Is healthy food really more expensive?

My husband and I have totally different eating habits. I try to eat very healthily; he eats a lot of pizza rolls and junk food. We go half and half on our grocery bill, and I notice I spend significantly more on his groceries than mine for an equal amount (and I have celiac disease, which is effin' expensive). So no, in my opinion, I don't think eating healthy is more expensive; quite the opposite. I'm so glad he approached me this week asking me to help him eat healthier... saves on grocery bills and his health!

EDIT: Honestly, I think it depends on the area. Fresh produce in my area is pretty cheap.

I have celiac as well and I have not found this to be true UNLESS you end up buying yourself a lot of specialty gluten-free items every week. The only dedicated GF items I get on a regular basis are Udi's pizza crust, Gluten Free Pantry's All-Purpose Flour (which I buy a case of 4 boxes off of Amazon and that seems to last me literally forever haha), and GF pasta which I get out of the bulk bins in my grocery store (cheaper than buying it boxed). Anything else besides these items are splurges but are not necessary.

Everything else I get is naturally gluten free...meat, produce, etc. I also get grocery items that are already GF as they are.

Anyone who thinks healthy food isn't more expensive doesn't live on a $20/wk food budget. I can NEVER buy fresh produce because it's often over a dollar a piece where I am, so I can forget the 6 servings a day or whatever of that. Canned and frozen for me, but even that isn't enough. However, I could easily fill all my caloric needs on crap.

I was thinking this. I usually end up doing all my shopping in $10 increments because that's often literally all I can afford. That means I can't buy in bulk (to take advantage of cheap chicken breasts, for example). Healthy foods are definitely more expensive than buying frozen dinners and ramen, especially when you need the calories.

Sure, I could buy a head of lettuce, but that's going to give me like 100 calories total. On the other hand, I could spend the same amount (it was about $1.50 when I bought one the other day) and get like five packs of ramen. Startup costs on eating healthy is also prohibitive. For example, stocking your pantry with basic items, like flour, sugar, seasonings, pasta, rice...makes for an expensive first few shopping trips. If you're like me, you don't have the money to go out and buy these basics that end up making cooking your own foods cheaper.

Add in time and learning how to cook, and a lot of people simply don't have the time or want to learn due to jobs, and it gets worse. I could spend an hour doing my job and making money...or I could make a meal with all fresh, healthy ingredients.

Same here. I am barely scraping by, and it's just not in the books for me to buy a bunch of cooking and baking equipment and ingredients right now. And there's just no way I have enough savings for bulk products, and no car to transport it all anyway. Not gonna lie, I have gone days with nothing but PB&J sandwiches when I run out of cash before my paycheck. Someone on food stamps might have it a little better, but I don't think it would be ethical for me to partake since I am a student and could theoretically drop out any time and have a full time job. But I'm just not willing to sacrifice my education to have a better quality of life.

So ironically, I guess healthy food might not be more expensive if you are already rich.

If you need some help with purchasing food, food stamps aren't what I'd consider unethical. That's what that program is there for. That being said you need to do what makes you comfortable, of course.

As someone in a similar financial boat, I can offer you some ideas on what I do and you can see if it's applicable to your situation:

1.) My food budget is $20 a week. I eat a lot of eggs, chicken, lentils, some rice, frozen veggies because ain't no way I'm affording fresh.
2.) 75% of my cooking is done in the same two pans I got from Big Lots for $12. I do mainly stove top cooking, only use the oven for baking chicken.
3.) The glass thing I bake my chicken in was I think $8 from Walmart.
4.) All other cooking I do in a cheap rice cooker that I got at a yard sale for...I don't even remember.

It's possible to be super poor and eat fairly well. I never go out to eat unless someone else offers to buy.

Also, old thread is old. I scrolled back and LOL'ed when I saw I posted the second post.

No, not at all! Oatmeal, chicken, spinach, etc. These simple foods are way cheaper than all that processed frozen crap!

The average package of chicken here is about 5 or 6 breasts at a cost of about $25 a pack so for a family of three that does not go far.

I agree that chicken breasts are outrageously expensive. I eat only the thighs or legs which are almost always cheaper. Or the liver.

No, not at all! Oatmeal, chicken, spinach, etc. These simple foods are way cheaper than all that processed frozen crap!

The average package of chicken here is about 5 or 6 breasts at a cost of about $25 a pack so for a family of three that does not go far.

I agree that chicken breasts are outrageously expensive. I eat only the thighs or legs which are almost always cheaper. Or the liver.

When you think about it, it's a bit strange that the lowest fat portion of the chicken is the most expensive. It's not the same everywhere. Chicken legs and thighs taste much better because of the fat content. Love them.

I have a family of 5. Since we changed how we eat, our grocery bill has gone down. A bag of sweet potatoes is cheaper than a bag of frozen french fries. Apples and oranges are cheaper than chips and crackers. It is healthier and cheaper. My grocery bill goes way up when I buy boxed, frozen, or bagged items. Plus, since we have started eating healthy, we don't eat out as much either. We use to eat out weekly. Now we only eat out once every couple months. The dollar deals as McDonald's may seem like a great deal, but once you get use to eating better, the deal won't look that great.

Local farmer's markets and organic sections of your regular grocery stores will give you great prices. Look for sales on produce and organic products. Learn when things are in season. Look for those little farmers stands on the corner selling produce, sometimes they have great stuff. Grow your own produce, there is nothing better.

Over here, instant ramen bought it bulk comes out to about $.12 per pack last time I checked. At four meals a day, that's about $.50 for a day of eating. It'll be pretty tough to eat healthy for cheaper than that.

A bag of bulk vegetables is a good addition, but the bag lasts about 6 -7 servings depending how much you put in. Once in a while you can throw in an egg.

That's a pretty extreme example, but doable (I had to do it for a while - you don't feel good, but better than that starving feeling. I once was able to get two bags [BOGOF] of spinach with a coupon, but that lasted maybe about two days).

What do people do about the "dirty dozen?" Do you just avoid it, buy it anyway, or buy organic. Though, organic does add a little bit more to the cost.

Do people buy fish? Over here it's $8/lb. on sale and only a $1 less for the farm raised version. (okay, I'll admit I haven't looked at frozen fish)

I know some people try to avoid dairy as there are some who claim that dairy is not actually healthy. When you look at alternatives to (cow) milk such as almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, those are quite a bit more expensive -- even when hitting up places like Trader Joe's.

I like oatmeal, but I couldn't handle it plain so there was an added cost of fruits and stuff. I guess if you're hardcore you could just cook your oatmeal and eat it straight up. Haven't done a cost comparison to my instant ramen example -- could be pretty close.

The kids love pizza. The frozen store brand one is about $2 give or take. Looked at making my own... the cheese itself (generic store brand on sale) cost more than the frozen pizza.

I believe people say cooking/eating healthy is expensive because they look at what they know how to do, swap out the unhealthy with healthy, and see that it will probably bump up the price a bit. It comes down to the convenience factor. If you have the money, you don't have to worry about what you're spending. When you're on a tight budget, you sometimes have to pick your battles. It's easier to cook something quick and dirty, or something you know you can cook without thinking too hard, etc. and possibly end up with something that's generally considered unhealthy.

A single parent working two jobs while taking/picking up the kids to/from school may not be able, or know how, to seek out healthy foods within budget, but they may know they can make mac and cheese with a $.79 store brand box mix and still have time to help with homework.

I'm sure people can do a lot more research and planning and shopping all over town to find healthier alternatives that won't break the bank (plus you have to factor in the cost of gas -- dang it's expensive again). But when you're busy trying to get out of the situation where you have to be so financially conscious, it's an unneeded stress.

Of course this does not factor in eating out. Eating out is an external cost. The money spent or saved at restaurants would be the same whether you're buying healthy groceries or unhealthy groceries.

$.02

Over here, instant ramen bought it bulk comes out to about $.12 per pack last time I checked. At four meals a day, that's about $.50 for a day of eating. It'll be pretty tough to eat healthy for cheaper than that.

A bag of bulk vegetables is a good addition, but the bag lasts about 6 -7 servings depending how much you put in. Once in a while you can throw in an egg.

That's a pretty extreme example, but doable (I had to do it for a while - you don't feel good, but better than that starving feeling. I once was able to get two bags [BOGOF] of spinach with a coupon, but that lasted maybe about two days).

What do people do about the "dirty dozen?" Do you just avoid it, buy it anyway, or buy organic. Though, organic does add a little bit more to the cost.

Do people buy fish? Over here it's $8/lb. on sale and only a $1 less for the farm raised version. (okay, I'll admit I haven't looked at frozen fish)

I know some people try to avoid dairy as there are some who claim that dairy is not actually healthy. When you look at alternatives to (cow) milk such as almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, those are quite a bit more expensive -- even when hitting up places like Trader Joe's.

I like oatmeal, but I couldn't handle it plain so there was an added cost of fruits and stuff. I guess if you're hardcore you could just cook your oatmeal and eat it straight up. Haven't done a cost comparison to my instant ramen example -- could be pretty close.

The kids love pizza. The frozen store brand one is about $2 give or take. Looked at making my own... the cheese itself (generic store brand on sale) cost more than the frozen pizza.

I believe people say cooking/eating healthy is expensive because they look at what they know how to do, swap out the unhealthy with healthy, and see that it will probably bump up the price a bit. It comes down to the convenience factor. If you have the money, you don't have to worry about what you're spending. When you're on a tight budget, you sometimes have to pick your battles. It's easier to cook something quick and dirty, or something you know you can cook without thinking too hard, etc. and possibly end up with something that's generally considered unhealthy.

A single parent working two jobs while taking/picking up the kids to/from school may not be able, or know how, to seek out healthy foods within budget, but they may know they can make mac and cheese with a $.79 store brand box mix and still have time to help with homework.

I'm sure people can do a lot more research and planning and shopping all over town to find healthier alternatives that won't break the bank (plus you have to factor in the cost of gas -- dang it's expensive again). But when you're busy trying to get out of the situation where you have to be so financially conscious, it's an unneeded stress.

Of course this does not factor in eating out. Eating out is an external cost. The money spent or saved at restaurants would be the same whether you're buying healthy groceries or unhealthy groceries.

$.02

Interesting points, but if you're not ready to eat healthy, even if you have money you could find a bunch of good sounding reasons as to why you do not have time to do so. Kids being helped with their homework could also pitch in to prep and make dinner -- and learn a handy life skill in the process. ;-)

no

"And it's probably never going to be cheaper than McDonald's value meal dollar menu."

Nonsense.

I'm a man, 5'10", 170 lbs. The cheapest meal I could eat at McDonald's - and feel that I've eaten a meal - would be about $5 for three value-menu bacon cheeseburgers (no fries, no pop - about 1,000 calories).

My home-cooked meals hardly ever cost as much as $5 per serving ... and that's even though our grocery bills have gone up since my wife and I cut out most of the (very cheap) pasta, bread, and potatoes from our diet. Now and again we tally up the cost of our meals: we very often find that we've spent less than $5 between us, and that includes the bottle of home-made wine we drank (about $1).

I eat meat with every meal - whatever is on sale, mostly (pork loin; chicken quarters; strip loin steak; beef roasts; sausage from the butcher's counter). The rest of the meals are made up of eggs (cheap) and vegetables (also cheap) for the most part.

And, yes, vegetables can be cheap, no matter the repeated refrain of "fresh produce is *so* expensive": cabbage, onions, tinned tomatoes, dried beans, mustard/collard/etc. greens (in season), broccoli (on sale), tinned peas, frozen spinach ... they are all cheap and good for you.

I just thought of 2 factors for me though that made my food bills go down. One is that probably 4 or 5 years ago I stopped watching tv. and #2 would be back when I had a relationship I could be kept busy being around someone else doing other things all day instead of eating.

Actually my grocery bill is around the same amount as when I was feeding us disgusting junk. I have a produce store nearby that has insanely cheap produce, grains, and spices. Also, I use stores reward programs to get whatever else I need at what ends up being a 30-40% discount generally.

It takes about 10 mins to plan this, but my time in the grocery store is decreased which leads to me buying less crap I don't need.

Win.

We've had to increase our grocery budget for sure. When we first got married, the paycheck was stretched pretty thin, and food was the place I could save the easiest. (As opposed to rent, and other fixed bills). We never ate out and I bought less protein and more carbs like bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes. I could tweak any recipe/meal to stretch it further by adding cheap carbs.

We still don't eat out a lot, and I still can/dry/freeze/jam produce in season when it's the least expensive and we can eat it year round. But even with eating less food in general, we are spending probably about 25% more by replacing more carbs with lean proteins.

In general I think healthful food per pound are more expensive, but depending on what and how much you were eating before, most people can eat more healthful foods on a similar budget - especially if you previously ate out a lot.

I spend abour 2.15 for my Breakfeast I make 2 servings of steel cut oats which are about 4.00 for 20 servings and then I mix in 1 serving of fage yogurt which is about 1.75 per serving. You could easily mix in something else with the oatmeal for under 3 or 4 dollars. I could get a vaulue meal at MCD for lets say 4.00 thats the sausage egg mcfullin with hashbrown. Granted I could just get the egg muffin off the dollar meal but is that really going to fill me up. Also the oatmeal may not be as tasty as the fast food but the fast food will create cravings in me to want more. In the long run it is better just for me to eat healthy. The oatmeal and yogurt fills me up pretty quick. For lunch i Spend probably 4 dollars I like fresh fruit and yogurt so usually a apple and a bannana and 2 servings of yogurt. I get most of my protein thru Fage 2 percent plain. Dinner vaires sometines I will have a burger or fish but even a burger only costs me about 1 punnd i make 3 burgers at close to 5 a pound ground round that is 1.67 for the burger plus mustard I dont use a bun plus maybe some french fries or chips. Even if i ate a whole bag of chips (which I dont) that would be like 6 dollars for dinner at the most.