Junk food Really Cheaper??

OMG i agree completely! I never understand when people say that buying fresh vegetables is so expensive! I just picked up a head of lettuce, a cucumber and a tomato today at the store and when I went to check out it was less than $2.50! A family size bag of potato chips costs that much!

I didnt read the article but it definetly is. Was watching the news here and they had a segment about unhealthy eating and what its doing to families etc and they interview a few mothers and the mums were saying, "you can buy pizza and chips for like a fiver and thats a meal for all the kids. Why would you spend more and use more time + energy on something healthy?"

Its sad really, because as I found out, a piece of lean meat and veg is both good for you and more delicious than a quick ready meal!

Good read. Thank you for sharing!

Here in the UK, I find fresh fruit and veg loads more expensive that processed food, such as crisps & buicuits; the fact I prefer "exotic" friut, mango, pineapple, passion fruit etc prob doesn't help matters - but to be honest I just don't LIKE apples/pears/oranges. I will pay around £1 for a pineapple or mango, £2 for a punnet of grapes or strawberries - and could get a multipack (6 packets) of crisps for £1 - £1.50! - As for salad... 75p for an iceberg lettuce, £1-2 for cherry or vine ripened tomatoes (the loose ones are just water with no flavour) and £1 for a cucumber... it all adds up! - £3.25 equates to $5.04 BTW

Also, you can pick up processed burgers, sausages, and pies for a lot less (more than half the price sometimes) than if you want to buy fresh unprocessed meat and fish - while buying frozen unprocessed meats/ fish can save money - you will still get the equivilent "junk" foods for a lot less.

AND all the "bargains" - the two for one offers etc are always on crappy foodstuff. You'd be hard pushed to find a BOGOF in the fruit and veg aisle.

Take-away is, however, a different matter. Of course buying a families meal from McDonalds is going to be more expensive than making something at home - any form of eating out is more expensive; Go figure!!! On this basis, I do not agree with this article - if the writer wanted to determine the costs of healthy food against highly processed, high fat foods, he should have compared like for like, been given a budget for a weeks home cooked foods and seen what choices are available to you in the supermarket when all you have to go by is the price-tag, and getting as much as you can for your cash!

Out of curiosity for the UK folks... Do the things that keep you full longer cost more or just "reduced fat" or "diet" labeled foods cost more? I tend not to buy the latter because it grosses me out. I will pay a bit more for whole wheat bread vs. the white stuff because I know it keeps me full longer and won't snack as much later (saving me $ - is how I justify the extra cost).

Anything purported to be good for you eg Whole grain, wholemeal, low fat, low salt etc is more expensive than its counterpart. So yes in the UK we pay more for the food that is good for you. That can be very pricey if you have a large family and all of you are trying to eat healthily. My husband has slightley high cholesterol and eats the cholesterol lowering spread, a large tub is £3.96 or $6.25 USD The low fat one I buy for myself and my son is around £1.20 and the full fat cheapest stuff is under a pound so there you go. What price for your health? Or how much macdonalds could you get for your kids for the price of a tub of margarine eh?

I definitely agree that they should have compared like for like if you are comparing the nutritional values of what you can get for your money....but i think the real comparison here is two different lifestyles: one where healthy choices are integral, and one where instant gratification is key.

i'm a uk student and between my boyfriend and i, we spend about £30-40 a week, mostly in cheaper shops like aldi(!), and i love to cook and to know that i'm doing my body a favour! if i loved to cook but didn't care so much about the nutritional quality i'd be spending a bit less i expect, but i don't know of anyone who really fits that criteria. my fellow students who don't care or understand about the effect of making better choices, also do not enjoy cooking or shopping and head straight for a takeaway pizza which costs way more!

Someone who lives in NY like this author is the beneficiary of a popular local fresh food culture with easy and cheap public transportation to make it all even more accessible. I can go to the farmers market once a week in Santa Fe where the prices are jacked up as high as the local grocery stores, and that's pretty much my "cheap" option. Produce here costs literally twice as much for me here than it currently does in the town where I grew up.

I don't eat tons of processed foods, but holy crap do I pay for it. It is cheaper for my boyfriend and I to make a trip to Subway than it is to buy those same sandwich ingredients at the store. By a long shot.

But wouldn't you be able to make more than one or even two subs?

But wouldn't you be able to make more than one or even two subs?

Let's say I like bell peppers, onions, spinach, and tomatoes on my sub. The last time I went to the grocery store that would have cost me $1.50 per bell pepper, about $1 for an onion, $4 for baby spinach, and $3 for a couple of tomatoes. That's already over $8 just for the veggies, and the tomatoes are only going to make 2 sandwiches, maybe 3. If I want any sort of deli meat on my sandwich, I'm looking at $3.50-$4 for a half a pound of turkey/ham/etc. Then bread on top of it - if I get something that's whole wheat then I might find something for $3 on sale. That's $16.50, for 3 sandwiches before I have to go back for more vegetables, and I don't have the benefit of varying them for different vitamin/mineral contents.

This isn't even at something like a Whole Foods, this is just Albertsons or Smiths. A half a pound of deli turkey at my Whole Foods runs $7. I also haven't added in any extra costs for things like sauce or cheese.

I can go to Subway and buy a 6" ham sub for $3.79 and put as many veggies as I want on it.