<p>This is a quote from a USA today article cited in the Fattening of America thread.</p>
<p>I am always leery of modifiers like *often *and can’t as in “Healthier food *can * cost more.”</p>
<p>Even little grocery stores carry a limited supply of not-so-perishable fruits, like apples, oranges and bananas, which don’t cost a fortune. And nothing wrong with canned beans, green beans or peaches. And canned tuna, pasta and tomato sauce, peanut butter, oatmeal, raisins, milk and cheese.</p>
<p>A more complete supermarket, and places like Costco, have inexpensive meats, fruits and vegetables.</p>
<p>For most students and those of us that have to live within a strict food budget yet want to eat healthy foods, I don’t think it’s that hard.</p>
<p>Chicken breast is dirt cheap. I think I paid $1.99 a pound today. Pork roasts can often be had for the same price. Can of chunk white tuna is $1.</p>
<p>Bags of plain frozen veggies aren’t my favorite, but they certainly will do in a pinch. I keep several bags in the freezer because some frozen beans or peas is better than not having veggies for a quicky meal.</p>
<p>Pert of the problem is access. Those living in poverty can’t just tool on over to Costco. (where I can spend $150 really fast) or even to a regular grocery store. They are stuck with bad choices. My parents generation had poor folks but they were farm families and ate lots and lots of veg because that was what they could grow.
While my kitchen has been under reconstruction I have alternated between carry out and low cal microwave meals. It’s really easier and cheaper to go with fast food unless you have the knowledge, experience, cooking space and determination to feed your family right.</p>
<p>Healthy food costing more is something I haven’t really understood. For years I ate dirt cheap, low on the food chain and healthier than I do now. But you have to know how to cook, after a fashion. Sometimes I think we did the poor of this country a disservice by changing to food stamps rather than the government commodities that used to be given to low income folks. Food stamps are far more fun and respecting of cultural difference, however fun can be a downfall to improving diets. I’ve known two people on food stamps recently. Both have felt they were given more money than needed to eat healthfully. </p>
<p>Whole grain bread is more expensive than white, and whole grain pasta more expensive than refined. But aside from that, simple unprocessed foods can be very reasonable. Squash, potatoes, carrots, bananas, bagged apples, broccoli, celery, onions. Dried beans, split peas are a classic cheap and healthy food. Milk, eggs, yogurt by the quart, and many frozen vegetables are not expensive. Some frozen vegetables are just fine, especially spinach, peas and corn. Ground turkey, canned salmon are cheap, healthy protein sources. Oatmeal and brown rice are good, staple, complex carbs. </p>
<p>I’m cheap enough that I find fast food costs, aside from Taco Bell really add up fast for a family. The same with most processed foods in the grocery store, a lot of packaging for not much value.</p>
<p>“Pert of the problem is access. Those living in poverty can’t just tool on over to Costco.”</p>
<p>Some can. We did. Our family qualified for free school lunches when we were living on DH’s postdoc salary, but we joined Costco. I skipped the sodas and chips isles, and went for the biggest packages of chicken, beef and carrots, as well as their humongous bags of shredded cabbage, onilons and sweet potatoes. Costco’s canned and frozen veggies were waay cheaper than the stuff found in grocery stores. I never spent more than $100 at that Costco, and I cooked all meals: chicken soup, stews, roasted veggies, nothing really fancy. What we saved by shopping garage sales for clothes and household stuff (have I ever told you my story of a flea-infested “new” mattress? ;)), we spent on food. A large pot of chicken soup could feed our family for a couple of days and cost much less to make than the cost of one McDonalds meal for 4 even back then. A few caveats: I’ve taken graduate level courses in biochemistry, I grew up on my grandpa’s home cooking, and I learned a lot of good things in my HS home ec class. :)</p>
<p>A ten pound sack of potatoes from a discount market is a lot of food for a very few dollars. Of course whether you consider potatoes to be good or bad for you will determine whether you regard that as healthy food or not. Same for a bulk bag of uncooked pinto or navy beans or rice.</p>
<p>I wonder how efficient Costco shopping is for small families. I just renewed my membership $50 bucks!</p>
<p>We also do not have a full size fridge. ours doesn’t have a freezer, although we do have a chest freezer we got for free( however it sometimes stops working so I am hesitant to fill it up on bargains)</p>
<p>coureur, it depends on how you cook them and what other ingredients you have on hand. A bean soup with chicken, carrots, onions, garlic and common spices can be delicious and filling. The biggest issue seems to be access to cheaper protein (meat, chicken, yogurt, etc.).</p>
<p>Now Wal Mart and Target are remodeling their stores to include grocery stores.</p>
<p>Also, areas with concentrations of immigrants from Latin America and/or Asia often have ethnic grocery stores stocked with healthy (ethnic) foods.</p>
<p>Beans and lentils are cheap sources of protein that have traditionally been used by people who cannot afford meat, eggs, or milk on a regular basis (or who choose to be vegetarian).</p>
<p>I’ve never understood the claims that healthier foods are more expensive. When I go to our local produce store, I can buy a few bags of groceries filled with fresh veges and fruits for ten or 15 dollars. Add some eggs and beans (dry, buy in bulk, cook your own at home) and you can eat very well, protein included, for cheap. Chop up some onions and garlic, saute your veges, you’re all set. It’s easy to get a meal on the table in 20 minutes, IMO. Much cheaper than eating fast food or prepared meals. Really, if you never eat out, you can eat very well on a budget. Who do you think is paying for all that packaging and advertising at MCd’s?</p>
<p>Also, a lot of people bought bread-making machines a few years ago, and lost interest in them. It’s easy to pick one up at a garage sale. I saved a ton of money making my own bread when I was in that habit. My family loved it!</p>
<p>In our state, a gallon of milk is often $6+; tomatoes can be $4+/pound. Fresh produce is also quite pricey. Agree that eggs and beans cooked in your home are pretty inexpensive sources of protein, but not all that many inexpensive sources of fresh fruits or veggies around here, unless you are successful and growing your own or swapping with someone who does.
I used to bake my own bread back when I was a student–loved it & it was fairly low cost. Haven’t done it now for a very long time. Guess I ought to take it up again–maybe soon.</p>
<p>“Organic” food is typically priced higher, but there is plenty of very affordable fruit and produce, fish, etc. Junk food can be pretty overpriced! $3.99 for a bag of cheetos? Way high. I can get 4 lbs of peaches for that.</p>
<p>People living in poverty can lack many things that make buying healthy food at a lower price not realistic:
No transportation to get to the store
Low literacy to read sale flyers, follow recipes, etc.
Motivation to use “time management” to prepare meals. It’s the “I’m hungry NOW” dilemma.
Cycle of poor nutrition - grandma, mom and now new mom had poor role models for cooking/nutrition</p>
<p>And on and on.</p>
<p>Many moons ago I worked for a mental health agency where we worked with new parents teaching them parenting and “home management” skills. Client after client would come in twice a week (plus home visits) to learn the BASICS. How to use a measuring cup. How to read and plan meals from a grocery flyer. Food storage at home (what foods need to be refrigerated, etc. - seriously!). Meal planning/portions - especially for their children. Much much handholding.</p>
<p>Homemade mac and cheese might taste great, but Cheetos is ready NOW and the kids like it.<br>
It’s a tough road to teach - can be done, can be adapted, but tough!</p>
<p>Abasket, this is one of my fears, that the basics of household management, cooking included, are not being passed down as they once were. Home ec, which every kid got in 7th and 8th grade when I was young, now, at least in my local school, is dumbed down to grilled cheese and smoothies. It used to be the basics of nutrition and cooking, including that white sauce that is the basis of homemade mac and cheese.</p>
<p>The ethnic grocery stores in our town sell vegetables and fruit for half of what our supermarkets do. The biggest one also has a meat department - they sell a lot of tripe and pigs feet and ears and other weird (by WASP standards) cuts, but their meat by and large is also very competitively priced.</p>
<p>I never had enough room in my freezer to buy a lot of Costco food and I don’t find it a big saving for the most part. </p>
<p>I also agree you can save tons by eating more beans.</p>
<p>I agree that buying healthy food is not more expensive.</p>
<p>I think the saying “healthier food often costs more,” comes into play when you compare buying a $1 McDonalds hamburger to making it yourself at home. It is very hard to home-cook a hamburger for $1, because you would need to be able to buy one bun, a quarter lb of ground beef, the condiments, and the gas/electricity/coals and equipment to make it, all for under $1. If you bought in bulk and froze everything until you used it, you could probably do it for under $1, but hence the word “often.”</p>
<p>I do think access is part of the problem. In my area, bodegas just don’t sell fresh stuff and our public transportation options stink and we don’t have yellow cabs. So I sympathize big time. HOWEVER, the city sponsors greenmarkets in various parts of the city which, as a vegetarian, I adore. Here’s a teensy anecdote: my husband and I go to a farmer’s market every Saturday and at other times during the week (they have the super-duper-best potatoes) and when we go, there are a lot of cars lined up with people buying produce and flowers. This market is located diagonally across the street from the projects, but I have never, ever, not even once seen anyone walk across from the projects to purchase the fruits and vegetables. It’s always people in cars who drive away in the other direction. I can’t understand why that is. Thoughts?</p>