Why is eating healthy so dang expensive?

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Chzanne

Not sure how other's feel, but eating processed food may seem cheaper, but I think it is more expensive per serving. For me, processed food is less filling. Therefore, I can/want to eat more of the processed foods, which than is more expensive per serving. Examples: If I had some eggo waffels for breakfast, I will be hungry again in an hour. If I have oatmeal and add fruit, than I am good for a couple hours. I could eat 5 twinkies to the 1 whole grain bar. Whole grain bread is more filling per slice than wonder white. I can eat a whole basket of french fries and be less full than if I just ate one baked potato. And those are just a few examples.

My thoughts are, if you do the math on how much you spent per serving/sitting, eating healthy is actually cheaper. And more filling...and better for you!

In many ways I agree with you, fresh is best, certainly processed is the last thing we should be eating and things like dried beans are as cheap as you can get and super healthy, but the problem czn be the cost of fresh produce. That is the expensive part. It takes studying, research and time to figure out what is healthy and what isn't. I work at a food back and am amazed at the foods we give out: why do we give them so much junk food? Partly because that is what is donated and partly because, we know what these people will eat. How often do we go to a store and see families, that are dirty, dressed poorly and appear to have little or no money (I know you can't tell a book by its cover) but these, often are the same people using some sort of government assistance for purchasing foods and yet the basket is filled with junk foods while the kids are drinking soda and eating candy while standing in line.

Nita