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It costs more to eat healthy
You know, it should not cost more to eat healthy, but it does. And not just eating organic food. Healthy foods across the board are more expensive.
Let me explain.
According to an article in The New York Times, researchers at the University of Washington compared the prices of 370 supermarket foods and found out that junk foods cost less than fruits and vegetables. In fact, “Energy-dense munchies cost on average $1.76 per 1,000 calories, compared with $18.16 per 1,000 calories for low-energy but nutritious foods.”
“… a 2,000-calorie diet would cost just $3.52 a day if it consisted of junk food, compared with $36.32 a day for a diet of low-energy dense foods.”
And scariest of all: “Vegetables and fruits are rapidly becoming luxury goods.”
But the good news is it doesn’t have to be expensive to be a vegetarian. In fact, I wrote a post called The cheap vegetarian – or – vegetarian meals on a budget. Hope it helps.
Comments
5 Responses to “It costs more to eat healthy”
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February 28th, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
It may cost less, but the calories are empty calories. And you’re getting far less nutrition from a bag of chips than from a real potato. I’d rather shell out a bit more money and actually nourish myself. If people think it’s expensive, they’re deluding themselves, because a calorie isn’t just a calorie. If you’re eating $10 worth of trans fats, as opposed to $10 worth of fresh produce, you’re not doing your body any help, despite the fact that you’re just giving yourself calories.
February 29th, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
What about dried lentils and beans?
Last time I checked a pound of dried lentils, the legume with the highest level of many nurients, was still under $0.50 a pound. I prepare dried legumes on the weekend in my pressure cooker and freeze meal sized portions. Each morning I just take one out of the freezer to thaw for that days main meal (Which we eat at 3pm).
I’ve also read that frozen veggies can be more nutrious than fresh, depending on just “how fresh” your fresh is. If you do your shopping just once a week then the fresh produce is past it’s prime by the end of the week and you are better off stocking your freezer with frozen veggies.
I feel I save a lot of money by not eating meat at home. I find that non-meat options are cheaper–but that is not the case when looking at “meat subsitutes” If you are not going to eat meat, why eat fake meat?.
March 2nd, 2008 @ 8:28 am
I don’t get how they came up with $36 / day, and I don’t think it’s accurate. My husband and I eat vegetarian, cook almost everything from scratch at home and have a fairly healthy diet. We buy a lot of our food from the farmers’ market or from a coop, and we don’t spend anywhere near $2,000 a month for food!
March 10th, 2008 @ 4:16 pm
I do think those statistics are quite misleading. Sure, 1000 calories worth of, say, fresh herbs or morel mushrooms are going to cost a fortune. A $3 bunch of cilantro has less than 100 calories. But most of us who eat healthy don’t eat like that– we eat vegetables, sure, but also legumes and beans and other cheap, calorie-dense foods.
November 8th, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
What about dried lentils and beans?
Last time I checked a pound of dried lentils, the legume with the highest level of many nurients, was still under $0.50 a pound. I prepare dried legumes on the weekend in my pressure cooker and freeze meal sized portions. Each morning I just take one out of the freezer to thaw for that days main meal (Which we eat at 3pm).
I've also read that frozen veggies can be more nutrious than fresh, depending on just “how fresh” your fresh is. If you do your shopping just once a week then the fresh produce is past it's prime by the end of the week and you are better off stocking your freezer with frozen veggies.
I feel I save a lot of money by not eating meat at home. I find that non-meat options are cheaper–but that is not the case when looking at “meat subsitutes” If you are not going to eat meat, why eat fake meat?.