Vote in This Week's Poll: Can you eat healthy if you're on a tight budget?
Monday September 10, 2007
Last week's poll about America's weight problem really generated a lot of interesting conversation. Most of us seem to agree that we all need to eat better and exercise more and some readers offered great tips for doing just that. Just a few of those tips:
- Have your older kids help plan and prepare meals each week if you're busy
- To save money, buy frozen or canned vegetables or fish which is usually cheaper and includes several servings
- Puts things into perspective by looking at what you're eating and how much exercise you'll need to do to work off extra calories
- Slow down when you eat and put your fork down between bites. Never go for a second helping until you’ve waited 20 minutes
Poll: Can you eat healthy if you're on a tight budget?
1. Yes, there are lots of healthy choices that are cheap and go a long way
2. Yes, if you're willing to take the time to plan meals and research the best choices
3. No, healthy foods are always more expensive than fast food or processed foods
4. I'm not sure, it's too confusing figuring out what's healthy and what isn't
5. I don't know
6. Other - Please explain in comments
Comments
Despite what the majority is suggesting, the price per calorie of fast food and other heavily processed foods is cheaper. You could live for at least 3 days on 11.99 large pizza. You can’t buy foods that qualify as nutritious and satisfying for 12 dollars that would provide enough calories for 3 days of consumption. I’m not a hater, I struggle with this myself because I only make 10,000 a year and can’t eat the way I would like.
I have been seeing this debate here for the last couple weeks, and I sympathize with the impoverished people here. However I don’t think they are being realistic. 12 bucks for a large pizza that last three days. Let’s break that down. 33 cents a pound for Bananas. That’s 36 lbs of bananas. That should last 3 days. 2 loaves of wheat bread are on sale right now at Tom Thumb. That’s 6 loaves of bread for 12 dollars, surely that can be stretched. A 5 lb bag of red potatoes is buy one get one free for 3 bucks at Albertsons. That’s 40 lbs of fresh potatoes. Sorry to burst the bubble of the indigent, but you can eat healthy; you just have to want to.
Potatoes and bread? Not exactly unhealthy, but not exactly a slam dunk in the low cal, low carb arena. You have to put something on that bread to make it a meal right. Also, most people season potatoes with butter a healthy no-no. The best bests are canned fruits and veggies (usually under a dollar for most varieties). When it comes to protein, you can do tuna or salmon in a can. That’s what I do to stretch my fresh fruits, veggies and lean fresh meat when things are tight.
What I would like to know is- Why 80% lean ground beef always on sale, 93% never? Full fat cheese always on sale, 2% cheese never? Is the price difference because of the production process? Is it supply and demand?
It all boils down to choices. It’s easier to pick up the phone and dial take out, than to go to the store, make your selection and then come home and prepare it. As for 3 day old pizza, even my dog won’t go for that!
There are some very economical and healthy foods, such as rice and beans, that can be the basis of a low cost, healthy diet. Fresh fruit and vegetables are harder to manage on a tight budget, but some frozen veggies are usually inexpensive. I’ve eaten this way for years, so I know it can be done.
Your local “Share Food Network” sells a nice amount of fresh produce plus some meat every month for about $15.00. You can not eat this much in 3 or 4 days. Admittedly not every community has this great resource but for those that do, you can save a lot of money.
“SHARE Food Network is an amazing and unique program that is open to everyone. SHARE distributes high quality affordable and nutritious food as a way to build community and strengthen families. Whether you would like to save money on groceries, volunteer in the community, or promote health and wellness, it’s worth getting involved with SHARE!”
For more information on the “Share Food Network” check out the link below.
http://www.sharedc.org
We live on one $35,000 a year income for 3, we only spend 300 a month on groceries. We simply plan ahead. We Don’t eat out, and we eat simple home cooked blanced mealed made from canned vegatables, low fat soups, and lean meat. Time,if that is your issue Use your crock pot. Slow food is happy food.
well all of your comments seem just fine for normal average people, but what about those of us who arent so average? eating healthy on a 10,000 income for 4–1 with severe allergies and 1 with diabetes, how do you do that?? actually less healthy foods for us are cheaper and we do plan ahead but there arent many options…personally foods that are healthy should be more available and cost less whereas those foods like chocolate and chips should be more expensive and less available….and i could live well and eat right for 35,000 a year too…..
Rice and beans are the way to go with a few veggies thrown in, yes you can do it on $10,000 for 4. For example, check out glycemic index of basmati rice - cheap in 25 lb bags. With one allergic eater we have found that whole foods are better as there are no hidden “enemies of the airway”! I also have been doing this for years-it takes me about 2 extra hours each week for cooking, if I cook ahead, your library should have a variety of natural foods cookbooks and other reference.
Healthy foods should be cheaper than fatty foods. What can we do to make manufacturers lower the prices so we can enjoy the healthier things in life. Obesiety is such a problem these days and maybe this is why!
You can eat very inexpensively on a tight budget. There are great mini corn tortillas at trader joe’s. With 1/4-1/2 lb. of ground turkey meat, rinsed canned black beans, your favorite bottled salsa and one head of romaine lettuce you can make a fun meal (kids and guests love the make-your-own fun of it). I have a gas stove and put the tortillas directly on the flame to give them a little color. you know when to turn them because after 10 seconds or so the tortilla just starts to wilt. This meal easily feeds four for about $10.00. You can dress it up with lime, canned sliced olives, avocado, fresh tomatoes, non-fat sour cream, frozen vegetables, etc. which would add another $5.00. Then the cost per person would be around $3.50 which is still pretty inexpensive. For vegetarians, leave out the turkey and just use the rinsed canned black beans, even less expensive.
Another favorite is substituting italian-style veggie sausage or yves veggie dogs for stew meat in pot pies, shepherd’s pies or your favorite stew recipe.
To the individual who suggested it’s easier to pick up the phone and order in delivery. That is simply not the case for the impoverished. I live 2 miles away from the nearest grocery store. So, not only does healthy food cost more, it comes with a premium of gas, car maintenance, and time lost. Additionally, I completely agree with the individual who mentioned stretching canned foods. They last a long time and can be bought in bulk at cheap prices so that when I have the gas money to make a trip to Super Wally World, I get the most bang for my buck. I don’t have the cash to go buy a new loaf of bread every 2-3 days.
I think that healthy food can be just as inexpensive as unhealthy food… it just depends on WHERE you shop and HOW you shop. It also depends on what you think of as “healthy.” If your view of healthy food is just fruits and vegetables with chicken, then sure- many people will not be able to afford it. However, if you buy whole foods, pretzels, canned fruit (no sugar added), peanuts…etc… in bulk when it is on sale, there is no need for economic struggle. There is always a way to eat healthy, and many people love making excuses and it is very easy to substitute laziness for expensive prices, but in the end- if you try hard enough, you can eat healthy. It just depends on where you buy your food and what type of healthy foods you buy.
I am a high schooler who makes over 1,000 dollars a month during the summer, and if you have a family of 4 trying to feed them on 10,000 dollars a year, it might be wise to get a new job or get a second job because you will then be able to provide your family with more opportunities.
What people also have to consider is the enormous health costs that result from a poor diet and lack of exercise, to the tune of thousands of dollars a year or more, especially once you get diabetes or hypertension.
Egg whites are a great source of protein (but skip most of the egg yolks because of all the cholesterol and fat), and eggs are very inexpensive.
Unfortunatley when looking for healthy or organic foods the cost is increased. You just have to be carefull on what you choose and live within your budget.
My goals are when loss and increased muscle mass so I have to look for meats with low fat and fruits and green veggies.
It may sound tasteless but with the right spices(no salt) Your meals can taste good.
It takes money for transportation to shop all over town for food. If whole foods is in the suburbs where public transportation doesn’t go and you have no car it means making special arrangements to get there on your evening off - Oh! You say they aren’t open at night? Well, guess I’ll just have to call in “sick” to my second or third job so I can make the trip - every week since I don’t have room for and could not afford to run a freezer.
It appears to me cheap healthy food is available but it requires resources that low income people may not have to obtain it, cook it and store it. On top of this it is very seasonal and repetitious without several $4 a jar investments in condiments and spices. Seems those extras aren’t at the food pantry very often. So no I don’t think healthy eating is readily available to the low income households. Anyone who thinks it is has not lived the life.
I have a family of 4, 2 growing children, with a tight budget. I care about eating organic foods but cannot usually afford them. Does anybody consider growing their own food? I have a large garden that produces enormous quantities of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. A $2 packet of seeds can produce enough tomatoes to feed my family for 3 years! Eating well takes time, but growing a garden is so satisfying and a great lesson for children about how our food grows and where it comes from. We also buy our bread at the outlet store where it is baked. This way, we can get high-quality, whole-grain bread for half the retail price. Farmer’s markets or CSAs are another way to get big quantities of food for a low price–both are usually willing to provide bulk supplies of surplus veggies for a very low price. All these things take work and time, but what is life without health?
I agree it can be really hard to eat right on a budget. Produce is getting so expensive and it’s so frustrating that brown rice (which is less processed) costs more! So does whole grain pasta. What’s with that? It takes less processing so it should cost less to produce but we pay more.
I can’t believe that there are some people who sit there and say you can get -say-good bread for a mere 2 dollars a loaf, or brown rice cheaply, or eggs are cheap. Guess what? I just did my (monthly) grocery shopping and had to forgo the eggs- the price was raised to almost 3 dollars a dozen. I’m talking about ordinary eggs, not brown or “organic” or whatever. Anything but store brand of white bread (1.99 per loaf) remains a special treat. Once in a while, the store will run a special of half off a whole grain bread it they get old enough. A can of tuna fish? I feed 3 people in my household, 1 can of tuna just isn’t going to cut it at 1.00 a can.
I am on a fixed income, and I’m lucky enough to get food stamps. Two out the three of us are handicapped, and we don’t own a car. So there is also planning the trip to the store involved.
By the way, I also have a small garden in the backyard to help suppliment my groceries. Unfortunately I also live in a city that has more than it’s share of what someone here called “indigent” people, and yes there are times when my produce comes up missing. While it is a little frustrating to grow stuff just to see it be gone some morning, I don’t mind too much, folks must be in need to steal food.
Beside the food stamps, our combined income is about 900.00 a month, so please don’t sit there and tell me I’m lazy and don’t want to take the time to plan a healthy meal. I’m grateful for what I have, and make the best of what I do have.
As someone else said, you need to live the life before you sit in judgement.
I’d like to know the income level of the respondents of the survey.
what a cool site you have .
You don’t necessarily have to buy organic or the most healthy thing you find at a grocery store in order to eat healthy. Just about anything at the grocery store is better than eating fast food. At most grocery stores, you can spend less than 10 dollars on pasta, a sauce, garlic bread and some kind of beverage and have enough leftovers to feed you for two or three days. A package of oreos costs around 2.50, you can get a package of strawberries and a bunch of bananas for roughly the same price and have a much better snack option. My husband and I lived on a very tight income when I first started school-about 8,000 a year and we had to scrimp and save in order to buy food from the grocery store. Granted when we ate out, we only ate two times a day instead of three to four. However, the 15 or 20 dollars it cost to eat out each day (fast food meals are getting expensive!) went a lot further when we put that money into fresh produce, lunch meat and a loaf of bread.
I think some are taking the comments and responses a little too personally. The fact is life can be and is in a lot of cases unfair. We all have our own issues in life that hinder us in eating as we perhaps would like. The point is that despite of these issues, whether it be time, financial, health, transportation, etc, there are alternatives and options that are available. Hopefully you will not give up and say “phooey” when it comes to trying to eat healthier. I am a personal trainer and I deal with these and other health related issues every day. I tell my clients, family, friends and everyone else, “If you want to be better? Do better and that takes effort.” Not saying some of you are not giving effort and trying your best. Some of these suggestions may or may not help, but if you have not tried then give it a shot. If you have tried then keep trying. Your health and you are worth it!
I work in a grocery store and see the higher prices everyday.Therefore I shop where the deals are.My boss calls me a “cherrypicker” because I’ll go to 2-3 stores to get the best deals.I plan my meals around sale ads and coupons.Get friendly with the employees and ask if something will be on sale next week or if short dated will be marked down soon. My store actually has a markdown schedule and if you can hit them at the right time you can save a bundle for perfectly safe food.My 3 kids know that if it isn’t on sale, then don’t even ask (not that I take them very often because I typically spend $10-$20 more when they go.
I definitely think it’s possible to eat healthily on a budget. I make a good living, but I try hard not to spend a lot on food so I eat oatmeal for breakfast (not the individual packages which are full of sugar and pricey too). I bring my lunch to work and eat some soup (1.50 a can = 2 meals for 0.75 each) and a sandwich–usually PB&J. Dinner is usually some spaghetti and sauce, a veggie burger, more soup…something that I can make in 5 min or less generally (I’m lazy). Yes, my diet isn’t exciting, but I’m not hungry and I maintain my weight. I want to add that exercise is key in my diet because it makes me crave healthy foods! I’m really curious about the folks on here who make 10k a year and can’t afford to eat but obviously get internet access…. It’s all about choices and priorities in my opinion.
Being on special diet is expensive: no spicy, fatty,citrus food. No dark, carbonated, alcoholic or caffiene beverages allowed. No chocolate dessert either. So, what is left to eat, that also includes lots of fiber? And don’t forget the RX for reflux, ulcers and IBS. I also live 5 miles away from grocery store with no public transportation. I learned to get a pizza delivery by being a good customer who gives out big tip to come out my way! By the way, where do I get bananas for 39cents a pound? Ours is 59cents! Stay Healthy
Yea if your willing to invest the time
to “plan a menu & shop comperatevely”
I have recently had health issues and have had to drastically change my diet. Before it was fast food or ANYTHING fast and easy but under doctors orders none of that is allowed. I now have to smart shop because healthy food does tend to be little more expensive. It is doable but let’s just say I have noticed a difference in my check book.
For the person who asked average income, it doesn’t matter. We are what we eat. exercise does give a person more energy. As for cost I am disabled, an older college student, my income is only $9,000 per year.I am one person with many health and stomach problems. You can bet your life it is very hard to survive, but eating healthy is possible.To the person who says they pay for internet service, I have to pay I’m a Data entry clerk from home! I use the crock pot a whole lot.Canned Soups are high in sodium,bad for blood pressure.
My husband does not let me go shopping because he says I spend twice as much as he does and I come home with hardly anything- Reason? I buy healthy food- fresh fruit, veggies, whole grain bread, wheat pasta, lean meats and the like……. He comes home with bags of pre-cooked meals…… And he wonders why I have gained 20lbs since we got married!
Don’t forget about generics. I’m a label reader and found that the generic canned vegetables were often the healthiest (no added salt or sugar). I just bought a can of generic tomatoes for 12 cents. A 33 cent loaf of whole wheat bread had the highest fiber count and no added sugar. Two pounds of oatmeal - 66 cents! This was not a discount supermarket. Also look in the “etnic” aisle - Goya makes some great pantry staples that are consistenly less than other name brands.
Fast food is usually much more expensive than cooking one’s own meals. But if one sticks with fast food, why is it necessary to avoid healthy items? Even McDonald’s has salads these days. Subway and Quizno’s offer healthy sandwiches (as long as you avoid the mayonnaise and other fatty toppings).
About the eggs, $3 for a dozen still works out to 25 cents an egg. That’s expensive? How many eggs are you eating at a time? One egg has 70-80% of the daily recommended amount of cholesterol so you shouldn’t eat many egg yolks, perhaps as little as one or two a week. The protein in egg whites is excellent, one of the best forms of protein available.
An interesting idea is to get meal-replacement powders from stores like GNC. Yes, the price of some of those tubs may look daunting, sometimes being $30 or $40, but when you break down the price per serving, you can get a full meal’s worth of protein for about $1.25 or so. It may not taste great day after day but as an inexpensive, healthy supplement, it’s definitely an idea worth exploring. Just make sure you use plenty of water, and eat some other foods that contain fiber and complex carbs too.
I see many comments encouraging rice and beans. Sure those are economical, but one can’t live on it. A lot of the nutrition is lacking in canned and frozen fruit and veg.
The one comment which says that this or that store has specials on this or that item is great. The reader is probably motoring around from store to store, shopping for specials. Most underpriveledged don’t have that luxury. They either have to go by public transport or have to watch what they put in their tanks. From an ecological point of view too, that isn’t so great.
I think the market needs wake up call. Do inner city folk have the same health food advantages as the rest? But then, the are generally more active too.
I do believe though, that it is possible to eat healthy.
Potato: eat the skin too (well scrubbed). Potato is just as delicious without butter. There are a wealth of spices and herbs out there to season with.
Easy on the oil and fried foods.
The thing is to redefine your tastes and figure out how much time and effort you’re willing to put in.
When you find a special on fresh veg, buy up a bunch and blanch it (lightly cook in boiling water), then freeze it. No nutrients wasted. The water can be used to make soups or gravies. The internet is a mine of amazing information on healthy eating that can be tapped.
For me, planning has been the best way to eat healthy. I draw up menus for the week and target my shopping accordingly.
Dan, where do you live? Here you can get a medium for $12 if it has one topping. A large costs $15 for a one topping. But, even using your price that’s a large pizza once every three days. In a 30 day month, that comes out to $120. My grocery bill is under $100/mo and that’s including 24 bottles of water every week. (Our water seriously tastes like dead fish and chemicals)
Of course you can eat healthy and cheap. Everyday for lunch I eat 1 banana, 1 cup of mixed vegetables and a can of tuna fish with 2 pieces of bread and some water. The 8 or so bananas in the bunch are around 33 cents/pound, so maybe $1.15 or so for the bunch, a can of tuna is 92 cents and a frozen bag of vegetables is 82 cents which is 2 servings and bread well 2 pieces of bread c’mon. I am eating lunch for less than $2 a day. A few eggs for breakfast with a couple of pieces of wheat toast and maybe some oatmeal, maybe a dollar if you add it up for breakfast and use the other half of the vegetables for dinner and have a protein like chicken or fish, that doesn’t sound very expensive at all if you ask me and it is pretty healthy.
can someone out there tell me how one person can eat a diet of fruits and veggies for 20 dollarsa week
If you have access to any kind of grocery market vs. convenience store, buy the cheapest bags of potatoes, carrots, a head of cabbage, the cheapest onions, a head of garlic, buy generic canned tomatoes and make vegetable soup, with or w/o canned chicken broth. Pork steak is very cheap, is lean and can be used many ways, broiled, baked, grilled or even chicken fried, generec canned veggies and fruits are economical and nutritious. Rinse the sugared syrup off the fruit in a colander. Buy whole wheat flour, less than $4 for 51bs, there is a recipe on the bag for whole wheat bread, make some, Brown or white beans are less than $1 for a bag that will make enough bowls of beans for the whole family with enough left for some one’s lunch or to put in a soup or casserole. Cabbage can be chopped, mix in oil and vinegar for a nice salad, add some cooked or raw carrots as another side dish, pan broil some lean pork steak strips with some garlic and onion, voila! A nutritious meal, with color, fiber, and taste, CHEAP! Cheap eating usually involves a lot of elbow grease on the part of the cook!
What about the pesticide controversy? Even if a family goes the extra mile to purchase fresh vegetables for health reasons, there is little guarantee that the freshness of the vegetables offsets the health questions presented by a non-organic pesticide aware diet. I have a friend who cannot afford to make the money saving vegetable soup she eats daily using anything but canned vegetables. She dreams of the day that she can buy “safe” organic produce. I assume I’m more aware of this because I’m a vegetarian.
ummm rice and dried beans and a quality multi vitamin…sporadic fruits or veggies… pick them off a tree… many hunter gatheres lives off only a few starches etc.
i can live off about 20-30 a month…