Dispelling the Myth that Junk food is cheaper than Healthy food. (beer, diet)

[Wyndsong71]

Originally Posted by CaptainNJ

id do rice, beans and then as much chicken as your budget allows.

I couldn't rep you again, but this is exactly the kinds of things we eat when we want to go cheap. Love beans and rice!

When we first started our busines about 4 years ago we were living as cheaply as we could because we weren't making much money and we had just started the business. We found this AMAZING website called The Hill Billy Housewife (Hillbilly Housewife | Low Cost Home Cooking from Scratch). She's got a whole meal plan & shopping list for people to live off of, $70 a week for a family of 4-6 and that's 3 meals a day plus some snacks & desserts. That's just over $3 a meal for a family of 4. And it's all healthy, and deliscious!! But it does take time... but not all THAT much time.

It was her site that I got a great recipe for home made Hamberger Helper, and I never buy the boxed kind now. Just as easy to make, just as quick and much healthier because I know exactly what's in it!

[Nomander]

Originally Posted by jambo101

I dont disagree with you about the quality of the stuff i listed but if you are poor and you gotta feed a family of 4 i dont see much in the way of healthy options if you only have $2 a day for food.

Could you provide the expense list for that person who only has 2 dollars a day available for food? That way we can see what they are spending their money on to tell if they are making poor decisions.

I was a minimum wage earner in my youth who had all the payments of normal responsible people. Having only 2 dollars a day available seems... well... suspicious.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by Wyndsong71

Are Healthy Foods Really More Expensive? It Depends on How You Measure the Price

I was reading an article in the LV Review Journal about how there is a new study (linked above) that the USDA did to counter a study done by some university that said that Junk food was cheaper than healthy food. I've seen this myth thrown about on here when it comes to food stamp threads and such and I could never understand how anyone could claim this. NOW I understand.

Evidently the University of Washington did a study in 2010 that came out with this rediculous idea that junk food was cheaper. How they came to this conclusion should totally discredit their science department though. They based this "fact" on price per CALORIE! So of course all junk food is going to be cheaper by this ratio. Junk food has tons of calories and even the more expensive junk food that you get in a restaurant would be cheaper. LOL! But the reality of things is completely different.

I didn't need any study to tell me that junk food is way more expensive than healthy food... All you have to do is grocery shop and make comparisons in prices and what you get for your money...or even how much of what you buy it takes to fill you up and for how long it keeps you going.

Eating healthy has ALWAYS been cheaper than junk food. Anyone should have been able to see that. The ONLY reason that more people don't eat healthy isn't the price, it's the convenience of junk food.

The bolded is a ridiculous means of determining price comparisons between healthy and junk foods

I do have to say that it IS more expensive for me to eat healthy (but I'm trying) as the pre-packaged food items can be stored longer whereas if healthy foods aren't eaten promptly, they spoil. As someone who utilizes mass transit and works up to 4 jobs at a time, I find it challenging to visit the market often to replenish my healthy foods (fruits, veggies, etc).

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by jambo101

For $2 i can get 4 packets of Ramin noodles and 3 boxes of Kraft Macaroni Dinner, Healthier food is cheaper?

Thank you! Can't get any cheaper than this ... Plus, it has a long shelf life. It's no wonder why families on a budget tend to favor junk and other processed foods when you get bargains such as these.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by brentwoodgirl

I've said that here on this board numerous times when people have said obesity is because the poor can't afford healthy food.
Bananas are 59 cents a pound
Apples .99-1.29 per pound on sale.
Chicken $2.00-$4.00 per pound, depending on whether its on sale.
Doritos - $4.29 for 11.5 ounces, so about $5 per pound.

Cokes- $1.50 per 2 liter so $3.00 for approx. a gallon
Milk- $2.89 gallon


So you can buy a pound of bananas, pound of chicken and gallon of milk for cheaper than one bag of Doritos and 2 cokes.

Life is about choices. If someone isn't where they want to be financially, physically, etc., they should examine their own choices rather than making excuses.

Depends upon the location ... Some places, the prices are higher especially in high COL areas.

Don't get me wrong, I am trying to eat healthy but it is a challenge as a single person to continually have to restock up on healthy items because they tend to spoil faster than the processed/pre-packaged stuff.

[Nomander]

Originally Posted by missik999

This is a really good idea. Maybe I could print it off and hand it to her. Probably though, she is simply too lazy to cook. Seriously, what parent would spend money on cigarettes before buying food for her toddlers?

I find the hardest part for most people new to cooking is them not being able to handle a knife. They aren't familiar with how to hold the knife, how to cut things, etc... This results in them spending a lot more time in prep than they need to. Some of it is practice, but a lot of it is knowledge. For the "manly" types that think they are too macho for this, know that not only do I know how to cut vegetables, but I can hit an apple size target from 20 feet away with a standard butcher knife.

I learned working for my mother (cracking thousands of eggs in prep, cutting tons of vegetables, meat, etc...) and so I can peel a potato (with a paring knife even) faster than most people can pick them up and figure out how to hold it.

At the end of the day, cooking is "want to" and many people do not "want to". I can sympathize, some people don't want to do such, but like I told my wife when I first met her concerning cleaning house and cooking, "beggars can't be choosers" and if you can't afford others to do it for you, you had better darn well know how to do it yourself.

Hell, I even do my own sewing as needed for clothing repair. Funny thing is, some would say that was "girly", but I was taught that by my grandfather and he grew up on a sharecroppers farm where his family wore the same clothing for years.

There are so many day to day skills that our older generations did that our current generations have absolutely no concept of. We are spoiled, and well... that is fine and all... if you can afford that, but most people these days can't afford it and then complain how they lack the money to survive.

[Nomander]

Originally Posted by smokingGun

No offense, but starchy carb-laden foods like oats, rice, crackers & bread aren't that much healthier than packaged ramen or Mac-n-Cheese. You neglect to consider how even "healthy" items are typically eaten: sprinkled with brown sugar, smeared with cream cheese or nutella, cooked with bacon or butter. Many foods can be nutritious if you prepare them simply & eat them plain without sauce or flavorings, but most Americans would find them unpalatable. My friends & I can do Meatless Mondays, but trying to extend that to 3, 4 or 7 days a week becomes a battle to overcome cravings & flavors.

You mean... "don't drown your food?"

A bowl of oatmeal with some berries or banana and maybe a dash of honey is perfectly acceptable for a morning meal.

[Cleveland_Collector]

In general, whatever you do for yourself will be cheaper. You can make 2 gallons of broth or stock for what it would cost you for a quart of it in the store. I can make a roast chicken dinner with broccoli and potatoes for 4 people for $12 and, yes, it is cheaper than going to McDonald's. I don't think that's the point here. Junk food is cheaper overall because, more often than not, people with low incomes go for the cheapest of the cheap options. For instance, value-branded mac and cheese can be bought for a quarter per box. A stick margarine and a 1/4 cup of milk is another 50 cents. So, for 75 cents, 2 kids are fed (not well, but they're no longer hungry). We're not talking 10's and 20's, we're talking nickles and dimes.

[blakwing]

Originally Posted by missik999

$2 per day, right? So $14 per week? You could buy a large box of old fashioned oats (14 servings), a 2 pound package of rice (20 servings), a 2 pound package of beans (20 servings) an 18 oz. jar of peanut butter, a package of whole grain crackers or loaf of whole grain bread, and have some money left over. With the extra money I would look for whatever fresh fruit or vegetables are on sale or reduced price and buy a few pounds.

That should be enough healthy food to last a week, all for $14. Plenty of protein, and not nearly as much sodium as the Ramen noodles.

You didn't price out your food nor list serving sizes.

Mac and Cheese, Hamburger Helper (and generics) have a cost/carb/calorie density that is near unparallelled.

And rice.. Carbs and starches. "A" loaf of bread? Exactly how far will that go? just with simple day to day use my 2 girls will decimate 2 loaves of bread every 3rd day or so. Now if you're talking "Wonder" wheat bread or any other .99 loaf you may as well be feeding your kids sugar with a spoon. The same for most peanut butters.

Aside from the oats (plain oats are terrible) and the rice (filler) and beans.. What you listed isn't much better for you than junk food.

What "meals" will you make with those 3 ingredients? Bear in mind that you can have at least 6 (off the top of my head) different kinds of HH interspersed with your Mac and Cheese. Add some hot dogs for variety..

Truly good, healthy eating requires time, patience and much more money than eating junk.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by CaptainNJ

id do rice, beans and then as much chicken as your budget allows.

Nothing wrong with rice,beans,lentils some days along with pasta noodles on other days...