Eating healthy is privilege of the rich?

Disagree. Fresh vegetables and fruit are not that expensive. I make everything from scratch because of food sensitivities, I have to know what is in what I eat. Sometimes I bake for my family. I can't eat any of it, but it is always cheaper to bake than to buy pre-made. And healthier too. Pies are the simplest thing to make, and very cheap. Apple or peach crisp is also easy and healthy, and not that expensive.

I worked in a grocery store for many years. I couldn't believe the crap that people would buy and eat. Fresh, healthy and clean, proper food proportions, and that will keep the food bill down.

When I try to eat fresh foods (like fresh veggies) I definitely shop more often....I prefer to buy frozen veggies on sale though to use for casseroles and such.

I get most of my meat from my dad (yay for meat straight from the farm!!) and eggs from some friends so I do save money there and sometimes I get lots of veggies from my grandma's garden at the end of summer. I do wish to grow a garden some day so that I'll have more veggies but I hate gardening...maybe I can find a way to like it...

I do think it is more expensive though...when I buy some things it will last so much longer before I go have to go shopping but when I'm trying to use fresh veggies and such I end up shopping a lot more and spending more money just by having to buy it more often.

So I must admit that I haven't read the article the OP was posting in reference to.

But one thing strikes me about the discussion so far. That is that the definitions of healthy eating and unhealthy eating are very subjective. For one person 'healthy' might mean cooking packaged meals but watching portion size instead of getting fast food, to another it means a raw diet on organic produce.
The cost associated with a 'healthy' diet is therefore hard to define.

I imagine that many people when they first chuck out the tv dinners, will spend more on fruit and veg than they spent on tv dinners, and perhaps not be used to how to best use the produce, or know the best time to buy something, or want to buy the mis-shapen 'value' vegetables. They also might not yet have the strategy of making several portions of food and freezing most of it for later. These are all things which will lower the cost of healthy eating, and I imagine they are skills that people pick up when required.

For me personally, and as a vegetarian, eating healthily has always been a cheaper option because of the above strategies, and making almost everything from scratch, but I can see why for some individuals it might be more expensive.

I would disagree.

I find eating real food such as fruit, veggies, meat and dairy is less expensive that the pre packages and prepared foods.

Unfortunately for those of us in the United States, cheap but fattening food is subsidized by the government and constantly sold to us through advertising. High fructose corn syrup is a cheap ingredient that goes into so many things and makes us fat without providing significant nutrition. Still, it's easy to eat healthfully for a reasonable amount of money if you put your mind to it. I find a lot of great organic fruits and vegetables in season at the farmers market for much less than I would pay in a fancy grocery store. I also like lentils and brown rice, which are so cheap they are almost free and are nutritious and filling. We also need to remember what our grandparents learned during hard times -- don't waste so much. If you buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco, get a couple of meals out of it then boil up the bones with some carrots, onion and celery and make your own chicken stock. Cool it in the refrigerator, skim off the fat and you have the basis of a delicious soup that will cost you almost nothing.

Nice post!
Also, the resulting chicken stock won't be full of preservatives, sodium and msg or whatever they put it in these days.

I'm broke as ****.

But my grocery bill went for $100/wk to about $30/wk when I started eating healthier. Clean is cheap. It's all that processed **** that makes your bill go up.

disagree. we're certainly not rich, but i think we generally buy pretty healthy food!

our bills went up significantly eating healthier choices. I also think so many runs to the grocery store for fresh fruit, etc. It's annoying as we used to do once a week. Now we're there 2 or 3 times.

'annoying' that you have to go more than once a week for a top-up suggests you don't perhaps appreciate how food should be a pleasant part of your life.

Wow, you are really rude. Yes it's annoying and no, I'm not lazy. I exercise at least 1 hour a day and work about 12 hours a day. So yes, it's annoying to have to keep running to the grocery store. Especially when I cannot drive right now due to a medical condition. I'm perfectly fit and in shape as is my husband. We obviously appreicate how food should be a part of our lives. Sometimes I wonder why I am on here.

Yes, it's something we have to do to survive, but like breathing, is eating really such a chore? I love my food, I really do, and I want my meals to be exciting and full of flavour. I spend time thinking about what I want to eat, and get pleasure in innumerable trips to the shops to pick up little bits. Food is the source of LIFE and should never be anything but pleasurable. The Chinese believe that your intent and emotions go into your cooking - I think the same could be said from taking the time to source the food that keeps us alive.

I completely disagree.

But I guess it depends on where you live.... It seems like vegetables in america are really expensive?? Or that the junkfood is just that much cheaper.

There are certain foods that are more expensive and some are less. I've noticed that the little Koren market store in my area has much better deals in meat/produce than the big chain down the road. It's about 50% difference. And it's so much fresher! Can you imagine buying ground beef that's red from the outside all the way to the inside? The big brand store always has it pink and icky brown in the middle. So why does it cost more?

I also try to buy bulk. Meat and fruit that spoils fast can be divided up in containers and frozen!

Hope this helps.

Disagree, but with reservations. I don't think it's as simple as rich or poor.
I think the issue is not so much about money, as about education, time and lateral thinking.
I believe that you can eat healthy on a budget but you need to be aware of where to shop, have transport options to shop around, hunt out healthy recipes, make time and have the equipment and resources to cook at home, think creatively about changing your ideas of what makes a meal etc.
Not everybody has these skills/resources and being poor often (but not always!) goes hand in hand with less education and a less stable living situation.

Completely agree! Great points.

This is an interesting argument. I think that most are arguing over semantics though. It is well documented that in the U.S. healthier, lower calorie, nutrition dense food is more expensive. Here is one study (by the gov't no less):

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/impact/2008/nri/03191_food_prices.html

Not sure if this is true in Canada and England though. In Canada it seems packaged shelf food is much more expensive than in the U.S, and fruits and vegetables are much more affordable.

It also depends on what you are buying, for example beans and brown rice vs. asparagus and salmon, farm raised vs. wild, regular vs. organic, etc. But I think it is pretty well documented that healthier foods, in general, are more expensive.

... It all depends on where you shop and if you buy in season or not.

Totally agree! If you work your meals around buying fresh produce that's on sale/in-season and fresh cut meats on sale/from a good butcher, I find you spend less on more fulfilling healthy meals. And left-overs! Prepping and cooking fresh is more laborious, I get lazy and eat out frequently , but I would say "healthy eating" is definitely do-able on a budget.

Craftzilla, you are a very empathic person with a difficult job. Sometimes there is a time/affordability payoff. Cheaper often means more energy/time expended to prepare. Some people are very time poor as well as income poor, so they perhaps do not have the resources to source/prepare and store food. It does take a lot of planning to eat healthy on a budget.

Bananas, did someone mention bananas? They are still hovering around $10/kg here in Australia :-(

GG

I have to say, I agree. I walk into my local supermarket and there are mutiple packs of chocolate bars on offer for £1..head to the fruit section and one punnet of strawberries is almost £3! And a chocolate bar would fill me up more than strawberries! also nuts and things are v.expensive.
"Bad" foods are so much cheaper. I could head to Iceland and have a whole freezer full of frozen junk food alot cheaper than a fridge full of fresh food...but as another member commented, if you cut out takeaways and a bit of eating out then you can spend the pennies elsewhere and have treats which are good for you, such as nice, good quality meat, vegetables and fruit. You will soon feel better and feel, as i now do, it's money well spent.