Pink Sherbert Photography/Flickr
Reader Lindsay brought up a great question on my book review of “Strategic Eating.”
I just turned 30 and am learning what weight gain is like. I need to save money but I need to eat healthy. Doing both of those things is seriously not easy!
For anyone who wonders if eating healthier is cheaper than filling up on junk, the answer is a big, fat, NO!
Let me explain. I headed to my local grocery story armed with a list of typical grocery items. I grouped the list into eight categories, including bread, beverages, breakfast, snacks, vegetables, meat, dinner, and dessert. For each category I listed healthy and less-healthy options.
My goal was to compare how much my weekly grocery trip would cost if I filled my cart with fresh veggies and lean meat, versus frozen fried foods and soda. I listed typical healthy and junk foods while realizing that everyone eats differently and that most people mix healthy and less-healthy foods. I certainly do!
I compared prices for each item, ignoring calories and grams of fat. (We all know that broccoli is better for our bodies than onion rings, but perhaps not as pleasing to our taste buds.) I did not lower prices for items that frequently have coupons, so readers who clip can adjust the comparison according to how much they typically save using coupons.
I balanced the servings so they match on each list, then adjusted the prices accordingly. For example, a five pound bag of rice cost $4.29, but since I was comparing a single dinner of rice and beans to a single microwaveable meal, I pro-rated the cost of the rice to a single serving, roughly $.12.
The healthy grocery list included a loaf of 100 percent whole wheat bread, Lays baked potato chips, fresh salsa, Cheerios, granola, whole milk, orange juice, string cheese, apples with peanut butter, trail mix, fresh broccoli, green salad, skinless chicken, lean ground turkey, rice and beans, salmon with beets and potatoes, strawberries with mint and lemon.
The less healthy grocery list included a loaf of white bread, Lays fried potato chips, cheddar dip, Frosted Flakes, Pop Tarts, Coke, fruit juice, frozen fried mozzarella sticks, fruit roll ups, a candy bar, frozen broccoli, frozen peas, Bratwurst sausages, steak, a Hungry Man microwave dinner, Kraft Mac -n- Cheese with frozen peas, and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.
My healthy grocery cart cost me $92, while the less-healthy cart rang up to $61, or one-third less. Another way of looking at it is that going from eating junk food to healthy food costs 50 percent more. Surprised? Eating organic costs even more than the healthy list I created, though there are ways to eat organic on a budget.
Will these numbers make you buy fewer greens – or make it easier to eat fast food?
I want to continue eating healthy, despite the additional costs, because of the long term health benefits and because I feel better when I eat right. Plus, I am committed to buying meat and vegetables through my local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program through the winter. That said, I recently bought a 12-pack of mini-ice cream sandwiches. I may not be able to cut out junk food from my diet entirely, but I can eat it in moderation.
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
When you make the cost comparison, don’t forget that overall health affects other costs as well.
If you eat healthy and don’t have to pay for doctor visits, x-rays, lab tests, prescriptions, all the gas and time going to and from doctor/lab visits, and days off work (not everyone gets paid for sick days), it’s quite likely that a healthy diet is overall cheaper.
In the same way, organic produce may cost more in the moment, but in the larger picture it saves society money (tax dollars) by not adding to the costs of toxic cleanup and disposal that herbicides and pesticides create.
“cheapest” is all in your perspective.
@AdventureGirl and @FrugalDad I’m not convinced that eating healthy foods makes me get fewer colds, however. I have more energy and feel better about my body image when I eat healthy, but I think my sleep, stress levels, and exposure to viruses are the factors that determine whether I get sick or not
I agree completely with AdventureGirl. Any assessment of cost that doesn’t attempt to take into account the complete long-range costs, both to the individual and the planet, isn’t very accurate.
I think that’s what makes eating healthier more discouraging, especially in this economic climate. If you stock up on staple items and just choose healthier options (brown rice instead of white, wheat bread instead of white, etc.) you’ll be kinder to your body AND your pockets.
While I agree with AdventureGirl, I also agree with Briana. In this economy, some weeks, it’s just not feasible to buy the healthier choices. Some times you have unexpected expenses that eat into your food budget and so you have to cut your costs.
I believe it is also up to those “creating” our food to create healthy, affordable choices…and let’s face it…that’s not happening.
It still comes down to the worship of the Almighty Dollar and who has more of it. Blame the consumer only so much, some folks are just poor. If you can get past the “hype and preaching” of the movie Food Inc, there’s a lot to think about there.
We need to consider making these companies accountable for our future health (as a country). Bigger picture stuff.
I’d like Lindsay to know that there are ways to economize on healthy foods, such as veggies. Broccoli, corn, some of the mixed veggies, are available from the frozen food cases, and are generally just as nutritious as fresh, plus being quicker and easier to prepare. Just watch for sales, and be sure to check sodium content, or the content of anything you’re concerned about. You don’t need to buy huge bags of brown rice. I buy 1 pound bags, as well as pearl barley, both of which are loaded with nutrition, plus fiber. I make a big pot of a combo of the two, and use spices and herbs to amp up the flavor. This way you can control fat and sodium content. If you can get into the habit of cooking as much as possible for the week on either Saturday or Sunday, you’ll have the basis of your meals ready to go, which helps to control nibbling on the side. The biggest thing? Watch portion control!!!
I’ve been eating healthy for the last couple of years. My grocery bill has gone down, not up. I think your biggest problem in your list is that you are still buying manufactured goods. I often eat oatmeal for breakfast, not cereal anymore, no chips, no cookies, no milk. I buy a lot of stuff in bulk. I also cook a whole pot of beans at a time, dividing them up in can sized servings and freezing them. They last me a week or more. The healthy staples really are way less expensive: grains, rice, beans, potatoes, etc. Eating healthy is a lifestyle change and not just changing to more “healthy” versions of the same crap we’ve always eaten. And, no, I haven’t had a cold in the last couple of years. I have, however gotten the flu, but it is always way more mild than what others around me experience.