Is eating healthy really more expensive?
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Well, I don't think it's very healthy to eat white rice and potatoes without balancing it out with fruit and other vegetables. That's all I meant. Because I haven't been able to afford anything more, my diet has basically been potatoes, white rice, and bread. The amount of carbs I've consumed has been unbelievably high as well.
Oops... meant to quote dumb_blondes_0 -
My old idea of eating healthy was super expensive. My ideas have changed. Now I sit my kids down and they make a list of all the fruits, veggies and lean meats they want. I make it a point to spend half of my grocery budget on fresh fruits and veggies. We come home and clean everything and pput it in containers which takes an hour and a half or so. Then its ready to go. I told them the challenge is to eat it all before anything goes bad. We have to check and see what needs to be eaten first and thats how we plan our meals. I have been able to trick my husband into eating better too. Its sort of a game and it is so much less expensive than eating out of buying prepackaged stuff. On top of that we are getting really creative on how to make our family favorites out of the healthy stuff.0
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Fruits don't cost alot.
Chicken don't cost alot. You don't have to just buy chicken breast you know? drumsticks are what 99 cents per lb? chicken legs are like 79 cents /lb?
My typical meals are about 75-90 cents per meal btw
Here in Tasmania, Australia the average price per kilo for apples (and we are the "Apple Isle" so they shouldn't be imported) is...4$ per kilo (2$ a lb). That is about 6 apples. Cherries were 13$ a kilo. Ok bananas are on special for 89c a kilo (45c a lb). But there is no way I'd say our fruit is CHEAP. Nor are vegetables.
Chicken DOES cost a lot. 13$ for a whole 1.6 kilo (5.6lb) bird. Drumsticks are about 5$ a kilo. Thigh meat? averages out at 10$, breast, a lot more. I'm not sure on the exact cost, because they are too expensive for me.
MY meals cost say..on average, about 5-8$ - depending on what t is of course. At that rate, a 5.95 Dominos pizza is actually cheaper.
So while eating healthier might cost more where YOU (generically) live, it isn't the same everywhere. Attacking people who say it is dearer to eat healthily can be way off base.
Attacking people? Where did I made any attacks...?
And I can appreciate your point. You're right, I didn't thought of regional values. However, I have lived in Asia, Europe and US. In all of those regions, eating healthier (again, doesn't mean organic and all that crap. Simply eating home) was much healthier than eating out.
For me, eating at home means less than a $1 a meal which is fairly cheap. Thats between 4-5$ per day for a single man.
In Australia prices seem to be high and since I've never lived there, I won't comment about that however, I showed the prices that're in US. chicken isn't very expensive. Heck even boneless/skinless chicken is about 3$ per lb which tbh isn't all that high compared to red meat0 -
Yes, it is. I grew up in a really poor environment and my mum cooked all our meals from scratch every day but the one thing she couldn't afford to give us was quality proteins and "fancy" foods like salads. She also couldn't afford to cook something new or imaginative in case her three kids wouldn't eat it, and you know how conservative kids are. Meals were always based around a large quantity of stodgy carbs with a bit of flavouring from bacon or onion or something: satisfaction came from feeling full, but it didn't help our waistlines.
As an adult, I could spend a lot less on food than I do, but it would spending more time shopping for food and preparing food. I work two jobs so this would mean cutting into the limited amount of me time I have. I have a lot of interests outside losing weight and i don't want to sacrifice them for what i see as essentially a body-maintenance issue - my mental health is important too! Convenience food (Waitrose and Marks and Spencer's ready meals), prepared organic salads, good cuts of free range steak and chicken and free range eggs get me through the week... I seem to have strayed slightly from my original point, but I hope you get what I mean.0 -
It actually is more expensive ** UP FRONT** to purchase whole, nutritious foods and make your meals from scratch Think about it like this, to make a pot of beef stew - assuming you have nothing on hand - you have to buy the meat, the vegetables - potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, celery, flour, beef broth (assuming you don't have bones to make it!) herbs and spices this is going to cost you at LEAST $20 for a family of four with left overs OR you can pay $3-5 for a couple name brand cans of high calorie, high fat, high sodium processed beef stew with no left overs.
PER SERVING whole, fresh foods are cheaper, it's the upfront cost that gets people. And when you are poor trying to make food stamps or a limited budget stretch it's easier to go with the cheap processed foods.0 -
Cheaper to eat healthy IMO.
I batch make food and I'm always saying to my husband that it's sooooo cheap to make it. Meat would be the only expensive thing in it but I use 2-3 chicken fillets when I make a batch of something with chicken in it.
Eating healthy is cheaper.0 -
Ooh nice website, thanks! I found it a little dearer in the fact that my usual meat shopping included lots of mince (low grade cause it's cheaper) and sausages - I've had to rethink that of course to allow for leaner whole meat or premium low-fat mince. But really the fact is that it's cheaper than constant doctors' visits because I'm sick or new clothes because I'm too fat for my old ones, and SO cool to have an excuse to eat nicer meat! I prefer nice meat, but it IS dearer, so before now I just didn't let myself splurge on it. Now? I HAVE to have it because the other rubbish is not good for me. Also some other things like fat-free yoghurt, sugar-free fruit spread etc can be dearer but they aren't essential to happiness. Anyway, the amount I was spending on McDonalds, Beer and Pizza???? Yeah, it's cheaper eating well! A 6" sub is always less than a quarter pounder!0
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It really depends on what you are calling, "eating healthy." If you are just cutting calories then eating healthy is not really anymore expensive, but if you are taking healthy beyond merely calories then it can get more expensive. Buying organic fruits and vegetables are more expensive but cuts down on the amount of chemicals you are ingesting. I like fish, especially salmon; wild Alaskan salmon is healthier for you (and a little less calorie dense) than it's farmed Atlantic counterpart but it is also more expensive as well. There are many other foods where if you are trying to eat healthy beyond merely calories, it can get expensive.
That said, most of the time that excuse is used it is merely in relation to calories and I came to find out it is pretty much hogwash (It was an excuse I used to use).0 -
There is never going to be a simple answer to this - I think eating healthy can be cheaper, but that assumes that you have the education, resources and time to shop and cook well. So, for some people it's just not going to happen. And to be honest, I think a lot of people aren't looking for that option - the easy fast food route looks good to them.
I live in Australia (Perth) and while some things are certainly more expensive here (I've never seen chicken breasts cheaper than $9/kg, usually you would pay abouy $14/kg or about $6/pound) you can get reasonably priced fruit and veggies if you shop around. For example, I can shop at the supermarket and pay upwards of $4-5/kg for apples, or I can go to my local market and get them for $1.79 or so at most times of the year.
The prices are all relative though, so I still think it is better value to buy chicken and veggies and rice and make my own soup or chicken casserole and it's going to be cheaper, healthier, more filling and much more tasty that a Lean Cuisine.0 -
It is definitely more expensive to buy food here (junk and fresh) in Australia. As an example, chicken is usually $10-12 per kg (that's about $5-6 per lb for the metricly challenged). A lot of our food is 50-100% more expensive here which is painful at times.
I think it comes down to scale. As someone said earlier, filling your fridge and cupboard with healthy food is expensive up front - but it works out about even or perhaps a bit cheaper in the long-run. There are also ways of eating healthier that can minimise the costs such as buying snap frozen vegetables instead of fresh (last longer so less wastage, and still very good nutritional value).
I think if you have a larger family eating healthier is more viable too. The cost of preparing 4-5 meals at home from fresh ingredients is almost always cheaper than takeaway in my experience. Just economy of scale.0 -
oh and LOL to the 1/2 chicken breast per serve - I wish I could eat that cheaply! Some nights I'll have half a chicken to myself (and that's while cutting) :laugh:0
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This has come up in our household. We're a single income family and my husband expressed some concern about my buying fresh fruit/veggies and fresh meat. I told him that the savings from not buying four cases of pop, bags of chips, and a sack full of cookies/snack cakes every week sort of balances it out, if not saves us money.
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good subject..... can i come to where fruit and veg are cheap?
I truthfully think it is cheaper to eat healthily (if you know how to cook) but the numbers out there that dont have a clue are startling, I have recently helped a friend with this .. she was a out of the freezer/fastfood type of eater nuggets burgers ready made pies etc.. her mum was the queen of TV dinnners so my friend did what she knew.... I know she has shared this recipe with others because someone asked for another recipe
I showed her how to make a pauper shepherds pie and her family loved it... for half the cost of a brought one...
I wish these TV shefs would stop doing budget dinners.... neck of lamb was a throwaway meat and really cheap but now a celeb chef has begun using it its now mega expensive... 2 years ago could get a neck for 60-90 pence noe it cost £4.50 -£6 thats not inflation
dtto shin of beef, pigs trooters, gammon hocks, haddock, stewing beef, the list goes on...but now they are fashionable and expensive
we have to get more and more inventive with our foods..... I dont buy spinich anymore thats got priced out of my range so I use nettles... rubbergloves to strip off the leaves wash and blanch and lovely.....0 -
The other thing I do is buy frozen veg and also fish porions. I eat more variety than my husband and buying fresh means that stuff would go off before I had chance to eat it.
Buying frozen means I can add a portion of whatever to meals and not have to worry about finishing it before it needs binning.
We also often bulk cook and freeze portions so we have quick meals ready.0 -
It depends where you shop and what you consider to be healthy too. If your going like all organic from somewhere like Whole Foods its way more expensive than junk food from walmart. And some things are more expensive like white VS wheat bread. And if your buying fresh fruit and such it goes bad if you don't eat it. But I agree, its too expensive is a bad excuse. Your health insurance is whats too expensive when you don't take care of yourself, in the long run at least.0
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This may have been said already but I dont think eating healthy is more expensive, but often eating out on the run it is more expensive to be healthy0
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I agree with a lot of what is being said, but it really depends on your region. To eat healthy where I am, for a family of four (one of whom is under 5) my grocery bill is close to 1000.00 a month. That is for mostly non-organic produce. Fresh fruits and veggies are freakishly expensive compared to what they were when I lived in the mid-west. A gallon of milk is around 4.50 for non-organic and more if you want an organic variety. Is it cheaper than eating out? Absolutely, but it is not necessarily cheaper than buying processed foods. I know I could stretch my budget a lot farther if I wanted to include a lot of processed carbs in it.0
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Cooking healthy at home is not really any more expensive in my opinion- just more time consuming. Lately in my life the balancing act has been finding the time to both cook and exercise- seems like I only have time to one or the other the right way.0
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I think that if you're losing weight, and having a lot of protein, it can be expensive.0
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When we are shopping it looks more but then I realise that we wont be eating/ having takeaway and so it does work out cheaper.0
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No i don't think it is more expensive, unless you go organic etc. But still non organic healthy stuff is still much better than packaged proccessed junk food.0
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I think it can be cheaper if you shop carefully. I have a fruit and veg market walking distance to my house which is dirt cheap but will go off after a few days so I stock up and cook big batches of soups and stews for the freezer.
I think meat can be expensive. I'm not a vegetarian but I'll have a few meat free days a week to keep the price down. Pulses and beans are very inexpensive and have lots of protein.0 -
I can only speak for myself but eating "healthy" has definitely been cheaper for me. Mainly because I rarely eat out any more. I also do a big cook on the weekend and portion it out for my lunches and sometimes even my dinners. and I don't waste money on junk food binges.
I also don't think i have to buy organic (15$ for a chicken, come on!!!!) to eat healthy. my version of healthy food is basically: if my grandmother would not recognize it as food (she was born in 1901 and died 1991) then it's probably junk (likely delicious! but junk)0 -
I disagree with everyone who disagrees that eating healthfully is cheaper.
At least where I'm from, if I try to buy "healthy" food for a few days, like fruit, meat, vegetables, whole grains, my budget is gone before I know it. This isn't from Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, etc. It's from buying whole foods to cook and prepare at home (which also costs a lot--in time, and in money to buy the equipment, not to mention the gas and electricity to cook). Unhealthy stuff is so much cheaper, and there's a simple reason: because our government subsides corn, wheat, and soy, while fruits and vegetables are considered specialty items that cost a lot more to grow, and then to buy.
It's not a myth that junk food is exponentially cheaper--it's a fact.
Rubbish i simply cant stomach that statement (see what i did) , here in the UK i spend £20 on food a week this supports me for 5 meals a day 7 days a week if i was to do this on 'junk food' / takeaways 5 meals 7 days a week id blow that £20 in a day if that...
I would also feel like s***t for putting that rubbish in my body I prepare my food for the week and it probably takes longer for someone standing in the queue at a fast food chain day by day than it does for me to cook the fresh healthier food.
This time debate is null in my mind my days are as busy as the next person its a case of wanting to change your life there a choices to be made yes you can eat cheap and unhealthy, but why would you want t when you can eat cheap and healthy?
£20 = 32 USD in today's exchange rate.0 -
I think the problem is that people just don't know what healthy food is.
So when you talk about eating healthy they think of prepackaged weight-watchers stuff and low fat snacks etc which all cost extra and in some cases are worse for you than the 'junk' they are replacing.
It's such a minefield out there to know what we should be eating, I remember when I first started being totally overwhelmed and feeling I would never know what was good and what was bad. It's only because it's a subject that interests me that I've spent hours and hours and hours reading up on all the information I could get to make my own informed decisions.
If someone doesn't have that level of knowledge they are always going to struggle.0 -
i found my biggest but wisest expence was my chest freezer. my family are all vegetarian so i dont have to buy dif foods for each person which makes it easier. dairy and nuts are probably the most expensive things. i've spent quite a bit of money bulk buying our dried foods but now i have a full cupboard of basic ingredients and only have to buy fresh veg and fruit as needed. i also cook each recipe in large quantities and freeze in indidual weighed portions. i usually spend 10 days on a cooking mission, cookin a new recipe each day and freezing the rest. then we have home cooked, healthy "ready meals" all set to go for roughly the following 3 months. doing this means we spend, on average, £10 per person per week including all household shopping (washing powders, toilet rolls, etc). eating healthily is as expensive or as cheap as u can afford. most people live by their means whether thats £10 or £100 per person.0
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The last time I was in the USA, my wife and I, went to Ralphs and spent just under $12 (£7.75) to by some French style bread, salad leaves, American cheddar ‘cheese’, on the bone ham, and a carton of pure Juice. That a midday meal for three.
We drove from Mission Bay to San Luis Obispo, stopped in a gas station and saw a double double cheese burger with extra large fries and a 64oz cola for $2.50(£1.61) (you could have a 6” corndog for an extra $1) It may not be expensive to eat healthily but when you have a family of five to feed, eating unhealthy is easier and cheaper.0 -
It really depends on what you choose to eat. I am not a big believer in "organic" so no problems there.
However, I eat lots of fresh fish ( wild caught salmon, flounder, cod and whatever is on special I may like) and fresh lean chicken and turkey breast. I also eat wheat and gluten free, produce is reasonable (veggies), fresh fruit is a different matter (but if you wait and buy/eat what is in season, then it is better/cheaper). So, let's say where I live My weekly grocery bill will avg. $50-60 per week for 1 person. Not to bad, UNLESS you are in the position to have a budget of $60-70 for 4 PEOPLE!
Also, see how "we" discuss budgets, portion size, shopping for the Best bargain, buying local/in-season... YOU know what that IS, It's called EDUCATION/KNOWLEDGE, ALSO ACCESS has a lot to do with Choices we all make. SO WHEN YOU make a BLANKET statement that it is CHEAPER to eat healthier, consider ALL! You see, even if you consider YOURSELF to have little means right now, YOUR knowledge base is Broader>>>EXAMPLE: I don't spend $20 the same way someone who just finished high school spends it; Each of us allocate and prioritize our finances BASED on Knowledge and Perceived Needs. So what I am saying and have been saying for YEARS along with Professionals in the field of Nutrition and Economics is that Education about Nutrition, Budgeting and ACCESS (to Markets) are keys to this obesity problem. Other things will factor in also, but for ANYONE to Naively say " It is just as cheap to eat Healthily" has a LONGGGG ways to go relatively to understanding the Human Condition. And I won't even get in to the "types" of food stuffs that are produced that reek havoc IN our Bodies...but are produced to sustain Farmers, the general economy and to keep foods cheaper for the general consumer.
Maybe if food was produced healthier and more costly, "we" would consume less, HOWEVER, others would starve.0 -
I disagree with everyone who disagrees that eating healthfully is cheaper.
At least where I'm from, if I try to buy "healthy" food for a few days, like fruit, meat, vegetables, whole grains, my budget is gone before I know it. This isn't from Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, etc. It's from buying whole foods to cook and prepare at home (which also costs a lot--in time, and in money to buy the equipment, not to mention the gas and electricity to cook). Unhealthy stuff is so much cheaper, and there's a simple reason: because our government subsides corn, wheat, and soy, while fruits and vegetables are considered specialty items that cost a lot more to grow, and then to buy.
It's not a myth that junk food is exponentially cheaper--it's a fact.
Rubbish i simply cant stomach that statement (see what i did) , here in the UK i spend £20 on food a week this supports me for 5 meals a day 7 days a week if i was to do this on 'junk food' / takeaways 5 meals 7 days a week id blow that £20 in a day if that...
I would also feel like s***t for putting that rubbish in my body I prepare my food for the week and it probably takes longer for someone standing in the queue at a fast food chain day by day than it does for me to cook the fresh healthier food.
This time debate is null in my mind my days are as busy as the next person its a case of wanting to change your life there a choices to be made yes you can eat cheap and unhealthy, but why would you want t when you can eat cheap and healthy?
£20 = 32 USD in today's exchange rate.
That's really cheap! I take it that's just for 1 person.
What kind of things are you buying and what do your meals look like for that?0 -
£20 is really cheap...maybe its frozen fruit/veg etc which is still better than junk.. but remember junk isnt just mcdoalds, take outs etc its ready meals, tinned meals. etc which are usually very cheap.
I spend about double maybe abit more than that per week, but i only shop at butchers and farmers markets and only buy organic, (plus my nearest store is waitrose which really doesn't help the bank account)0
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