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Eating healthy, cheaply
Posted by Seabuckthorn • 9/18/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: advice, cheap food, food, health, healthy food, How-To
Today online there was yet another article/discussion about how it's supposedly more expensive to cook healthy meals than to eat junk. That reminded me of a blog post I wrote but never posted, on that exact topic.
For a dose of healthy sarcasm to go with your (hopefully) healthy meal, read on: www.seabuckthorn.net/index.php/?p=146
User Comments
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I've found that since I posted this blog post, there have been a lot of readers checking out the links - that's pretty cool I think.
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In general it is a lot more expensive to eat a healthy diet than a cheap one full of junk. Fresh organic produce and proteins, and healthier fats like extra virgin olive oil tend to cost more than Top Ramen or McDonalds dollar menu cheeseburgers.
But there are ways to reduce how much money you spend, by learning how to do some gardening, shopping for produce in season, sales ,coupons etc.
But that's just common sense I think. Don't you? -
I think there are different degrees of healthy. Yeah, if you're eating organic, ancient grains and EVOO it's going to be expensive, but just eating more whole grains, beans, and fruits/veggies is NOT more expensive than Ramen or McD's, in my experience. YMMV especially in the vast stretches of suburbs where junk food purveyors are the only places to buy food within miles (we have laws against that in Canada, but it's a major part of USian life I know).
I agree with your economising ideas.-
not more expensive than ramen? Really? You can buy a pack of 16 for a about a dollar. That's 16-8 meals. -
@dbowles1017 of course! But I don't think a package of 16 ramen would be 6-8 meals; the packages have less than 200 calories each, which at 2 per meal would be only 1200 calories per day, almost starvation level for an adult. So either people eating ramen are eating more of it than that or they're supplementing their calories with something else.
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Beef ramen is 190 calories per serving, 2 servings per pack. 2 packs = 760 calories. That is a decent meal for a person.
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@dbowles1017 Oh, got it. I mis-read the data, thanks.
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No problem. Just don't let it happen again. Ramen is serious business.
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I find it is cheaper to eat healther but that is because I buy local from farmers, grow my own, and shop wisely. I put alot of veggies away every year when they are in season. That helps alot. -
I also don't think healthy meals have to be more expensive. Combine fresh veges with any of 3 inexpensive proteins - eggs, beans or canned salmon - and you have a great 1 dish meal. Light on calories too. Beans with veges and lots of herbs & garlic also make a tasty soup that can be frozen to save cooking time all week. -
If you can afford to buy in bulk than it can be cheaper to eat healthy.
Healthy Lifestyle -
Why are low income people obese, some say if they are so poor than why are many of them and their kids obese. Fast food is cheap, but it has so many calories and saturated fat. Plus it is too energy dense. Eating healthy isnt really more expensive, but it takes a lot more time to cook your own food than just give an order at a fast food place. Time and or lazy. -
Just today, a CBC Newsworld commentator (Kevin O'Leary, of Canada's 'Dragons' Den' and US's 'Shark Tank': en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_O%27Leary_(entrepreneur)) said that commodities (including many food staples) are slated to rise sharply in price. He says it's one of the fiscal sectors that can stand to grow in this depressed economy. He's ultra-right-wing fiscally, of course, so he's just looking at the issue from the POV of investment opportunities.
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A head of lettuce vs. a bag of chips ..... it amazes me what people put in their shopping carts because they say they can't afford it. It's possible, if people would just do the math. -
Buying organically grown produce is still much more expensive than regular produce, which is incredibly disappointing. I want to eat organic avocados!
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