought.

Nearest one of these to my location is about 3 hours away


Just wanted to pop in and say, yes it costs more, for me anyway; yes it's worth it; not complaining (too much) but it could be that this is part of the reason I got fat. I was always buying food on a budget.

PS I don't have cable and my cell phone is work issued so I don't pay for that either. Cost of living in my area is a good bit higher than 10 years ago and wages haven't increased that much.

I know we all have different taste buds but some of the stuff that ya'll are saying you prepare/cook to be healthy and save money doesn't sound like it taste very good.

For those who say healthy food is too expensive; is it more expensive then the doctor? Because you will spend more time being sick and at the doctor (and missing work/kids missing school) if you eat unhealthy then if you pay up front for healthy and eat better.

But ultimately it is your decision to make. We choose healthy up front and skip on doctors.

That's a moot point when you HAVE NO MONEY.
If I'm broke, guess what? There's no "decision" to be made. I get to feed my family for a week on $50. If I get sick, guess what? It doesn't matter how expensive the doctor is because we aren't going unless its to the ER.

Exactly. Don't you think if everyone had a choice they would prefer healthier stuff? Not everyone has a choice. And there are assistance programs that don't provide fresh food, ie WIC. That pretty much provides milk, eggs, cheese, and peanut butter. Where are the vegetables and fruit there?

in...to learn how 30.00 feeds two people for a week....

I live by myself and spend about 150.00 a week....

^^ HOLY CRAP!!

I *wish* I had that kind of money to spend on food. That would be $600 per week for four of us. That's almost my whole effin' check! We spend about $80-$100 on food for one week, four people. It sucks eating ground beef and chicken all the time, and sometimes we run out of milk the last couple of days before payday.

---

I still say that for people claiming that eating healthy is expensive, it's their attitude about "healthy" vs. "unhealthy" food that's often the problem. Some people would whine that my diet isn't healthy. Meh. Oh well. :ohwell:

We do our grocery budget by food group. I spend X amount on meat, dairy, veggies/fruits, grains/cereals, and then a bit on "staple items." I rarely buy anything pre-packaged because you are typically paying extra for someone else to process your food for you.

I WISH I could spend $30 a week on just me, went to the grocery store the other day and bought: spinach, apples, asparagus, broccoli, cottage cheese, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and egg whites and spent $30. I already had chicken and fish and I'm moving so the food was limited. Generally I spend around $50 a week and around $150ish at Sams club once a month (generally buy my chicken, fish, and some other items from here in bulk since they're cheaper). Do I complain though? No. I spend money on my gym membership and food, and I'm ok with that, I stopped going tanning and getting my nails done so I could do this, I also don't eat out and pack my lunch everyday for work. It works for me, but my roommate can feed herself and her boyfriend for a week for $30 of pre-packaged processed foods. so yes, eating healthy is more expensive and yes, a lot has to do with the area I live in, but thats fine, and I'm ok with spending more money on my health and fitness than on other things.

I agree with you. When we started MFP a month ago, I did find I was spending more on groceries; however, we weren't eating out anymore! There is something so satisfying about going to the check out with a cart heaping with veggies, fruits and lean proteins. I always make sure to have a low fat ice cream in there, but that isn't more expensive than the full fat version. It isn't more expensive to eat healthy. In fact, I am going to a fruit stand to get local fruit today. I'm kind of excited.

Healthy food I'd much cheaper, if nothing but not eating out.

I don't know about you but eating more veggies and fruits is breaking the bank. It costs around 160-200 bucks for us. Produce is super expensive where I am at.

A pack of frozen veggies here is roughly $1/pound, so we do smaller meat portions and load up on veggies. Fruits, meh, it's pretty much just bananas at our house unless something is on sale. $1/pound is my limit on produce.

I think it also depends on if you were eating some healthy foods to start with and also if you are eating less calories to lose weight now or just eating better.

If you are eating less calories to lose weight then yeah your bill would probably go down when a pound of meat becomes 4 servings instead of 2 so you can buy less meat and you basically just drop the junk totally from your shopping list (especially if you were buying alot of junk including sodas) and you would add more produce to the mix.

If you didn't eat very many healthy foods to start then yeah replacing all the cheap junk food with fresh foods would totally send your grocery bill through the roof especially if you were eating the same amount of calories and just replacing the junk with healthier choices.

Couple of thoughts--

When cutting out sugary'/carby foods and choosing good, clean food, lean meat, veggies, proteins, limiting my fruits, et cetera I found my appetite decreased. For myself, I can eat fairly inexpensively and make wise choices and cut out all the crap and not put myself too far behind financially.

HOWEVER-- in the real world where I live, with eight kids living at home, still in various stages of growth spurt (which equals amazing kid hunger) all at the same time, it is unbelievably expensive to focus on only healthy food. A bag of apples costs twice as much as a bag of chips... But goes just as quickly!

Having said that-- I am still trying, but I must take issue with the original poster. It is not as easy and pitter-pat as you'd lead others to believe. So you and your husband can get by at the ripe old age of 23?? Super.

Try having a couple of kids after you grow up and feeding a large family and get back to me when you do.

Until then, you may wish to descend from your high horse and consider that you just may not have all the answers.

Some thoughts, not only directed to you, but to people with these attitudes in general... why would you have so many kids if you can't afford to feed them proper healthy food? Someone who puts their money into their health is not on a high horse, they are probably someone who has made smart decisions. Like we're suppose to feel sorry for you because you went out and had too many kids?

The discussion here is not about people having kids and not being able to afford them--that is another issue, and to make a blanket statement like that is pretty ignorant.
I have 4 kids, and buying them healthy food IS more expensive. They like a lot of pasta, which I can cheaply flavor with homemade pesto w/ basil from our garden, although I still have to buy garlic, parmiggiano and olive oil. Garlic isn't too bad, but fresh parmiggiano is very expensive (so I buy the crappy parmesan--it's hard to justify 7-10$ for cheese per week) and evoo is very expensive. A $14 bottle lasts us about 3 weeks. Eating healthy is not just about buying vegetables--there are many ingredients that go along with it. Making tomato sauce is another matter. I can buy canned, and I try to buy a decent kind that has a nice flavor, not just whatever is on sale. Or I can grow my own tomatoes, which I do, but do you know how many you need to make just a little bit of sauce? And that it takes months for tomatoes to even grow and ripen, which leads me to believe that OP has never even had a garden herself. You might save a couple of bucks, but there is a lot that goes into "just grow a garden". We try to make sauce to freeze, but it doesn't last long. And I don't want to just feed them pasta/rice and vegetables, I want them to have meat/chicken/fish, and that is pricey. Many have pointed out that hamburger can be cheap, and I use that too in some meals. But you can't eat that every single day (well you can, but I don't know how healthy it would be to have it every day). Variety is expensive.
Again, I have 4 kids, and don't worry--I am able to support them/feed them, if that is your issue. But the issue here is whether or not eating healthier is more expensive, and it definitely is.

I honestly just bought $30 worth of fresh veggies, whole grain bread, meats, milk and cheese. I know it will last my hubby and I at least an entire week....

And if you live in rural Algeria, you can get organic chickens that are so fresh they still have feathers on and a ton of very fresh, organic, locally produced veg for way less than what you paid for the above. WAY less.

of course, it all depends where you live. Because, you know, local economies. Food costs different amounts of money in different places, even within the same country. Never mind if you're comparing between countries. Food in the UK is *way* more expensive than it is in rural Algeria. So if someone from rural Algeria told people in the UK that they were making excuses and not trying hard enough to find cheap, organic foods, because they can get all their weekly groceries from their local market for (add really low price here), you'd say they weren't being fair because Algeria is not like the UK.... well the same applies with you. Just because you can get all that for 30 dollars where you live, doesn't mean everyone can.

I calculated how much it would cost to get mac and cheese and chips and soda and crappy foods, I could get about the same amount of food, but a bag of chips goes so fast and it's not filling and makes you feel uber icky. I know that if I bought $30 of junk food, fast food, quick meals - I would not be able to sustain more than a few days between two people.

Again, it depends where you live. In some places junk food is cheaper than healthy food. In other places, healthy food is cheaper than junk food. In my experience, low quality food is pretty much always cheaper than good quality food, and so the very poor end up eating low quality food, and not out of choice.

So, please stop with the excuses that eating healthy is too expensive. Grow a garden,

I don't have one. or a big enough freezer to store more than a week's worth of frozen anything.

BTW I eat healthy, and I earn enough money that this is not an issue. I'm just saying all the above to point out that it really is not that simple, and also that just because you can get all that for 30 dollars or whatever, doesn't mean everyone can, because local economies are different and if you are poor there are lots of barriers to doing the things that you suggested, like if you don't have a garden you can't grow very much fruit and veg. Maybe you can grow herbs on the window sill, that's about it. If you don't have a large freezer, you can't store very much frozen food to take advantages of bargain prices, and you may not ever have enough money at one time to buy stuff in bulk to begin with. If you don't have a car, you can't shop around to find the cheapest place to buy stuff, you have to stick to places that you can walk to, which greatly limits you choices and often forces you to pay more for things than you would if you had a car and the freedom to shop around, and means that you can't buy some things at all.

Where I live, there are two supermarkets that are within walking distance for about 8 months of the year, and only my corner shop within walking distance in the height of summer (I live in Bahrain, with Arabian Gulf temperatures and 100% humidity) - the prices in those supermarkets are not the cheapest, and the range of stuff they sell is not that good, compared to if I were to drive into town to the big supermarkets in the malls. If I can only get to my local corner shop, their range is tiny, and the prices are inflated, because they're a very small business. I'd survive, but their range of meat, fruit and veg is tiny. As it happens, I have a car, so I can drive to the big supermarkets in the malls and get a much better range of produce for better prices. So yes, I'd say that for people who are very poor where I live, it IS more expensive and more difficult. And I'm sure that around the world you'll find places where it's cheaper to eat healthy, and places where it's cheaper to eat poor quality food.