The "eating healthy is expensive" myth

I reject these charts because they do not accurately represent the price of groceries where I live.

I understand the basic premise of your point but, in CA a jar of peanut butter is about $5 for example and other items are more expensive as well. And we're not talking organic.

These prices on healthy and non healthy stuff are far less expensive than current prices, would be interesting to see an updated one.

The way I see it is like this.

Does it cost more to eat healthier? Yes, in some areas it is more expensive. Fish for example. Salmon is expensive, but we all know that Salmon is a very important part of our diet. It has the essential Omega 3 fats that we need.
Some fruits, like blueberries can be very expensive. But blueberries have essential anti-oxidants.

Sure, it's cheaper to go to McDonalds and buy a double cheeseburger and a supersize soda.

But lets look at the end results. Eat healthier, have lower health bills later in life. Eat fatty foods and live on a poor diet and you will pay for it down the road. Disease like Diabetes, bone issues because of weight, heart issues.

One way or another you are going to pay. So I would rather pay a little more now, eat right, live healthier, and lessen my chances of having health issues when I grow older.

I noticed that the healthy stuff was rather low in the pictures...I immediately noticed the fresh ears of corn....25 each...right now at Walmart they are .58 each...bit of a difference. I had to switch healthy for my husband and had to start from scratch because he can't have a lot of sodium...our food budget has gone through the roof...but I feed 7 people, three are teenagers, one is a 10 year old eating machine and a 21 year old besides me and my hubby the 'old' people. I have found some ways to save money, but do take a bit of effort:

I do all my shopping at wal-mart and use their price matching to full advantage. Each Wednesday I look at all the local food store ads and list what I usually buy and at what sale price. Then I use a recipe site to plug in the ingredients and find interesting meals then further plug those meals into the site's menu planner for the week, then it exports to a printable shopping list that I take with me to Walmart along with my list of sale items....then I price match everything. I have saved an incredible amount doing this. (unfortunately this seems to annoying the cashiers a ton heh)

One other thing I have noticed is sales trends....things seem to routinely go on sale and sometimes they go on different sales...for example whole chickens at wal mart are usually .98 a pound, or .95/lb if bought in a 2 pack....sometimes they go on sale for .89, sometimes .69 and every now and then .59...in cycles. You can keep what is called a price book....start listing food you buy routinely when it is at the lowest price and note the store and date....soon you will start to see the trends and can even predict them.

One other way you can save tons is by making things from scratch..but this is super labor intensive. Here is an example of what I do:

Take those packs of burritos, chimichangas, etc...they are frozen in packs of 8 for generally around $3, so that is .50 a burrito (and a ton of salt) If you were to make these and freeze these yourself:

bag of pinto beans: $1.29
3 packs of soft taco size tortillas: ($1.59) $ 4.77
1 yellow onion: $.75
1 jalapeno: $.05
1 med. bag of fine shredded fiesta cheese: $4.38
total: $11.24

You use the onion and jalapeno (seeded and diced) with a dash of cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper with the beans in a crockpot...makes fat free and low sodium VERY tasty beans.

You can make 30 burritos and still have cheese and beans left over, and they are MUCH healthier and only cost about $.37 each...(plus they are a bit bigger) but keep in mind you still have a ton of beans and cheese left after wrapping and freezing the burritos...I usually buy some chicken, shred it up and make a huge pan of spanish rice (cheap if you make from scratch) and then get more tortillas and wrap up chicken/rice/beans and cheese for more healthier options and save a TON of money.

There are a ton of ways to do this if you have the time and don't mind having to make stuff from scratch.

Bump for my topics

Love this post!!!!

My expense went DOWN..but a lot of my old expense was from constantly eating out.

THIS!

Typical weekly grocery bill pre-lifestyle change: $100-150 per week - and I was famous for throwing out stuff that went bad. *hangs head in shame*
BUT we spent AT LEAST $250 a week eating out!! Lunch for hubs and I was easily $20 a DAY, kids were total $10 a day. $1000+ a MONTH eating out!!!! Disgusting.:sick:

NOW weekly grocery bill: $150-200 MAX - cooking at home every night, everyone gets a packed lunch Eat out once per week MAX - $75

I live in a TINY town and ALL our food is expensive! So it doesn't really matter. I eat healthy any way it is worth it!

I reject these charts because they do not accurately represent the price of groceries where I live.

Ditto.

BUMP!

I don't think those prices are reflecting the recent inflation....For me where I live it is cheaper to buy frozen packed meals rather than fresh. Not to mention they keep longer so I don't spend as much as in gas going to the store as often to pick up fresh food either.

Need this.

I dont care how much food costs. Its goin in my body. Id rather say no to 100 shoes then buy crap food IMHO.

Hmm, those prices don't mesh with what I pay.

Hell one pound of chicken breast is like 5 bucks now.
Loaf of bread 3 or 4...

Sadly, yep. It must really depend on where one lives and what's available, I guess?

Most of the prices don't mesh with my local stores, and I live in a big metropolitan area with lots of access to local produce, etc. However, the prices at the local farmers' markets are astronomical compared to the grocery stores, so I generally skip farmers' markets even though the produce looks delicious. A pound of chicken breasts in my local store can be anywhere from 3-5 dollars, depending on sales!!! Ground turkey is at least $3 per pound. But if I skipped the poultry, the natural PB, etc, and bought only dried beans and the cheapest frozen veggies, then yeah, those things are pretty cheap.

That's so strange, here going to the farmers market saves me a ton of money! The produce is close to half price.

Same with me, I live in a rural area and during the spring and summer farmers markets are on every road and frequently in town it's wonderful. Also, whoever has to pay $5 for a pound of chicken, that's crazy!! I can get chicken breast here for $1.97 a pound and stock up when it goes on sale for $1.50 a pound. I have to buy it at walmart which I hate but to save $2 a pound it's worth it.