Been reading some interesting stuff: Researchers discovered that people who are trying to lose weight and observing the right rules tend to spend less cash buying food. According to the researchers, junk food [and every other high-calorie (baked, processed, etc.) food-stuff] costs more than wholesome food [like cabbage] that has just been harvested from a farm and sold fresh. So if you want to save a little more. . .
There are many types of food that are both healthy and quite cheap at the same time. Bananas, potatoes and beans are a rich source of potassium and are not generally high-ticket items at the grocery store. Rice, also known as the king of food, is a great source of protein and other nutrients and is actually quite cheap. Frozen vegetables are also cheaper and fresher than anything you can find on the canned section of a store, but most of the times, the best thing to do is plan your meals ahead of time and stick to a shopping list for a whole week. Eating healthy and saving money is doable, if you are willing to change some of your eating habits.
Can I have a link? I mean depending on the location, the item, and where it came from - it can be much, much, much more expensive. The cost of trucking food from farms, and the additional costs of "natural, unprocessed" whatever are entered into the cost of the item. There is also the factor of wanting to have variety in one's dishes, but lacking the ability to cook in a healthy manner - so yeah.
My experience is different. It costs a lot more to eat healthy. Eliminating junk food from the budget can help, but junk food is so cheap. It costs more to buy food made without all the crap that goes into "normal" food. This really hit home when I was on vacation visiting my friend. She is on a very limited budget and eats a lot of processed foods. Since I have cleaned up my diet, I just can't eat that stuff. Just thinking about eating it gives me a slight headache. Not only did I have to travel some distance to get to a "health food" store, but I paid more for groceries than she does.
This can really go both ways. The dollar menu at McDonalds is the primary reason poverty goes hand in hand with obesity. So ironic. But McDonald's itself has been the primary driver behind almost all food production in the US. Think about it. MD's is the largest "buyer" of apples. Largest buyer of beef. Largest buyer of everything on their menu. And, they also drive the fast-food trends. So other fast food chains are now on the bandwagon. The high fat, high sugar, low-nutrient food is made even worse because it is in such high demand that farmers (or Mother Earth herself) cannot even produce enough quickly enough. Hence, hormones. Rapid growth. Flavorless tomatoes, scary beef pumped full of antibiotics, and other "real" food, that due to genetic engineering, isn't so real. But it is cheap. And it is fast. You can't go to the grocery store and make a hamburger for a dollar. You just can't. But spending that same $1 on one banana and, I don't know, a handful of peanuts, WOULD be more healthy, and probably stick with a person longer. (But it would require more than just $1 up front because you cannot buy "a handful" of nuts.)
Then these 'researchers' ought to do a reality check before publishing their findings. What they should have said is that in the long run, because you'll avoid a lot of health issues that may spring forth from getting to be [say, obese - which increases the risk of contracting heart-related complications/diseases, etc] you'll save a lot on the medication you'd get.
I get my food straight from the farms. Very little is spent in a grocery store, if at all.. even "health foods" from grocery stores or health food stores aren't my thing, because a) chemicals and b) still processed.. I stay away as much as possible. oh and c) most health foods are not healthy. I spend far less now than when I ate the way most people do. Organics in a grocery store most times actually aren't and they're more expensive than going straight to a farm. Some things are more expensive at a farm.. some things are more expensive at a grocery store than a farm. It all works out.. my bill proves it. It's up to us how we eat, but excuses don't usually add up.
It depends on what you are buying. When I first moved out on my own, I remembered snagging deals on frozen pizzas - obviously not health food, but if I could get a whole frozen pizza loaded with toppings for like $4 I'm on it. I could get three meals out of that. Instead, I would opt for something like Lean Pockets instead when they went on sale. There are a lot of pantry items that are dirt cheap in dollar stores. Stuff like Mac & Cheese, Hamburger Helper, Breaded Chicken/Veal patties, etc... These are heavily processed foods, but filling when you are tight on cash. I would usually try to offset eating them by loading up on a lot of steamed frozen veggies as a side dish to go along with them, which were also cheap. Some examples would be adding a bunch of frozen broccoli to the mac & cheese, making the chicken patties into chicken parmesan with a side of steamed veggie medley. While it is fun to shop at places like farmers markets, and get great deals on fresh veggies, you have to be careful you don't get into the trap of buying all sorts of supplemental ingredients to make a given dish, which negates any money you saved on the veggies.
I think it actually depends on what you are eating. Eating healthy can be very expensive depending on where you are shopping, if you are going organic, and if you eat a lot of expensive vegetables and fruits. If you want to eat healthy but cheap, you have to be a wise shopper, do some comparison shopping, buy "on sale", and be a little repetitious with your meals. Some consistently cheaper items you can buy for healthy meals are: bananas, apples, potatoes, spinach, kale, frozen corn, wheat flour, and broccoli. Also, you can save quite a bit of money buying frozen vegetables instead of fresh vegetables. Plus you don't have to worry about frozen vegetables spoiling if you don't eat them fast enough. I love that!
I've experienced this personally. When I aimed to get healthy, not only was I eating less so I didn't have to spend as much money buying food, but also, the type of food I was buying wasn't nearly as expensive as fast food meals. During these times, I'd be satisfied with eating just a plain sandwich and a fruit or even just jello as a side, which comes out significantly less expensive than burgers, fries, and a large drink and maybe even a sundae for dessert.
I always thought that it was the other way around, seeing how hard and expensive it is to grow natural vegetables and fruit and how not many people own gardens or have the patience to deal with such tiny profit aside from their health.
I agree that it really depends on what you're buying, but if you also have plants and trees that produce food in your backyard, then you can also save a lot more.
I wish I could grow food in my garden year round! That would help cut costs. There are many farmers' markets where I live, but I have never been to one. Maybe I should go next season!
I would love to grow my own vegetables too. Growing up I had two fruit trees in the backyard. I also started a small garden. I didn't grow much, but it was exciting growing food. Now, I live in an apartment with the patio facing the main street. I really should look into a community garden.
I don't buy it. Processed foods are almost always cheaper than whole foods. If you look in a weekly grocery store ad, there are plenty of sales on cookies, cereal and chips. It is also easy to find coupons for that sort of item to compliment the sale price. When was the last time you saw a coupon for cucumbers or lettuce? Fruits, vegetables and meat are the highest priced grocery items. I am sure you can offset some of the cost by purchasing fruits and veggies at a local farmers market, but who has time to do that every week?
It not only saves you money with grocery shopping, but it also helps avoid those hospital bills which one unhealthy person would likely end up getting! Like the chances of a heart attack is decreased by at least 10% with a healthy diet, that's less of a chance of spending all that time and money on doctors and antibiotics. Healthy diets can really pay off in many different ways.
Exactly.. all that time you saved doesn't get pooled together for when you get sick. You have to make the time to be sick now. if you pay for your health care, have fun. I'd bet most of the people here haven't actually tried a long term ACTUALY healthy diet. If they had, they would see they eat less and the foods from the farmers are larger and more filling. After a while, that bill gets lesser and lesser. You can't sit here and compare the cost of one item to another one item.. of course you can say it's cheaper to eat like crap if you do that. You have to actually make the effort to live a healthy lifestyle to see where the original post is correct.
...Really? Okay so where do you go? Oh, you go to a farm? How many farms do you know close to the hood? More importantly do you know any bus routes to the farm? More importantly does the farm stay open 'til a person can get off from their low-paying job? I mean you are talking a lot of junk from a position of obvious privilege. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would love to eat healthier, but can't - not won't - can't because of real socioeconomic issues that prevent them doing so. Sitting there and acting like the arbiter of lifestyle and health isn't helping anyone - it's just patting yourself on the back for being in a situation most people can't match. I mean it's not like America is the only nation with people living off of processed foods - nor is America the only nation with an obesity problem. America is however doing something most nations don't - and that's examining it's self. We talk about our problems whether it be our weight or our racism or our sexism or our homophobic/anti-religious/whatever else-ism... and that's what is important: Constructive Discussion. Not looking down on other people for not following our lifestyle and being all holier-than-thou in nature.
Well this is good information and i am here i just want to say you that i always thought that it was the other way around, seeing how hard and costly it is to develop natural vegetables and fruits and how not many people own landscapes or have the tolerance to deal with such small benefit aside from their health.
What I have noticed is that the food you buy is more expensive. But the amount you eat is less. I'm not sure what the total balance would be but I think it would be around the same.
