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MyFitnessPal Community

But eating right is so expensive...

SummerLovesPhil

Just some grist for your mill, next time you think eating well costs too much. I carry this information around with me for when I'm feeling whiny about my grocery bill.

Estimated lifetime cost of diabetes for an individual diagnosed at age 30, including out-of-pocket medical costs and lost productivity: $305,000. (American Diabetes Association)
Estimated lifetime cost of a heart attack: $700,000 to $1 milion, depending on the severity. (American Heart Association)
Average cost of one year of treatment for a woman with colorectal cancer: $51,327. (National Institutes of Health)

Average increase to my weekly grocery bill so the three of us can eat decent food: $30. If I spent that every week until I turned 100, that would be $103,080. Probably worth it, eh?

Replies

armadillolabrat

@armadillolabr and others, Thank you! I live in a very small town that has a grocery store and a Wal-Mart. Our Wal-Mart is even VERY limited in "good food". To get to anything other than these 2 places, I have to drive roughly 45 minutes, which doesn't bode well for fresh food in 100 degree heat.

Now, for those saying that eating "healthy" is cheaper than eating not healthy, I give you this: One box of whole wheat pasta which will make MANY meals = $1.29, to which I can add nearly ANYTHING and make a meal for me and my son. Bag of Romaine lettuce - $3, which I need many other things to add to and will also usually go bad within 3 days.

Now, to the one who listed the black beans and blueberries and such. You just TRY serving those to a teenager and watch the look you get. Besides, who in the HELL is going to just eat a pot of black beans. Oh sure, I could but then nobody would want to be near me the next day.

Face it. Cheap food is unhealthy but it lasts and it's easy to work with for a family on a VERY restricted budget. A package of bologna and a loaf of bread will feed us for days, or those horrible little bags of Ramen will last forever, but you take a batch of fresh produce and a package of meat, even if it's on sale or clearance, is going to end up running us around $20 for a meal. Yes, even hamburger where I live is $3.99 a pound or higher.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

First, it's important to define eating healthy because that is different for everyone. I think eating healthy is getting your proper ratio of protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, and minerals while staying around your daily caloric intake needs. I do not define eating healthy as buying organic produce, GMO free meats, whole wheat pasta, no frozen stuff ever, etc. It's not necessary to buy any of that stuff in order to get proper nutrition.

Just because you can access healthy foods, doesn't mean everyone can. Lower income areas have less access to healthy foods...

Elitist bs. Walmart is the king of low-income neighborhood retail and you can find plenty of affordable, nutritious food there.

It is definitely more expensive to eat fresh fruits and vegetables than processed/junk foods especially if you do not shop at big box stores like WalMart of Costco which I do not.

So you avoid the cheapest grocery outlets and claim your food costs more because it's healthier? No, your food costs more because you have an aversion to big box grocery outlets that have a more efficient supply and production infrastructure. I shop at Target because it's the cheapest option near me. They have plenty of fresh produce, they have even cheaper frozen veggies (green beans, broccoli, corn peas, carrots) which are just as nutritious, albeit at the expense of some texture when cooked.

No one is getting fat or succumbing to health problems by choosing frozen vegetables with a longer shelf life over fresh produce.

Btw, many of the ones that market themselves as local joints are also owned by mega companies.

I switched to a plant based diet a month ago, no dairy,eggs, meat, cheese, fish or chicken and thought I'd have lower bills at the grocery store but just the contrary. I was spending about 40-50 a week and the last 4 weeks I've spend over 70-80 each week. Produce is expensive, if you want fresh, In my neck of the woods a small bunch of kale is $4, 3 small sweet potatoes cost me almost $5, a bag of oranges was $6. it adds up pretty fast. But on the other hand I can't put a price on how much better I feel physically & ethically so I'll keep forking out the dough

Most of what you are eating can't be digested by the human body, which is why fruits and veggies are so low in calories. So yea, massive amounts of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables that spoil quickly and are expensive to ship are going to cost more. But people don't have to eat a plant-only diet to eat healthy. In fact, it's probably not recommended by your average nutritionist.

So again, the only way eating healthy costs more is if you are sticking to TV dinners or you are buying snooty organic products. And the solution to that is A) learn to cook and stop buying overpriced produce. Again, my dinner tonight cost less than half of the average fast-food combo per person and came in at under 650 calories: Sausage and peppers with a side of baked ziti.

I think we should be friends :flowerforyou:

pavrg

I live in a very small town that has a grocery store and a Wal-Mart. Our Wal-Mart is even VERY limited in "good food".

I've lived in plenty of areas. In a pinch, you get your fruit vitamins from some calcium fortified OJ and buy frozen veggies. That is all one really needs to get proper nutrition from fruits/veggies...the rest is just wanting more variety.

Now, for those saying that eating "healthy" is cheaper than eating not healthy, I give you this: One box of whole wheat pasta which will make MANY meals = $1.29, to which I can add nearly ANYTHING and make a meal for me and my son. Bag of Romaine lettuce - $3, which I need many other things to add to and will also usually go bad within 3 days.

But you don't need whole wheat pasta. The benefits of the extra fiber are marginal and it costs about 33% more money. Buy the regular stuff when it goes on sale for $0.79-0.89/lb. Make your own sauce. Compare that to a box of mac and cheese or hamburger helper or whatever other pre-made stuff is there and it's infinitely cheaper to buy the pasta.

Romaine lettuce has next to no nutritional value. It's just a filler for salads, which are usually topped with very fatty, calorie dense dressings. I would personally recommend anyone who is trying to lose weight to just avoid salads altogether.

Now, to the one who listed the black beans and blueberries and such. You just TRY serving those to a teenager and watch the look you get. Besides, who in the HELL is going to just eat a pot of black beans. Oh sure, I could but then nobody would want to be near me the next day.

When I was a teenager, I ate whatever my parents put in front of me and wasn't allowed to leave the table until done. Sometimes I liked it, sometimes it was meh. On rare occassion (rice and peas, chicken francaise, turnips, kilbase and sourkraut) I hated it and it took me an hour to finish it.

I don't particularly find a side of beans appetizing, but if that's the veggie of the night then that's what the kid eats. I wouldn't say eating just a can of beans for any meal is healthy, though.

Yeah, on a per-pound basis vegetables might not be that expensive. On a per-calorie basis they are.

But vegetables aren't for energy; grains are for energy. Vegetables are for flavoring and vitamins/minerals.

Honestly the issue isn't so much affording food...it's having the time to prepare it. As someone who works 60 + hours a week and has other responsibilities outside of work (who doesn't?!)

When I had a heavy schedule, I did all my cooking on my off day and packaged it up for the week in tupperware. It helped that I enjoy cooking, but you do lose some of the goodness of a fresh meal.

Also, one of the things I do is throw a baked potato in the oven, go on a 2-3 mile run, come back and finish cooking the rest of my meal which takes another 10-15 min.

FindingAmy77

to tell you the truth, its actually cheaper than buying processed foods. I homecook everything and buy vegies and fruits in quantity and freeze them or keep them prepackaged in my fridge. I am saving way more money now while feeding my hubby and me healthier foods. You are so right about the medical benefits as well.

benol1

Honestly the issue isn't so much affording food...it's having the time to prepare it. As someone who works 60 + hours a week and has other responsibilities outside of work (who doesn't?!) I just don't always have the time to prepare meals which means I often turn to fast food, frozen dinners etc but I have learned how to fit this into a healthy life style

It would actually surprise me if you don't spend more time in a fast food outlet que or waiting for your frozen dinner to heat up.
Healthy meals don't have to be time-consuming to prepare.
I can do a vegan pasta sauce in the time it takes for pasta to cook. (8-11 minutes).
I can do a vegetarian stir-fry in about ten minutes.
And despite the number of people decrying healthy food as expensive - my experience (30+ years) is that they are, on average, cheaper.
kind regards,

Ben

FindingAmy77

it doesn't have to be.. don't buy into the gimmicks of "fat free" or "sugar free".. you can get can goods of vegies at the dollar store or sav a lot or walmart. Sometimes you get lucky and get them two for a dollar. YOu can start looking at recipe ideas for cheap and easy to make on youtube and facebook. You can keep making little changes every week to your diet and meal plans. IF you buy bigger packages of meats then you will save more money. THen get some freezer bags from the dollar store and separate it. Buy bigger things of ham and slice it yourself. Then make up some packages in baggies and put the extra in the freezer. Grow your own herbs.. seeds aren't that much and you can put them in your window. It is more about planning and catching the sales at the stores than buying into processed foods that automaticly cost you double. Just pay attention to the nutrition info and buy generic when you can. I save so much money now just because we aren't eating out or buying already made stuff. You can do it.

FindingAmy77

hey think about investing in a crockpot.. all you do is throw things in it and it does the work for you. You can even do it at night then turn it on before you leave. Get one that turns off when done cooking then you can come home to yummy food that only needs to be heated up for a few. Food doesn't have to take time. Unlike my mom, who loved to cook, I like to save money and get out of the kitchen as fast as possible. The time it takes to look at these message boards is the time it takes to jot down a meal plan for the week allowing for any obsticles like work or going out, etc. Then you can not be stressed about what you are eating and how long it might take.

CrazyCatLadylovescats

A lot of people don't know how to cook, therefore they just get the premade things. Which are not healthy.

Eating cheap healthy can be time consuming. Not only do you have to make the food, you have to figure out where to get it. When we were a poor college student family on a single income, I did spend a fair amount of time going from store to store to get the best deals. Some stores where WAY more expensive than others. Where I am Yokes sells walnuts for $12 a pound, while Winco has them for $6. Flour, everything, is way more - and if that was my only store I would probably be eating mostly carbs.

But, with the ability to shop around some, I can get way more bags of groceries than I could at say Whole Foods for the same amount of money. Maybe it is not always organic, or name brand, but it is mostly healthy.

There are some healthy ways of eating that are probably more expensive. Paleo/Primal do put an emphasis on grass fed meat and no grains. THAT is pricey. If I eat store brand meat, yeah, maybe not as good for me, but still pretty healthy until I can afford to do better. (Or have my husband get that elk to put in the freezer.)

ConnieKay1

I still think that is a bit of a cop out. I have been on all sides of the economy throughout my life and sugared cereals, chips and packaged bars are just as pricey as bulk buy oranges and apples. Turkey is still a good buy and so are bulk items like rice, beans and potatoes. There are a number of options including Aldi stores and coupon strategies. I agree groceries have gone up but I don't buy the argument that you can buy a bunch of junk easier than whole ingredients and food. What I do think is an issue is that many people don't know how to cook from scratch. If they did, costs would be lower.

FindingAmy77

Exactly what I am saying. A 12 pack box of ramen noodles costs like 3.99, or you can buy a can of black beans and a can of diced tomatoes for a buck each at a any dollar store, walmart or savalot or aldi,etc and then get a 99 cent roll of frozen ground turkey. Walah you spent less, added more proten and fiber into your diet and had a vegie and even have left overs. Just saying. It can be done with creativity and trying what works for you.

snazzyjazzy21

Just because you can access healthy foods, doesn't mean everyone can. Lower income areas have less access to healthy foods...

Elitist bs. Walmart is the king of low-income neighborhood retail and you can find plenty of affordable, nutritious food there.

Not where I live. I apologize if New Zealand doesn't have a walmart on every corner, and judging by what other people are saying, it's not true for them either.

And it's not BS, it's fact. Care for some light reading?

http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/123312/2/gillespie - current.pdf
http://frac.org/initiatives/hunger-and-obesity/why-are-low-income-and-food-insecure-people-vulnerable-to-obesity/
http://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2010/April/Andrew280.pdf
http://www.foodsystems-integrity.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Making_Healthy_Food_More_Accessible_for_Low-Income_People.28645148.pdf
http://www.foodsystems-integrity.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Making_Healthy_Food_More_Accessible_for_Low-Income_People.28645148.pdf

QueenWino

Eating an organic, non GMO, heavily seasonal diet is more expensive but eating a frozen veggie, bulk meat on sale, best options at a major supermarket diet is, depending on one's views, just as healthy. I prefer the former, I am willing to spend a ton for it, but it works for my viewpoint in life. My food cost for the fresh berries alone is ridiculous, but when Costco had a food poisoning scare across 4 states w/a frozen berry blend, I was safe. A lot of my friends are worried they contracted hepatitis as several people in my community did. That, to me, is the true bs. Economical healthy eating shouldn't make one paranoid they'll contract a disease or infection.

pavrg

I think it was pretty clear that I was talking about America where cheap food is abundant almost everywhere except major metropolitan and extremely rural areas. I have lived in 6 states with varied median incomes in areas of various population densities and never went without the basic staples of a western diet at a major grocery store available at locally affordable prices (and no I don't mean chips and chef boyardee). There are some foods that don't make it to certain places, but they don't make or break a nutritional diet. The notion that a supermarket in a lower income area doesn't carry chicken, beef, potatoes, rice, frozen or canned veggies and fruit, pasta, milk, and eggs at affordable prices is elitist bs. If you think you need access to fresh fish and organic produce to eat right then you should do more research on nutrition and less about how low income area grocery stores don't carry those products.

I mean, yea, there are also people starving in Sudan right now because they live on arid land. Hardly relevant, and they probably wouldn't be *****ing about affording $5/lb organic kale, buying 30# of oranges to support not eating cheaper food with actual caloric value, and being too good to shop at big box stores if cheap food were available to them.

But hey, open up a Wal-Mart franchise out in Australia and you'll be a millionaire. Apparently it's in demand.

nxd10

It actually just doesn't cost that much to eat right. When I was really broke, we ate beans, rice,eggs, cheese, lentils, raw, canned, and frozen veggies, and made our own bread and tortillas. My food bill was half what it is now that I can afford meat.

nxd10

Honestly the issue isn't so much affording food...it's having the time to prepare it. As someone who works 60 + hours a week and has other responsibilities outside of work (who doesn't?!) I just don't always have the time to prepare meals which means I often turn to fast food, frozen dinners etc but I have learned how to fit this into a healthy life style

It's absolutely true we're all very busy. It's also true that the more you cook the less time it takes and the more 'quickie' meals you learn to make.

NicoleCooney92

Dry black beans: about 99 cents per lb. Makes about 5 cups of prepared beans.
Frozen chicken breasts: about $8 for a bag containing 6-10 breasts.
Frozen blueberries: $11 for a 5 lb bag at costco. (I bought a bag in July that I'm still working through)
Whole wheat pasta costs maybe 25 cents more than white pasta.
Brown basmati rice is also about $1per pound, delicious and lower arsenic content than regular brown rice.

I spend LESS on food when I'm eating healthier because I eat out less frequently and my junk food budget is a fraction of what it was. I used to buy chips every time they were 2 for 5. That's $5 I can spend on fresh produce. I would buy 1-3 candy bars every timeI went to the store. I can buy a carton of greek yogurt instead. It ddoesn't have to cost much more if any.

Agreed: I'm not doing drive-thru breakfast in the morning, I"m brown bagging it to work, no more "after work" snacks on my way home from work, and no more pizza, chinese, or KFC for supper. Consequently, while my grocery bill has gone up, my net food bill has gone down.

brraanndi

I know someone is going to flip but I stopped buying organic and going places like Trader Joes and life got alot better. I recommend it to anyone who complains of prices.

I can go somewhere like Superior Grocers and get 4 lbs of tomatoes for a buck ( exaggerating here but it was something similiar, literally had to fight people to get to them ), why would I go somewhere else if price was a concern?

I still spend what I consider to be too much for two people ( 50-100 a week ) but I'm getting SO MUCH FOOD.

It may not be perfect but it's a hell of a lot healthier than I was eating before.

Bobbiezilla

Make a stock with that chicken carcass! :happy: I'm a total frugal geek....a Chicken carcass (or bones accumulated from dinners saved in the freezer) a couple of carrots an celery tops, 1/2 an onion, a quartered potato and a bay leaf in a stock pot filled with water and simmered for a Saturday makes an impressive amount of stock! Freeze it in containers and you can make tasty homemade soups and stews for next to nothing. Best part.....no sodium! Campbell's/ Chunky/ Habitant..... Pfffft, you got nothing on homemade soup!

This is a tough conversation on a global scale like MFP. Personally I think it is way cheaper but more time consuming to eat less processed foods where I live (smallish town in BC, Canada) but I can see how in some parts of the world it is much different. In Northern Canada it is insanely expensive compared to the rest of the country for fresh foods and milk, we're talking $15 for a bag of apples (http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/07/30/nutrition-north-food-subsidy-auditor-general_n_3677106.html). Something needs to be done about that!

DawnOBRN

We have forgotten that food is supposed to provide us nutrition as well as energy to keep going. Where is the nutrition in a package of ramen or $5 carry-out pizza? Can you pronounce or recognize any of the ingredients in some of this "food" that is so cheap?
There are a million websites providing guidance on how to eat healthy and plan meals on the web. People just need to put their priorities in order. I've made all the excuses myself with no time, etc. It is a pain in the *kitten* to plan and prep meals, I agree!!

ShinyFuture

I also disagree that it is more expensive.

Ultimately healthy choices provide a lot more nutrition which keeps you full MUCH longer than processed food. You are actually eating a fraction of what you would otherwise. At first it feels like it's so much more pricey, but once you get into the habit of what to buy and start eliminating the "other" things from your shopping trip, you really notice how much less it actually is.

^^This

Bobbiezilla

(Or have my husband get that elk to put in the freezer.)

Lol..... I told my hubby I was on the lookout for friends who hunt and fish.... that's some healthy, local, free meat!

lithezebra

Just some grist for your mill, next time you think eating well costs too much. I carry this information around with me for when I'm feeling whiny about my grocery bill.

Estimated lifetime cost of diabetes for an individual diagnosed at age 30, including out-of-pocket medical costs and lost productivity: $305,000. (American Diabetes Association)
Estimated lifetime cost of a heart attack: $700,000 to $1 milion, depending on the severity. (American Heart Association)
Average cost of one year of treatment for a woman with colorectal cancer: $51,327. (National Institutes of Health)

Average increase to my weekly grocery bill so the three of us can eat decent food: $30. If I spent that every week until I turned 100, that would be $103,080. Probably worth it, eh?

There's no guarantee that you won't suffer from at least one of those things even if you eat well. Life is more fun when you're fit.

snazzyjazzy21

We have forgotten that food is supposed to provide us nutrition as well as energy to keep going. Where is the nutrition in a package of ramen or $5 carry-out pizza? Can you pronounce or recognize any of the ingredients in some of this "food" that is so cheap?
There are a million websites providing guidance on how to eat healthy and plan meals on the web. People just need to put their priorities in order. I've made all the excuses myself with no time, etc. It is a pain in the *kitten* to plan and prep meals, I agree!!

Calories come first and nutrition comes second for many people. I can get more 'energy' from a $1 cheeseburger than I can from $1 worth of fruit.

And the 'can you pronounce the ingredients' reason is ridiculous. If I CAN pronounce them, does that mean I can eat it? What does my ability to pronounce words have to do with how good something is? Most people probably can't pronounce Oligosaccharide but I'm pretty sure that doesn't make it bad.

ItsCasey

Eh, I pretty much think people who whine about how much "healthy" food costs are in the same category as people who complain that they don't have time to work out. When something matters to you, you miraculously find a way to make room for it in your life. If you don't want to eat vegetables, great. But don't act like the reason you don't eat them is because you can't afford them.

ihateyoga

For me, it's a lot cheaper to buy groceries and cook at home.

LillyBoots

There really are 2 distinct groups of people on MFP 1. Those that want to lose weight 2. Those that want to eat healthy and lose weight.

Basic junk food will always be the cheaper option than fresh produce as it has a longer shelf life and takes up less space to produce. Increasingly time poor people will gravitate to prepacked meals.

I eat organic and I've doubled the cost of my groceries doing so but that's my choice.

justwanderful

Just because you can access healthy foods, doesn't mean everyone can. Lower income areas have less access to healthy foods, and when they can get them, the prices are often greatly inflated. Never work on the assumption that everyone can eat healthy just because you can.

I call BS on this. If it were true, the lowest income earners wouldn't have the highest percentage of smokers in their group.

I shop at Trader Joe's for certain items and notice that the average shopper there is fit, to slightly overweight. In their carts are a mix of what many on this site would consider 'more healthful' items. They seem to have no problem paying for them.

I shop at the local Mexican Supermarket because they have great produce & fresh meat prices. The average shoppers I see there are obese to morbidly obese. In their carts are a mixture of tortillas, sugary drinks, some produce and lots of carbohydrates. They also seem to have no problem paying for their groceries.

The real difference in these shoppers: education, upbringing and attitude.

ShinyFuture

Eh, I pretty much think people who whine about how much "healthy" food costs are in the same category as people who complain that they don't have time to work out. When something matters to you, you miraculously find a way to make room for it in your life. If you don't want to eat vegetables, great. But don't act like the reason you don't eat them is because you can't afford them.

^^and this

OMGeeeHorses

When I eat all organic produce, then yes I will agree it gets VERY EXPENSIVE!! but when I have one of those days were I don't care if its organic or not. I notice I save quiet a bit of money. I just make sure it is non- Gmo. That's why shopping is expensive for me, because I have my own morals than compared to others. Like today I got 2lbs of organic grapes for 1.99lb and the cheap kind were a 1.99lb as well, whenever it is the same or like 3 cents more I will always choose Organic. But others don't have that comfort. I have gone to many other states and what is cheap here in Maine is like 2 dollars more a lb for them. So really you have to be shopper savvy to get a great deal on great products. Also if its out of season then buy it frozen, frozen obviously will last longer and makes it easier for you to eat it when you want to.

OMGeeeHorses

Eh, I pretty much think people who whine about how much "healthy" food costs are in the same category as people who complain that they don't have time to work out. When something matters to you, you miraculously find a way to make room for it in your life. If you don't want to eat vegetables, great. But don't act like the reason you don't eat them is because you can't afford them.

^^and this

100% agree *claps*