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The True Cost of Eating Healthy Food

January 24, 2010 By Dr. Mom Online 3 Comments

I know I’ve talked about this here before, but recently, I’ve had several opportunities for further observation into this matter!

Several times each week, I hear someone tell me that “It’s too expensive to eat healthy food.” I’m also often found on the receiving end of comments like, “We can’t buy all the healthy foods that YOU buy!!” That one little jab in particular usually leaves me mopping the floor with my jaw! (If only they knew!)

Sure, sure, there are plenty of healthier foods that do in fact cost more. I like to think it’s because they also bring a higher value of nutrition and purity. BUT, there are plenty of healthy choices that do NOT cost more at all.

Anyhow, I’ve said it before – healthy food is an investment.

The interesting opportunities I’ve recently had have opened my eyes a little bit more to conventional thinking on the subject of the REAL cost of buying healthier foods.

The first incident occurred on a field trip with my kids. I was surrounded by several of their classmates during the lunch break while we all enjoyed our packed lunches. As usual, I experienced a little bit of heart break while witnessing what an average child eats in any given meal.

I saw more packaged, processed, artificially colored fake foods in thirty minutes than I’ve seen in a long time! I’m pretty sure I did not see any naturally occurring green foods entering the mouths of any kids! Could have just been an “off day”, I suppose.

I’ve learned to somewhat detach myself from these events AND to not judge. People just don’t know. That’s why I do what I do. BUT, what I found very, very interesting was that several of these kids belong to parents who have privately consulted with me in the past and told me that it’s just too expensive to feed their kids healthy foods.

That’s when I started looking at these lunches through a different pair of goggles! I started totaling up the probable costs of all the food and drinks packed in these lunches. In no time at all, it was clear to me that I was the one who “couldn’t afford to feed MY kids food like THAT!” It costs a lot of money to buy junk food!

One child sitting near us had a white bread sandwich with some interesting looking lunch meat, a bag of name brand chips, a bag of name brand crackers, a juice box and another name brand juice packet, a bag of name brand candy… and a few grapes! Yes, the grapes were good!!

Another child had half a dozen fairly large cookies, a bag of Cheetos, a juice packet, a couple baby carrots (good) and some french fries from the cafeteria.

Chips, crackers, cookies, cupcakes, juice, milk, as well as cafeteria hot dogs, fried chicken fingers and french fries were evident at every single table… not necessarily all items in every child’s lunch… but some combination at every single table.

As I recalled seeing the advertised prices of some of these products in various stores, and the cafeteria prices, I knew there was some fishy business going on when parents dismissed healthy eating as “too expensive”.

What did our kids have, you ask? Hard-boiled eggs, almond butter/banana roll-ups, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli (all with some hummus for dipping), some fresh strawberries and water. They were perfectly happy with their food – because this is normal for them – until they saw what everyone around them was “enjoying”. That’s the tough part for me.

Socialization isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be!  When you keep thinking like everyone else, and acting like everyone else, and doing what everyone else is doing… you’ll end up with what everyone else has got! In the case of health… that’s not a good thing.

Whatever. This isn’t about “my” kids and the food “we” eat. It’s about my musings on the real cost of healthy food… and the real cost of choosing foods that are NOT healthy.

The second opportunity to assess the cost of eating healthier happened on a recent shopping trip. I headed out to the local store to fulfill two shopping purposes: 1) to replenish our family’s produce for the rest of the week, and 2) to purchase items for a gathering that was happening with some other families later that day. I had been given a partial list by the other ‘grown-ups’ involved and set out to fill the list.

As I was nearing the check-out, I glanced down at my shopping cart and realized how unusual it looked to see a cart being pushed by ME that had so many non-health-building items in it! I also realized that this was going to cost a pretty penny, with no real return on investment… at least not a HEALTH return! Sure, I knew the things in my cart would taste great to most, and we’d all have a great time together… but that’s a lot of money to spend to fill up rather than FUEL up. Thank goodness this is just for a one-time party, I thought to myself. I could NOT do this every week.

Then, I was saddened as I looked around at other carts and other check-out lanes, filled with many of the same items… and MORE!

I had fresh produce for fruit and veggie trays (as well as our own stock) – that was all good. Some was organic, some was not. When organic produce is not available, I use the hydrogen peroxide wash I’ve talked about here before. Not expensive, yet very effective. The prices for organic were all comparable to conventional… or close enough that I chose health over perceived cost. I chose not to purchase the conventional dip for veggies as requested. It’s easy enough to make your own without all the toxic garbage that virtually nullifies the benefits of the veggies!

At the request of other folks involved in the plan, I also picked up pretzels, a type of ‘sun’ chips and tortilla chips, as well as queso dip and salsa. It was a stretch to find brands lacking the biggest nutritional offenders: high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and sweeteners, hydrogenated & partially hydrogenated fats, neurotoxins, soy, etc. Obviously, I gave in on the refined simple carbohydrates issue!

Finally, for beverages, I chose lemonade, vegetable juice and chai tea – all organic. THAT was one of the biggest eye openers! Regardless of whether or not the beverage selection was organic, drinks are expensive! (So are breakfast cereals… in an unrelated note!) We are used to drinking water in our family – keeps things pretty darn simple! (Oh, and an ever-decreasing amount of organic coffee from our local discount warehouse and the occasional bottle of red wine. None for quite awhile now, though.)

I really can’t fathom how families facing tough economic situations can purchase juice & juice drinks, milk, pop, and sports drinks week in and week out. Add to that the price of chips, crackers, cookies, cereal, pastries, snack foods, dips, fast food, desserts and on and on… it’s unreal! Again, how much of it actually builds health? That’s the truly sad part.

I KNOW that we spend more money on organic, free-range poultry and eggs and grass-fed meats. BUT, I’ve become quite skilled at some savvy shopping,  healthy meal planning and a  “cook it once, enjoy it in several meals” mentality. Our grocery bills have sharply decreased since taking a very serious look at this in the last few months.

We do not spend a penny on fast food, pop, juice drinks, milk, or conventional junk food or snack foods. Are you kidding?! That stuff’s expensive!! As you’ve probably guessed, we also don’t spend any money on over-the-counter medicine… no aspirin, no cough medicine, no antihistamines… nada. That stuff’s pricey, too!

I like to think that the money I don’t spend on these things is the money I do invest in better quality meat, eggs, sprouted grains and organic (and raw if available) dairy. I will spend a tad more on organic produce when it’s available, but I also grow a lot of my own and I freeze bulk organic local fruit when it’s in season so I don’t have to spend an arm and a leg throughout the winter months. We also invest our saved money in a handful of higher quality nutritional supplements to fill any gaps.

I won’t run a risky experiment on my own family to truly figure this out down to the penny, but I get the feeling that eating (and living) this way is probably not as “costly” as you may think. I probably don’t spend as much on food as other folks think I do. I also think that some other folks might be surprised by how much more money they spend on food and “health-related” things than I do. It kinda’ all works itself out… probably comes close to evening out!

And, do you know what? Where it doesn’t even itself out financially, I go back to my earlier statement. Making healthier food choices is an investment… not a cost.

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Comments

  1. Gwen Moye says:
    March 30, 2010 at 2:18 am

    I can’t think of a better investment than investing in yourself. I think I’am worth it.

  2. Avis Swindall says:
    June 25, 2010 at 1:27 pm

    Thanks for your write ups, i am into the financial market and reading blogs like yours does help get a better understanding on what is developing in the world.

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