Why is unhealthy food so cheap/How can healthy food be made cheaper?

[Vagabond]

Please solve this issue because my $8 bagged salad from Whole Foods turns sad after 2 days.

I used to use soylent by the bag and it came down to under $2 per serving. You could add things to it that made it taste like a milkshake. Although its now sold in stores, it never really caught on like I always imagined it would. Hopefully we find more ways to diversify those soylent-type offerings. I've seen soylent-style ice cream, ramen, and cookie dough. I'd love for it to catch on and drive prices even further south.

 

[Walter White Walker]

Just as one example, if I were to buy my kids 5 decent sized apples for a snack at school for every day of the week, it would cost 10 bucks (I know because I do this). A box of Swiss cake rolls, which contains 5 packs, one for lunch every day, is two bucks. Not to mention the shelf life of the Swiss cakes is much longer. Junk food, especially snacks, is absolutely cheaper then fresh produce alternatives.

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I can buy 10 small fuji apples for $5.80. Two boxes of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls would be $4.38.
I could probably get the apples for cheaper if I bought a bag of them instead of individually, but those are sold by the pound and I'm not sure how many are in a bag.

 

[bye]

There's a drivethru salad chain called Salad N Go in my area which has salads 300-600cal and the cost of a meal is cheaper than most fast food burger places.

It's not expensive, there's just so much trash because the supply for trash is meeting the demand.

 

[Akira86]

again with the canned beans, bag of rice, and frozen veggies...don't you realize? don't you understand? /Sisko
the world doesn't run on that and a bag of frozen chicken breasts? just because you were able to make that work for you, doesn't mean that everyone even has access to that. it isn't that people "just prefer" to eat the box of kraft mac and cheese, those frozen vegetables might be a rare bonus, and they might like to add some protein to that too, but all they have are hotdogs. the inequality part of food inequality is real.

 

[Dyle]

Processed foods are easier to make at scale, last longer, involve less cooking, and can be made out of cheap ingredients. Unless you specifically subsidize healthy foods unhealthy ones will always be cheaper and will consistently be preferred by many people.

Three's also the fact that processed foods tend to be much more consistent than produce, higher highs but lower lows, so for some there is an implicit understanding that processed foods are safer, more reliable options.

 

[Walter White Walker]

There's a drivethru salad chain called Salad N Go in my area which has salads 300-600cal and the cost of a meal is cheaper than most fast food burger places.

It's not expensive, there's just so much trash because the supply for trash is meeting the demand.

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I'm looking at their menu and the sodium goes from ok to chill out. Summer Crunch has 340 mg of sodium, while the Buffalo Chicken has 1170 mg.
$5.74 if you order in Casa Grande, AZ, which is entirely reasonable. Far better than the $15 bullshit at Sweetgreen.

 

[bangai-o]

It's not true. We had this discussion like 2 weeks ago. The problem isn't that healthy food is expensive. The problem is that people don't know how to cook and are eating out too often.

Healthy food being too expensive is nothing but an excuse to avoid cooking.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Cool. Now I have a green pepper.

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1 sliced green bell pepper, 1 sliced avocado, 2 sliced hard boiled eggs, and a splash of italian dressing. $2-2.50 depending on sales, and it fills me up for half a day.

And there's barely any cooking involved there, so people can't even complain about that.

 

[entremet]

This has been studied, guys:

Eating healthy vs. unhealthy diet costs about $1.50 more per day

Meta-analysis pinpoints the price difference of consuming a healthy diet, which could be burden for low-income families but is trivial compared with health costs of eating an unhealthy diet For imm…

www.hsph.harvard.edu

Why eating healthy is so expensive in America

Produce that helps health hurts wallets.

www.vox.com

I'm surprised this is not as well accepted here. Just anecdotal evidence.

Also obesity and income are highly correlated.

 

[Walter White Walker]

This has been studied, guys:

Eating healthy vs. unhealthy diet costs about $1.50 more per day

Meta-analysis pinpoints the price difference of consuming a healthy diet, which could be burden for low-income families but is trivial compared with health costs of eating an unhealthy diet For imm…

www.hsph.harvard.edu

Why eating healthy is so expensive in America

Produce that helps health hurts wallets.

www.vox.com

I'm surprised this is not as well accepted here. Just anecdotal evidence.

Also obesity and income are highly correlated.

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I don't buy it. Their study entirely depends on where you buy food and what you buy. Is the healthy diet eating bananas or blueberries, say? Bananas are $0.79 a pound while blueberries are about $7.00 a pound. Buying at Costco or Whole Foods?
I

 

[entremet]

I don't buy it. Their study entirely depends on where you buy food and what you buy. Is the healthy diet eating bananas or blueberries, say? Bananas are $0.79 a pound while blueberries are about $7.00 a pound. Buying at Costco or Whole Foods?
I

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I'm not saying you can't eat healthy inexpensively. I'm saying that it more expensive overall. I could eat rice, ramen noodles and pasta if I wanted to pinch pennies for example. I'm fortunate that I don't need to, but I'm not getting a balanced diet with that.

Also, did you read the study? It's more than the US. It's not just Costco and Whole Foods.

Also, it's a meta analysis, it's a combination of many studies. These are considered the gold standard.

 

[turbobrick]

I don't buy it. Their study entirely depends on where you buy food and what you buy. Is the healthy diet eating bananas or blueberries, say? Bananas are $0.79 a pound while blueberries are about $7.00 a pound. Buying at Costco or Whole Foods?
I

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I think another factor is, you don't have to eat a perfectly balanced meal to be doing better than junk processed food. There's a middle ground that's easy to reach.

 

[Walter White Walker]

I'm not saying you can't eat healthy inexpensively. I'm saying that it more expensive overall. I could eat rice, ramen noodles and pasta if I wanted to pinch pennies for example. I'm fortunate that I don't need to, but I'm not getting a balanced diet with that.

Also, did you read the study? It's more than the US. It's not just Costco and Whole Foods.

Also, it's a meta analysis, it's a combination of many studies. These considered the gold standard.

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All I can tell you is that I mostly buy healthy foods and minimize the amount of garbage I buy (while still doing so sometimes because you know), and my grocery bills are pretty darn low all things considered. Don't think I could make it much less short of going "ramen and white rice all the time diet," while buying a lot of Hamburger Helper, Dinty Moore Beef Stew and whatever would cost me more.

 

[entremet]

All I can tell you is that I mostly buy healthy foods and minimize the amount of garbage I buy (while still doing so sometimes because you know), and my grocery bills are pretty darn low all things considered. Don't think I could make it much less short of going "ramen and white rice all the time diet," while buying a lot of Hamburger Helper, Dinty Moore Beef Stew and whatever would cost me more.

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I would agree that you can eat a balanced diet without going to the poohouse. Yes, I agree there. But I was talking about averages and it being more expensive.

However, I"m also sympathetic to the more common fast food versus vegetable argument.

Fast food is very expensive, especially these days. The more common of fast food versus healthy groceries is a no brainer. Groceries are cheaper.

McDonald's is going to cost you way more than just picking up groceries on a per meal basis.

 

[KillLaCam]

Healthy food is expensive? That's news to me.

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In america atleast

 

[GYODX]

This has been studied, guys:

Eating healthy vs. unhealthy diet costs about $1.50 more per day

Meta-analysis pinpoints the price difference of consuming a healthy diet, which could be burden for low-income families but is trivial compared with health costs of eating an unhealthy diet For imm…

www.hsph.harvard.edu

Why eating healthy is so expensive in America

Produce that helps health hurts wallets.

www.vox.com

I'm surprised this is not as well accepted here. Just anecdotal evidence.

Also obesity and income are highly correlated.

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"While healthier diets did cost more, the difference was smaller than many people might have expected. Over the course of a year, $1.50/day more for eating a healthy diet would increase food costs for one person by about $550 per year. This would represent a real burden for some families, and we need policies to help offset these costs. On the other hand, this price difference is very small in comparison to the economic costs of diet-related chronic diseases, which would be dramatically reduced by healthy diets."

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An extra $1.50 per person per day doesn't sound unworkable, unless you have a lot of kids or other extenuating circumstances.

And like the quote above says, the cost is more than offset by the improved health outcomes and lack of accompanying healthcare costs over a lifetime.

 

[Walter White Walker]

I would agree that you can eat a balanced diet without going to the poohouse. Yes, I agree there. But I was talking about averages and it being more expensive.

However, I"m also sympathetic to the more common fast food versus vegetable argument.

Fast food is very expensive, especially these days. The more common of fast food versus healthy groceries is a no brainer. Groceries are cheaper.

McDonald's is going to cost you way more than just picking up groceries on a per meal basis.

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It's gotten insane at fast food restaurants. No, I'm not paying well over $20 to buy lunch at McDonald's for myself and my two kids, and that's after using a deal on their app. Arby's has always required getting a second mortgage.

 

[entremet]

An extra $1.50 per person per day doesn't sound unworkable, unless you have a lot of kids or other extenuating circumstances.

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My argument wasn't poverty versus riches here. Even when I was out of college, with my first entry level job, making nothing, I spent a little bit more on food to get healthy stuff. Just saying that I thought eating a healthier diet is, on average, was pricier.

It's gotten insane at fast food restaurants. No, I'm not paying well over $20 to buy lunch at McDonald's for myself and my two kids, and that's after using a deal on their app. Arby's has always required getting a second mortgage.

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It's why one of the most oft cited pieces of financial advice is to limit eating out. Eating out is expensive, and yes, even fast food.

 

[Royalan]

To me, I think it's down to 3 classic factors.

1) The ability to cook
2) The time/energy to cook
3) Access

I think it's telling that with all the posts on the first page that are mentioning how cheap rice, beans and frozen veggies are none of y'all have described anything that's...appetizing. You're essentially just talking ingredients. But people don't want to just eat to sustain themselves; lots of people want to eat to enjoy food. And for that you're gonna need more (sometimes way more) than just beans and frozen veggies to make a good meal. You're gonna need herbs and spices, meats, cheeses, fats and butters, etc.. Keeping a full pantry with a diverse ingredient list to turn those cheap basic ingredients into flavorful and healthy meals is in itself expensive. And time consuming. And you have to know how to cook (which is a skill that's been grossly undervalued in the US).

Me for example, cooking was prized in my family. And growing up, cooking was passed down and the children were intentionally taught how to cook. Which is to say, I'm damn good in the kitchen and proud of it. And it comes with a special guilt, the few times I eat out, knowing that I could have cooked something better, cheaper, and healthier for myself.

But fuck, sometimes I just don't have time. And I'm a single person with no kids or other existing commitments besides my job and my D&D group. Shit, if I had a family, and an even more demanding job, I honestly don't know how I'd find the time to cook for myself even half as much as I do.

 

[Skyshark]

I can buy 10 small fuji apples for $5.80. Two boxes of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls would be $4.38.
I could probably get the apples for cheaper if I bought a bag of them instead of individually, but those are sold by the pound and I'm not sure how many are in a bag.

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A small apple is not a decent sized apple, which I made a point to state decent size in my post. I personally don't think 10 apples would last two weeks, either, at one per school day. I eat apples myself every day for lunch and sometimes that fifth day is a bit sketchy. I wouldn't even buy two weeks worth at a time.

 

[Septy]

Healthy food is cheap its just not as convenient and takes some actual effort to prepare.

Also, does anyone actually feel like their hunger has been satiated after eating instant ramen or a cheese burger from McDonald's? Because I personally don't.

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Because carbs don't make you feel full compared to if you ate a meal full of protein. There's a reason there's so much sugar in fast food, its addictive and it doesn't make you full.

 

[bangai-o]

To me, I think it's down to 3 classic factors.

1) The ability to cook
2) The time/energy to cook
3) Access

I think it's telling that with all the posts in on the first page that are mentioingn how cheap rice, beans and frozen veggies are none of y'all have described anything that's...appetizing. You're essentially just talking ingredients. But people don't want to just eat to sustain themselves; lots of people want to eat to enjoy food. And for that you're gonna need more (sometimes way more) than just beans and fozen veggies to make a good meal. You're gonna need herbs and spices, meats, cheeses, fats and butters, etc.. Keeping a full pantry with a diverse ingredient list to turn those cheap basic ingredients into flavorful and healthy meals is in itself expensive. And time consuming. And you have to know how to cook (which is a skill that's been grossly undervalued in the US).

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Still no. Basic seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, etc) are not expensive and the spices you buy may sit in the pantry for a long time before you buy more. Lard is not expensive either. Cheese does cost more, but healthy diets tend to avoid cheese, so it doesn't really count.

Your first two points i can agree with. People just need to learn how to cook and develop cooking into their weekly schedule. Might have to make some sacrifices, like less tv or something.

 

[hodayathink]

It's funny how people have come in here and said it's more expensive, and someone even provided analysis of that fact, that the general response is still "no, it's not". And by funny, I mean pretty sad. I work at a grocery store that's above Wal-mart level but below Whole Foods/Trader Joe's level and I will say, first hand, that unless you're shopping for the cheapest deals each and every week (and shopping once a week or more), then yes, eating healthy is more expensive than not. It's just true, and no amount of anecdotal evidence is gonna make it not true.

 

[Walter White Walker]

To me, I think it's down to 3 classic factors.

1) The ability to cook
2) The time/energy to cook
3) Access

I think it's telling that with all the posts in on the first page that are mentioingn how cheap rice, beans and frozen veggies are none of y'all have described anything that's...appetizing. You're essentially just talking ingredients. But people don't want to just eat to sustain themselves; lots of people want to eat to enjoy food. And for that you're gonna need more (sometimes way more) than just beans and fozen veggies to make a good meal. You're gonna need herbs and spices, meats, cheeses, fats and butters, etc.. Keeping a full pantry with a diverse ingredient list to turn those cheap basic ingredients into flavorful and healthy meals is in itself expensive. And time consuming. And you have to know how to cook (which is a skill that's been grossly undervalued in the US).

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You can choose meats that taste good and aren't that expensive, such as chicken (I just got a 3 pound bag of chicken breast for $5.99, and can reliably get whole chicken on sale for $1 or so a pound). Or there's always the $5.99 chicken at Costco if you're a member. Some pork cuts are relatively inexpensive.. Beef has gotten crazy expensive where I'm at so I don't buy that, but really it's not that healthy anyway by and large.
While the price of getting a spice may be high, the cost per dish is negligible. Same with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, like if you get the Kirkland brand at Costco (which is actually EVOO, unlike many other brands that are some mix of trash oil and green food coloring or whatever).
But seafood. Much of it is healthy, but boy can it be expensive. Not the frozen stuff, though, as they add absurd amounts of sodium like most other frozen food (not counting many vegetable brands). I once bought a bag of shrimp at Walmart and unlike almost always didn't check the nutrition panel - it was so salty even soaking it in water to leach that off didn't help and it was just inedible.

 

[Royalan]

Still no. Basic seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, etc) are not expensive and the spices you buy may sit in the pantry for a long time before you buy more. Lard is not expensive either. Cheese does cost more, but healthy diets tend to avoid cheese, so it doesn't really count.

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I didn't mean to imply that stuff like salt and basic seasonings were expensive. Just that those little costs do add up. Especially if you, like me, cook a lot, and have a diverse palate. I have two shelves in my pantry devoted to just seasonings. I also cook with a lot of fresh herbs, which can be expensive and do perish quickly.

There's also a healthy limit of cheese people can maintain. It comes down to people being people, not living spreadsheets. A lot of people are going to eat cheese. You can do so in a healthy way.

But ultimately my point is cooking for yourself has a lot of benefits, and it can be cheaper. But it's not cheap, especially when you consider things like time, skill, and wanting diverse meals.

You can choose meats that taste good and aren't that expensive, such as chicken (I just got a 3 pound bag of chicken breast for $5.99, and can reliably get whole chicken on sale for $1 or so a pound). Or there's always the $5.99 chicken at Costco if you're a member. Some pork cuts are relatively inexpensive.. Beef has gotten crazy expensive where I'm at so I don't buy that, but really it's not that healthy anyway by and large.
While the price of getting a spice may be high, the cost per dish is negligible. Same with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, like if you get the Kirkland brand at Costco (which is actually EVOO, unlike many other brands that are some mix of trash oil and green food coloring or whatever).
But seafood. Much of it is healthy, but boy can it be expensive. Not the frozen stuff, though, as they add absurd amounts of sodium like most other frozen food (not counting many vegetable brands). I once bought a bag of shrimp at Walmart and unlike almost always didn't check the nutrition panel - it was so salty even soaking it in water to leach that off didn't help and it was just inedible.

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I really should get a Costco membership...

But I do a lot of my grocery shopping at the locals markets.

 

[mAcOdIn]

To me, I think it's down to 3 classic factors.

1) The ability to cook
2) The time/energy to cook
3) Access

I think it's telling that with all the posts on the first page that are mentioning how cheap rice, beans and frozen veggies are none of y'all have described anything that's...appetizing. You're essentially just talking ingredients. But people don't want to just eat to sustain themselves; lots of people want to eat to enjoy food. And for that you're gonna need more (sometimes way more) than just beans and frozen veggies to make a good meal. You're gonna need herbs and spices, meats, cheeses, fats and butters, etc.. Keeping a full pantry with a diverse ingredient list to turn those cheap basic ingredients into flavorful and healthy meals is in itself expensive. And time consuming. And you have to know how to cook (which is a skill that's been grossly undervalued in the US).

Me for example, cooking was prized in my family. And growing up, cooking was passed down and the children were intentionally taught how to cook. Which is to say, I'm damn good in the kitchen and proud of it. And it comes with a special guilt, the few times I eat out, knowing that I could have cooked something better, cheaper, and healthier for myself.

But fuck, sometimes I just don't have time. And I'm a single person with no kids or other existing commitments besides my job and my D&D group. Shit, if I had a family, and an even more demanding job, I honestly don't know how I'd find the time to cook for myself even half as much as I do.

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I agree here but I think the fourth factor would be style of cuisine or variety/focus. I love stir frys and the amount of ingredients I'd need to have a huge variety of dishes that'd match a Thai resteraunt's rice/noodle dish menu is pretty cheap, provided one doesn't get too anal about having a certain chili or whatnot. Basically with a permanent staple of rice/noodles, oil, and seasonings you can have tons of dishes where the only thing you're changing up are the vegetables or protein. The protein's not exactly important when it's cut into those sizes so you can get a myriad of cuts for whatever the best price is, freeze it, the only thin you really need fresh are the vegetables and you can pretty much mix and match whatever the hell you want. So many dishes for cheap.

But, if I wanted say New York Strip steak one day with asparagus and a salad and the next day was going to be pasta alfredo, then the next day was going to be pork chops with whatever the fuck people eat with pork chops and salmon the next day then turkey, mashed potatos and corn the next, well now you've got a shit ton of shit you have to stock.

So I think it's that people need the focus and discipline to be happy with a certain style of cuisine where everything you buy can be used in most of the dishes. I think our expectation of extreme variety and being able to eat whatever we want at our whim is what makes eating healthy expensive.

 

[Skyshark]

It's funny how people have come in here and said it's more expensive, and someone even provided analysis of that fact, that the general response is still "no, it's not". And by funny, I mean pretty sad. I work at a grocery store that's above Wal-mart level but below Whole Foods/Trader Joe's level and I will say, first hand, that unless you're shopping for the cheapest deals each and every week (and shopping once a week or more), then yes, eating healthy is more expensive than not. It's just true, and no amount of anecdotal evidence is gonna make it not true.

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But didn't you here? At this one store that I go to, I can get a zucchini for 79 cents! Clearly eating healthy is cheaper.

/s

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

So I think it's that people need the focus and discipline to be happy with a certain style of cuisine where everything you buy can be used in most of the dishes. I think our expectation of extreme variety and being able to eat whatever we want at our whim is what makes eating healthy expensive.

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Yes but high variety and a lot of very tasty foods are now things you're giving up, which is just a different kind of cost.

 

[Kyoufu]

"healthy food is cheap where I live so it must be cheap for everybody everywhere"

 

[Royalan]

But, if I wanted say New York Strip steak one day with asparagus and a salad and the next day was going to be pasta alfredo, then the next day was going to be pork chops with whatever the fuck people eat with pork chops and salmon the next day then turkey, mashed potatos and corn the next, well now you've got a shit ton of shit you have to stock.

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Whew! You're describing me in my early/mid 20s. Fresh into adulthood, knew how to cook and, damnit, I was gonna cook ALL the things!

...I have since learned the importance of weekly meal planning.

 

[Walter White Walker]

I agree here but I think the fourth factor would be style of cuisine or variety/focus. I love stir frys and the amount of ingredients I'd need to have a huge variety of dishes that'd match a Thai resteraunt's rice/noodle dish menu is pretty cheap, provided one doesn't get too anal about having a certain chili or whatnot. Basically with a permanent staple of rice/noodles, oil, and seasonings you can have tons of dishes where the only thing you're changing up are the vegetables or protein. The protein's not exactly important when it's cut into those sizes so you can get a myriad of cuts for whatever the best price is, freeze it, the only thin you really need fresh are the vegetables and you can pretty much mix and match whatever the hell you want. So many dishes for cheap.

But, if I wanted say New York Strip steak one day with asparagus and a salad and the next day was going to be pasta alfredo, then the next day was going to be pork chops with whatever the fuck people eat with pork chops and salmon the next day then turkey, mashed potatos and corn the next, well now you've got a shit ton of shit you have to stock.

So I think it's that people need the focus and discipline to be happy with a certain style of cuisine where everything you buy can be used in most of the dishes. I think our expectation of extreme variety and being able to eat whatever we want at our whim is what makes eating healthy expensive.

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Yes. That's why I do weeks where it's mainly Chinese food, then Italian or whatever, and so on. That way I can use up what I bought and not have some of it go to waste.
Going back to what I said about seafood, a thing I do like is that the grocery store I usually got to will often have Alaskan Wild Salmon on sale for about $6.00 or $7.00 a pound. The thing is you need to buy the entire fish (which they will fillet for you), otherwise it's like $10-15 a pound. It's hard because you can't refreeze it without it turning to trash, but you better want to eat a lot of salmon over the next couple days. I usually make salmon jerky out of some of it because there's no way it's all getting eaten in time.

 

[hodayathink]

I really should get a Costco membership...

But I do a lot of my grocery shopping at the locals markets.

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As someone with a Costco membership, it's fun, but I still don't buy my meats there, because it's A LOT, to the point where it almost feels like if you aren't one to eat the same type of meat all the time, you have to force yourself to come up with new ways to finish off the 6-10 pounds of chicken you just bought (which can be fun like once or twice, but beyond that gets to be a pain).

But one of the fun things about working at a grocery store is that I can check the meat we're discounting and buy and cook/eat it that night, so I've been doing things lately like getting ribeyes and strip steaks for $10 a pound.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

It's funny how people have come in here and said it's more expensive, and someone even provided analysis of that fact, that the general response is still "no, it's not". And by funny, I mean pretty sad. I work at a grocery store that's above Wal-mart level but below Whole Foods/Trader Joe's level and I will say, first hand, that unless you're shopping for the cheapest deals each and every week (and shopping once a week or more), then yes, eating healthy is more expensive than not. It's just true, and no amount of anecdotal evidence is gonna make it not true.

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I've accepted at this point that people get really really weird whenever the subject of nutritional health, especially as it pertains to weight, comes up.

 

[Kill3r7]

As someone with a Costco membership, it's fun, but I still don't buy my meats there, because it's A LOT, to the point where it almost feels like if you aren't one to eat the same type of meat all the time, you have to force yourself to come up with new ways to finish off the 6-10 pounds of chicken you just bought (which can be fun like once or twice, but beyond that gets to be a pain).

But one of the fun things about working at a grocery store is that I can check the meat we're discounting and buy and cook/eat it that night, so I've been doing things lately like getting ribeyes and strip steaks for $10 a pound.

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Kids. Having a family makes Costco much easier to manage. Also prepping and freezing meats which isn't always practical or ideal.

 

[GalvoAg]

Honestly I make a salad for almost nothing buying at HEB, like less than 3 bucks and I throw some chicken in there as well and a bunch of shit. Smoothie is cheap as well but I do use a Vitamix that cost some money (lasts forever though). I buy big bags of Kale, salad and frozen berries and use it throughout the week. Throw in other stuff as well but that's the triangle along with kefir.

 

[hodayathink]

Kids. Having a family makes Costco much easier to manage. Also prepping and freezing meats which isn't always practical or ideal.

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I also have a bad habit of freezing meat and then forgetting I have it, to the point where I'll buy the same meat 2 months later because it's on sale again. I'm getting better about it now, but by trying not to buy meat that I'm not planning to eat either this week or the next.

 

[Walter White Walker]

It's funny how people have come in here and said it's more expensive, and someone even provided analysis of that fact, that the general response is still "no, it's not". And by funny, I mean pretty sad. I work at a grocery store that's above Wal-mart level but below Whole Foods/Trader Joe's level and I will say, first hand, that unless you're shopping for the cheapest deals each and every week (and shopping once a week or more), then yes, eating healthy is more expensive than not. It's just true, and no amount of anecdotal evidence is gonna make it not true.

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Give us the grocery store you work at so I can go its website and look at its prices. Because I'm full of doubt unless you're in a food desert, and I've been grocery shopping for decades.

 

[hodayathink]

Give us the grocery store you work at so I can go its website and look at its prices. Because I'm full of doubt, and I've been grocery shopping for decades.

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Why would I give that information out over the internet just to prove a point?

Also, not only have I been grocery shopping for decades, I've been working at them for decades too. My first job was in 1999 as a bagger at a grocery store, and I've more or less worked at them ever since.

 

[GYODX]

Also, you don't have to be, like, dogmatic about it. You can eat healthy/cook at home most of the time, and still eat out and indulge in unhealthy foods every now and then. Balance is a good thing. Cooking 2 or 3 meals every day is definitely time-consuming, so I balance it out with some light meal prepping, ordering takeout, or going out to a restaurant every now and then.

But if it gets to a point where your diet consists almost entirely of instant ramen, microwave food, and fast food... it's just not healthy, and you're also making it more expensive for yourself in the long run by increasing your chances of developing chronic conditions and all the healthcare costs that come with that.

 

[Walter White Walker]

Why would I give that information out over the internet just to prove a point?

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Because you're making a claim that is questionable at best, and it's highly likely you work for a grocery store that is part of a chain so nobody is identifying you if you say you work for Kroger or whatever. Big grocers totally dominate the industry. If you work for some small grocer ok, I agree.

 

[hodayathink]

Because you're making a claim that is questionable at best, and it's highly likely you work for a grocery store that is part of a chain so nobody is identifying you if you say you work for Kroger or whatever. Big grocers totally dominate the industry. If you work for some small grocer ok, I agree.

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I am not telling you where I work to win an argument, full stop. You want to not believe me, fine, but I don't care enough to give out that information.

 

[MoonToon]

It's funny how people have come in here and said it's more expensive, and someone even provided analysis of that fact, that the general response is still "no, it's not". And by funny, I mean pretty sad. I work at a grocery store that's above Wal-mart level but below Whole Foods/Trader Joe's level and I will say, first hand, that unless you're shopping for the cheapest deals each and every week (and shopping once a week or more), then yes, eating healthy is more expensive than not. It's just true, and no amount of anecdotal evidence is gonna make it not true.

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This.

There's a lot between poverty areas with complete food deserts, and "I can walk down to some street market near me and grab some head of leafy green shit I've never seen before for like 82cents!". This isn't really the place for anecdotal evidence IMO, cause ya got no clue what's available to everyone, which is why those studies are important.

 

[Deleted member 24052]

Learn how to cook, and buy fresh and frozen produce. It's not expensive and typically easy to get, unless you are unfortunately in a food desert.

Stick to the outside of the Supermarket, the inner aisles tend to have the expensive processed junk food. You can make loads of meals for cheap with just the produce section and some other staples like rice (which is also cheap).

You go to McDonalds and get a meal combo and it costs you like $9+ after tax depending on where you live. Sure you can work off the dollar menu but those portions won't fill you up, and it's junk nutrition to boot. With $10 you can walk into a grocery store and buy enough veggie produce to make 3-4 meals with.

 

[Calamari41]

Like I understand that at the end of the day you can be too tired to even think about cooking a meal, but the catch 22 there is that if you eat clean and healthy home cooked meals, you'll have significantly more energy to do things like cook good meals after a long day of work. You just have to figure out a way to force yourself into it until the ball really gets rolling.

I literally went shopping last night. Capsicum was $9 a kg, or about $3.00 for one, cabbage 3.00 a half, zucchini 2.50 for one, potatoes at $5 a kilo or about 2 bucks one red onion 3 bucks (half will be wasted)

I spent about 13 dollars on fresh veg on about 5 serves. That doesn't include the brown rice, the spices, or beans because I already had those.

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Whoa, where do you live? Where I am in a pretty wealthy area in Southern California, the prices for those same items are half or less of what you're being charged. I just checked on my local standard Ralph's (Kroger) website for a delivery order. Red bell pepper is $1.49 for one, cabbage is $1.98 for an entire head, zucchini is $0.50 each, Potatoes are $2.99 for a five pound bag, and one jumbo red onion is $0.75.

 

[hodayathink]

Also, and I feel like I should point this out because it keeps happening, there's a lot of people in here making the wrong comparisons. Eating healthy while making your meals at home is more expensive than buying processed foods and making your meals at home. Eating healthy while eating out is generally more expensive than eating unhealthy while eating out (and this is especially true when it comes to fast food and many fast casual restaurants). Crossing streams and comparing eating out (and eating unhealthy) vs. eating in (and eating healthy) is kind of besides the point.

 

[ninnanuam]

Like I understand that at the end of the day you can be too tired to even think about cooking a meal, but the catch 22 there is that if you eat clean and healthy home cooked meals, you'll have significantly more energy to do things like cook good meals after a long day of work. You just have to figure out a way to force yourself into it until the ball really gets rolling.



Whoa, where do you live? Where I am in a pretty wealthy area in Southern California, the prices for those same items are half or less of what you're being charged. I just checked on my local standard Ralph's (Kroger) website for a delivery order. Red bell pepper is $1.49 for one, cabbage is $1.98 for an entire head, zucchini is $0.50 each, Potatoes are $2.99 for a five pound bag, and one jumbo red onion is $0.75.

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I'm in Australia, I probably should have made that clear. But the use of Kg probably tipped you off that I'm not American. So comparing veg to veg cost isn't a one to one due to transport and exchange rates.

However comparing my veg costs to my processed food costs are applicable when the argument is that fresh veg is objectively cheaper than processed.

 

[hobblygobbly]

Fruit and vegetables are dirt cheap in Germany they literally cost cents at times, I don't know how it is in USA

2kg pack of carrots is around 1,5 euro
1kg of apples are also around 1,5 euro
1kg of cabbages, lettuces, etc, are usually between 0,50-1 euro too
1kg of paprika/bell peppers is around 2 euro
1kg of zucchini is around 1,2-1,5 euro

all vegetables/fruits are generally acros the board that cheap at discounters like Lidl or Aldi

you can get far with 10-15 euros a week on fruits/vegetables for 2 people

however anything you buy "prepackaged", like a premade salad or vegetable snackbox, is going to be more expensive. for example there's like this hummus and sliced carrot/cucumber snackbox and for the same price you can buy all those ingredients separately to have such a snack box for two people every day for a week lol, only difference is you gotta cut the carrots and cucumbers yourself.

 

[ruggiex]

I'm in Australia, I probably should have made that clear. But the use of Kg probably tipped you off that I'm not American. So comparing veg to veg cost isn't a one to one due to transport and exchange rates.

However comparing my veg costs to my processed food costs are applicable when the argument is that fresh veg is objectively cheaper than processed.

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Veggie prices are about half in the US compared to Australia (based on what I saw in Sydney a few years ago). So without counting prep time as part of the cost or living in food desert, it's definitely easier to eat real food for not much more if you are sticking to the stables, what's in season and eating relatively simple, etc.

I think people also forget that not everyone likes to cook. To me, I don't mind cooking but finding new recipes, prepping and cleaning is super annoying and time consuming. One reason intermittent fasting works so well for me is that I only have to cook for one meal, the other meal is breakfast food which is oats and whatever. 🤣

 

[Sanka]

When I was poor processed food was more like a luxury. Frozen veggies, canned veggies, canned tomatoes, cabbage, cheap carbs like pasta, rice and potatoes, eggs, some organ meat here and there, and flour to make sweet baked goods yourself were the cheapest options to actually get full after a meal. It got repititive tho. But that's when my love for cooking kicked in.

It's a lack of time, motivation, education and desire to want to do that. Because processed food did make you feel good and it was quick. And when you are depressed or time constraint that's kind of what you want.

So I feel even if you give people the option not much would change. The government has to regulate these companies.

 

[War95]

The problem is not the price of healthy food, is the unbalance with the work like. A mother or father doesnt want to cook after expending 8 to 12 hours working. Im glad my parents taught to cook the day before but even that lifestyle is full of stress, at least i ate good tho