And the article starts off with "as the government wants you to"... to make it sound like eating healthy is something onerous that Big Brother wants to force on you.

And people eat this crap up, too. (pun intended) Look at all the flack they throw at Michelle Obama for suggesting we stop feeding our kids junk food that turns them all into lard balls. "The nerve of that woman! I'll doom my kid to diabetes and heart disease as I damn well please."

So it costs a dollar more a day to eat healthy if you live in Seattle and don't like bananas or potatoes, are already getting enough vitamin D, and only shop at supermarkets where an orange costs $2.

What a slapped together article. Start with an opinion and choose the facts to fill it in as needed.

For those of you who don't have to worry about money, five dollars a day means the difference between eating and not eating. Some people only have five dollars a day to spend on food. Eating 'healthy' is indeed more expensive. Too expensive for many to afford. The economy is crap, remember?

So anyway, since you two Bozos know everything go on with your nice lives. BTW, black people of this country make up a portion of those who have only five dollars a day to spend. Michelle Obama lives in la la land. And if the Republicans get their way it will only get worse.

You can eat *very* healthy for very cheap.

I was extremely poor for a while, a small amount of olive oil, dried rice and beans, and you have the base of an extraordinarily balanced and complete diet for very very cheap.

You just need to be willing to prepare your own food and not be lazy to go for the convenience factor of prepackaged junk, with a little bit of self taught nutritional education. It's not hard.

These figures are off its more like an extra $380 a month it also depends on where you live. But i am also factoring in organic produce and meats.

Jimmy Dean Bacon: One 16 ounce pack for $3.99

Morning Star Veggie Bacon: One 8 ounce pack $6.99

Now multiply that for every organic or healthy alternative in your cart.

Nuff Said!

"Figures don't lie but Liars figure"

Jimmy Dean Bacon: One 16 ounce pack for $3.99

Morning Star Veggie Bacon: One 8 ounce pack $6.99

Neither one of those is really 'healthy,' try again.

We're talking adding a salad to every meal. The study also doesn't account for people not spending money on unhealthy things like candy or sugary bad food and snacks that would normally be laying around. So, that being said, it a lot less than adding $1 a day to eat a healthy lifestyle.

Yeah... we're "not ready for that." Spare me.

Spare us your sanctimoniousness Jon. You obviously don't have a clue as to what it's like to live paycheck-to-paycheck and worry about how to feed your kids! Why do you think the highest usage of food banks is in the summer? That's because there are no school lunches for the kids.

in the $1865 on average Americans

The article really wasn't about "average Americans" it was about the problems poor Americans would have.

Yes, there are ways to eat healthier and cheaper, but the problem is many people, especially poor ones with low education levels, don't KNOW how. They know what they see on TV and that certainly doesn't teach people how to each cheap and healthy!

There needs to be a two-pronged attack here ..

1. EDUCATION! This is key to getting people to eat better. You can publish all the articles in the world, but if the people you are trying to reach are only semi-literate, it will do no good. A bag of dried beans is little use to the person who has no idea what to do with them. Education needs to be not just TELLING people how to eat better, but SHOWING them. Give them the SKILLS to eat better.

2. SUBSIDIES. If the government insists on farm subsidies, use them for healthy foods. Currently the highest subsidies go to grains (mainly corn, much of which is either turned into ethanol or high fructose corn syrup). Instead, start subsidizing fruit farmers and leafy green farmers AND small, family owned farms more than the corporate farms. That will make healthy food cheaper.

Neither one of those is really 'healthy,' try again.

OK ...

Box of Mac & Cheese, store brand, 25 cents.

Head of lettuce, on sale, 99 cents.

Jon-2730330

What a crock. I've read the study. The moron didn't factor in the $1865 on average Americans spend on eating out.

I only spend $20 at most a month on eating out for my family- that's two meals that I'd be spending at least $5 for a meal from the grocery store- probably something like spagetti with hamburger. I usually get somewhat healty foods, at least covering all food groups, but I'd love to be able to get more fresh food. I usually can't afford much of it.

Jack-2510943

For those of you who don't have to worry about money, five dollars a day means the difference between eating and not eating. Some people only have five dollars a day to spend on food.

And some people only have five dollars a day to spend on food for their entire family... and extra dollar a day means one less day of food for the week.

Box of Mac & Cheese, store brand, 25 cents.

Head of lettuce, on sale, 99 cents.

A single box of mac n' cheese wont feed a family of four. However a single head a lettuce can make a salad for a family of four. And who says you can't have both. for an extra $1, you can add a salad to the meal and then skip out on more expensive desert.

Jeff -- read the label. Most boxes of Mac & Cheese have 4 servings.

By having both -- every night -- you have added $30-$31 per month to your grocery bill. And that's ON SALE. Usually it's closer to $2/head.

It also cost another $4 to $5 to make the macaroni & cheese with butter and milk. A lot of people who donate to food banks never think about the fact that boxed meals aren't very useful without the milk, butter, and meat needed to make most of them. Boxed foods usually have longer shelf lives, but maybe that in itself should be a concern. Like the example on Super Size Me and McDonald's french fries never changing. Boxed items usually only have 2.5 servings so even processed junk can get expensive for a family on a budget. People need to learn to cook for meals that stretch. Everything is about convenience even at the grocery store.

Beth, if you love yourself and love your family, you will make the effort to use healthy food over that crap you're dishing out. That's just plain lazy. I am divorced, live paycheck to paycheck, and cook, not prepare box meals, but cook. Beans, vegetables --- fresh or frozen, tofu, turkey, and beef on rare occasions, all these things are cheap. You need to educate yourself on preparing meals.

All grocery stores in the seattle area are expensive....Something like $14 for a small watermelon

(in reference to #1.11 and #1.12 above)

Not to mention a pile of lettuce is not an adequate salad in terms of nutrition. Especially if it is iceburg lettuce. People think that lettuce is a healthy food -- but it is not really that great. Sure, it isn't "bad" for you as it is very low cal -- but there is very little of nutritional value in iceburg lettuce, its mostly just water and some fiber with (very) low concentrations of antioxidants, Vitamins K, C and A and a trace amount of folate. If you want a salad that will actually contribute to healthy nutrition, you need spinach or a more nutrient rich loose-leaf lettuce like romaine (more expensive) and a variety of other veggies -- peas (ideally in pod), tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, peppers, etc. Making a truly nutritious salad can become very costly, and I say that from experience, not bitterness. A "head of lettuce" may make you feel better about yourself, but it is not going to do much to improve your nutrition in-and-of itself.

And David -- that is great for you. But you have no right to judge Beth or anyone else. Real cooking takes time -- a commodity that a lot of people do not have enough of, especially the poor who might be working multiple jobs. Again, I am speaking from experience, as I cook (really cook) as many meals as possible a week. I just acknowledge that I am lucky to currently have the time and money to be able to do that, whereas some people have different circumstances than my own. All I am saying is you have no right to be so judgemental of others when you do not know the particulars of their situations. That's just common courtesy. Our country would be a better place if we all practiced that a little more often. You can educate without condemnation.

The best practice with fresh vegetables and fruit is to buy what's in season. Go to a local farmer's market instead of going to the grocery store, if you have that option.

Actually, this article does nothing but confirm what people have known for a long time. It's costs more to stay healthy - one reason poor people are typically unhealthy, overweight, possess chronic illness, etc.

But hey! This is the good-ol-U-S-of-A, right??

Freedom! Yeaaaaaaaaa! (lots of flag-waving).....

Factory Farming = "Freedom Fries" = Dead (non-wealthy) Citizens

Eating right is one of the fundamentals of good health. There is an epidemic of obesity and diabetes in this country, and a better diet would go a long way toward changing that.

For every extra dollar spent on eating right, how much is saved in terms of health care expenditures? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Beth, if you love yourself and love your family, you will make the effort to use healthy food over that crap you're dishing out. That's just plain lazy. I am divorced, live paycheck to paycheck, and cook, not prepare box meals, but cook. Beans, vegetables --- fresh or frozen, tofu, turkey, and beef on rare occasions, all these things are cheap. You need to educate yourself on preparing meals.

Get over yourself David -- read post 1.8. My "mac & cheese" comment was responding to another one who was so self righteous they don't take family economics into consideration.

NOT that it is any of your business, but we do eat the occasional box of mac & cheese (and I'll bet you do too!), but usually I make my own. We also eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies because we are FORTUNATELY in a position where we can afford to do so ... even living paycheck-to-paycheck.

But the key word here is PAYCHECK. Many people don't have one. Have you noticed the unemployment rate?

As Beth pointed out, education is the key, but far beyond education to the diet proposed by the government. It is a work in progress, but still very short of the real goal.

In my post (#67), I discuss that nutrition is more than just eating food, in my opinion. We should be eating foods that are appropriate for humans, not just provide some calories and basic nutrients.

I assert that if we were to eat foods appropriate for humans, our health care costs would be reduced, our life spans increased and our quality of life improved. Overall, dollars spent during a lifetime for better food would more than offset medical costs during, and especially later in life.

The bottom line is that once appropriate nutritional food (for humans) becomes readily available, the economic system would adjust so that more people would be able to afford nutritionally appropriate food due to savings in health care costs.

As far as subsidizing, one option would be to subsidize organic and nutritionally rich foods. In addition, maybe we should tax poor nutrition foods (like sodas and candy), that detract from our health and raise healthcare costs, and use the taxes to pay subsidies for nutritious foods and healthcare! It is no different than taxing cigarettes to use to pay for healthcare. Between subsidies lowering the price of nutritious foods, and taxes raising the price of unhealthy foods, people would be able to buy nutritious foods instead of unhealthy foods! I LIKE THIS IDEA - SPREAD THE WORD!

Why on earth is this "study"by an assistant professor even being given a minute of attention? 1,000 people in a wealthy and expensive area who choose to buy exotic fruits rather than bananas because they can afford it.... and the figures are supposed to mean something?

The study's author even trashes the findings.

"lead author Pablo Monsivais, an assistant professor of public health at the University of Washington....

If you were to guide people toward the most affordable sources of potassium, you could do it more cheaply,” Monsivais said

Monsivais said. Sure, they could eat more economically, but they'd have to know how to do so, Monsivais said."

It seems that the U.S. media is looking for anything to push the "class warfare" rhetoric of Washington D.C. these days and this garbage of a study fit very nicely into that message.

Beth, you make a good point. Remember the good old days of Home Ec? Somewhere around the time we decided you can't succeed in life without a college education, we also stopped teaching the basic life skills that actually benefit EVERYONE. Who can't use a working knowledge of the kitchen or how to sew on a button or do a load of laundry? Should go right along with a basic personal finance class. Obviously many kids aren't getting this stuff at home and they need it. There is no reason, even in this "everyone must go to college" education system that we live in that we can't be arming kids with knowledge that every single one of them actually WILL use in their lives- cooking is ALL math & science, just on a practical level. If you know the basic math & science behind what to do with a $.59 bag of dried beans, you can eat healthy with foods that stretch and provide a good deal of nutritional bang for the buck.

Jeff -- read the label. Most boxes of Mac & Cheese have 4 servings.

I guess when I pay $.25 for mac n' cheese, I'm not getting four servings. Granted I haven't bought mac n' cheese in a while, but I recall a box only feeding one to two people, and it was certainly more than $.25.

I also live in a community where a lot of produce i local and is much cheaper. lettuce where I live, if bought locally is only around $25 a head. I'll give you that if you live in a city, it would be more expensive, but most people don't

If I could make a suggestion: for a frugal yet healthy diet, the five cheapest, healthiest options are apples, oatmeal, beans, ground turkey and frozen vegetables. For people on a fixed-income, like my disabled brother who gets a check once a month, buying "fresh fruits and vegetables" isn't really an option. Frozen veggies are a great alternative, and some are made with reduced sodium. Apples can keep for 2-3 weeks in a refrigerator. Ground turkey is generally a dollar cheaper than ground beef, lower in fat and higher in protein, and can be used in any ground beef dish. As for the oatmeal, buy the kind that takes about 3 minutes to cook in a microwave for added fiber. Finally, beans are a great source of both protein and fiber. Dried beans in a bag cost pennies a serving, but they do take time to cook, so canned beans are a good alternative for the time-pressed. If you make these five foods the center of your meals, you can save money AND improve your health. Hope this helps.

Steve-2570999

That is still packaged food. If you where going compare that to grass fed organic beef which is about 3 times the cost. Again it also depends on where you live. Some people live in places where organic meats cost twice as much.

maybe we get rid of the "organic" marketing ploy that allows farmers to charge a premium for the exact same produce.

I'll bet that the extra cost to eat healthy is far outweighed by the medical cost to oneself and society by eating unhealthy.

Cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, bananas, and apples are the least expensive produce choices. Canned greens are also a very nutritious and inexpensive choice, with canned spinach costing the least. Canned salmon is very nutritious, mackerel is as well, and it costs less. A crock pot can make short work of cooking dried beans. Prepare in the am, turn on the pot, and when you come in from work you'll have a nice pot of beans. Frozen blackberries are the cheapest frozen berries and full of antioxidants. They are really good in your dry cereal or your oatmeal. Buy the rolled oats, store brand, pennies per serving. Take 2 mins in the microwave, a little longer on the stove. Eggs are excellant source of protein as well as other nutrients. Chicken thighs are rich in iron, very tasty slow cooked in the crock pot, and very cheap. Canned tomatoes are very nutrious. Use to make veggie soup, marinara for pasta. Don't buy box dinners. Cook dry pasta and make a sauce with canned tomatoes, or add some oil, vinegar, veggies, egg, onion, etc., serve cold as pasta salad. I know people think cooking all this stuff takes hours, but it really doesn't. With practice, you can have a nutritous and tasty meal on the table in 30-45 minutes. Meals made with these foods are also more filling. Produce is full of fiber, and takes less to feel full, than processed foods do. I live in a low COL state, so our grocery prices are probably not as high as in other states. Buying store brands can add nutrition for less, too.

I agree mama ...

How about we all share one of our favorite "low cost" recipes!

I'll share one of my favorite crock pot recipes ... easy as pie too!

Turkey thighs (if available) if not, use chicken

Jar of favorite salsa (or canned "Mexican" tomatoes)

Can black beans. Can corn.

Cooked rice (brown is more nutritious, but I use half white, half brown for this recipe).

Cheddar cheese if desired.

Put the meat and salsa in crock pot. Cook slowly all day. Stir hard to remove bones and pick them out. Drain beans, rinse; drain corn. Add to meat. Serve over rice, sprinkle with cheese.

Cost of this is around $10-$12 for six meals, depending upon where you live. The tomato option is cheaper than the salsa option and you can easily "stretch" the recipe with extra beans and corn.

Cheap easy meal for three: Salmon patties, cabbage salad, macaroni &tomatoes

Use 1 can of salmon or mackerel drained, crack an egg, mix in some cracker or bread crumbs, shake in some salt, pepper, garlic powder or fresh garlic if you have it. Mix well with a fork or your hands, shape into patties. Cook in a frying pan with small amount of butter, margarin, shortening, or cooking oil, until brown on each side. Drain on a paper towel.

Cook the pasta, regular or whole grain, drain, mix in a can of tomatoes, heat well.

Chop some cabbage, grate a carrot, add some onion, apple if you have. Toss with a little vinegar and oil. Doesn't have to be olive oil either. Any cooking oil works great.

You might possibly have enough leftover for one of you to take for lunch the next day.

Americans spend way too much money on things they dont need (ex. oversized suvs, exorbitant priced cell phones, trendy gym memberships etc.) Most parks and bike trails are free. Half of a gym membership yearly fee buys you enough home gym equipment to get in good shape.The point is by reducing waste you free up cash to purchase fresh organic fruits,veggies, free range meats,and vitamin supplements. Investments that will pay big longterm dividends in good health, more energy, and longer life. Beefaroni, mac and cheese and other processed food offer the exact opposite. If you can buy a six pack, candy, or french fries then the problem isnt the pricing, it you. Peace and good healtrh.

Americans spend way too much money on things they dont need (ex. oversized suvs, exorbitant priced cell phones, trendy gym memberships etc.)

But the point of the article is NOT about the Americans that have this kind of money -- it's about the ones who can barely feed their families as it is.

Jeff--I certainly hope that a head of lettuce where you live is not $25. I will guess you mean 25 cents. I would love to know where you live. It is 79 cents on a very big sale, where I live, about $1.49 when not on sale, and I live in an area where food is cheap.

What most of you are completely clueless about is that poor people don't shop in the same stores that you do. In a middle class neighborhood, canned salmon and frozen vegetables, and so forth are not merely available, but they are the kinds of things that go on sale. In a poor neighborhood, these things aren't sold. You can get a sixpack of beer, candy, or a $1 menu burger--but they don't sell these other things. There aren't any grocery stores. There are convenience stores and mom & pop stores that don't get stocked that often.

When you shop in a store that caters to poor people, they aren't going to be putting the things that poor people eat on sale--because no one can make money that way. In a middle-class neighborhood, the stores have the highest profit margins on things like deli, bakery, and high-end goods. They get people into the store by putting their rice on sale for half price or their oatmeal on sale for half price. You can't even get oatmeal in a convenience store unless it is the marked-up, single-serving kind. Further, poor people often don't have pots and pans, slow cookers, a refrigerator that works well, or time at home to cook things because they work three part-time jobs.

Your experiences as a middle class person have zero to do with the experiences of poor people.

One solution to this problem would be to spread out the low-cost housing in a wider area. Then, poorer people would be located near the same stores that middle-class people shop at. They could avail themselves of the same things that you get. But, most poor people live in areas where poor people are concentrated--grocery stores don't spring up there because, you know, there's no profit in selling food to poor people (and they also tend to steal when they are hungry).

Personally, I would like to see something like care packages developed for poor people rather than food stamps, as food stamps are used at these convenience stores and mom & pop places, and the poor people do not get as much food as they otherwise might. A care package with beans, rice, some cans of vegetables, some cans of inexpensive meats, some cans of fruit--all of them close to their expiration dates but not past them--these things would go a lot further than the smug comments by people who don't have a clue what they are talking about.

It takes hours to cook raw beans, and they have to be monitored on the stove. Poor people don't have hours at home. Give out slow cookers and care packages, and then start talking. I think that care packages, with simple recipes and a slow cooker, would be worth a lot more than food stamps.

Bean: There are plenty of poor people out here in small town Okieville. I grew up poor. Before food stamps there were commodities. Know what those are? Actually they were pretty darn good. 100% whole milk cheese, canned meat, good peanut butter with no additives, powdered milk and eggs,(milk, great for cooking, not so good for drinking, powdered eggs, same) pasta, butter, corn meal, flour, shortening. My Mama could make some good stuff out of those, when she was laid off from the "sewing factory" in the 1960's. I know things are different now, but there are poverty pockets all over the US in this "land of plenty". I think one thing that is lacking is the generational teaching of how to cook. I know that we need to service these food deserts, but cooking beans is basic. Actually it doesn't take "hours", and there are crock pots for sale at the Salvation Army and Goodwill. Actually, one can put beans on, bring them to a boil, turn them down low, put on a lid, and go to bed. I have done it. No one need ever need lecture me about cooking beans and working. I have done it, it is possible. My little skinny, poor, factory workin' Mama, always said "Where there is a will, there is a way!" City folk don't always understand that miles don't have to separate you from what you need. Walking miles is not foreign out here in the hinterlands. You may not be able to carry much, but actually you can carry quite a lot if you are determined or have some kind of pull device. So, I say that some (not all) who live in food deserts, can walk out of those to where there are stores and buy selecively some basics. Contrary to what some believe, stuff doesn't spoil/ruin that fast. It is possible.

City folk don't always understand that miles don't have to separate you from what you need. Walking miles is not foreign out here in the hinterlands

Yes it is ... people drive. But if they did what you suggest and walk those "miles" -- when do you want people with several jobs and kids -- to find those hours it would take?

And another point, those "city folk" usually live in neighborhoods where walking a few blocks is life endangering ... to say nothing of MILES.

I live outside the city in a almost country area i walk but not without a golf club too many stray dogs ( mostly pit bull type) that some jackass either drop off the side of the road or did not keep pinned up for some other stupid reason.

Don't get me wrong . It ain't always but i don't like those kind of surprises .

semper paratus

I have raised beds for my garden, too. We grow a lot of what we eat in the summer. I don't have to spend hours in the garden, because raised beds get fewer weeds (still get some), and the produce is easier to pick, since I don't have to bend over to reach it.

I buy fruit and some veggies at our farmer's market. I can walk out with a bag full of sweet corn and peaches for less than 5 bucks. That's breakfast and a side dish for dinner for a week, and it's much better quality than what's available in the grocery stores.

I probably spend less than $40 per week for food for 2 in the winter. Even less in the summer. And we eat lots of veggies, lean meats, and whole grains.

Oh My Gosh! There is a huge difference between eating healthy and eating to survive! It just depends upon how much you are willing to sacrifice for long term health and wellness.

I am a little confused, as in one part you imply that dry/bulk foods and that only a few fresh veggies/fruits are adequate. Yet in the last line you imply eating fresh is healthy. I assume that maybe you avoid processed foods?

Maybe someone is genetically lucky to be able to eat low nutrient foods and survive. Unfortunately I think they won't live as long nor have as good a quality of health as they age. In my personal research I have determined that even the recommended government diet is deficient in important nutrients that would optimize wellness and extend our lives.

Imagine living to at least 120 years old and still playing tennis at 100 years old! That is easily possible with a diet that is appropriate for the human body. Just eating most any food will keep you alive, but at what cost? Eventually illness, health care costs, poor quality of life and and a shortened life span will take its' toll. Eating right at all ages is like putting years of wellness in the bank for every individual, as well as dollars.

We expect that we will have poor quality of life as we age, but I assert it doesn't have to be that way. See my later post for more information on how nutrition reversed diabetes, fibromyalgia and numerous other personal illnesses (and saved me money, by reducing health care costs, in the process).

You didn't read the article. I spend at least $50.00 more each month, especially now that I'm 50 and lift weights. I have to constantly worry about dehydration in this climate and to eat 100g of protein and 25g of dietary fiber each day

Careful, your privilege is showing.

I love how you assume that poor poeple are spending their extra money gorging on candy bars and coffee. It goes to show exactly how much time you've spent on the knife's edge of budgeting. People who have very little money to spend - because they're a family living on a single minimum wage, or because they're disabled, or unemployed - are going to look at how much energy a food can give them for their dollar, and as horrifying as it may be to you, mac and cheese is a better choice than frozen fish and peas when it comes to the price tag.

This is not to mention that many (yes, there have been studies) live in "food deserts" where it can be a nearly impossible or budget-busting task to find some baby carrots. If you're poor and don't have transportation, you're not going to go on a safari to the Trader Joe's in the next borough...you're going to 7-11.

And if you think I'm just making up excuses for the lazy stupid cheeto-eating poor people....just try it sometime.

Rainlady: Hi from the Tri-Cities! Let's start a petition to get a TJ's over here!

CJ --

Thank you for bringing up "food deserts," which can exist in inner cities as well as where I live, a literal desert as well as food desert, where the only stores are two gas station-mini-marts and a wrinkled and tasteless apple costs $1.50. We are a sixty-mile round trip from the nearest grocery store in an area populated by seniors and people who bought land because it was cheap and now can't afford gas to get anywhere to work or shop, even if there were any jobs or they actually had money to spend. We are trying to start a food co-op, a long slog, but it will be worth it if we can bring in affordable, healthy foods in bulk. We have hopes, anyway.

My post is not aimed at those in food deserts. I just wanted to say to those of you who are able to shop at a supermarket: if you are having to really count your pennies, whole bagged unpeeled carrots are cheaper than "baby carrots" clean them yourself and slice anyway you want to cook or eat raw. I also happen to think cooked pasta is a great meal stretcher.

It is $380 more. The article doesn't give an annual total food bill.

The article title:

Healthy eating adds $380 to yearly grocery bill, study shows

Notice the word "adds"???

the 380 is the increase to only add the proper amount of potassium to a person's diet.

Believe me, when I refrain from spending my money on the junk peddled in our supermarkets and concentrate on juices, fresh produce, fruits, vegetables, etc, it adds much more than $380 to my yearly grocery bill.

Exactly! Then my additional $380 a year, will more than double because I'll have to foot the bill for someone else.

We can just tax the rich more to pay for better food for the poor. If we tax the rich enough, maybe they will just invite poor folks to eat with them in their mansions. Oh, folks making $250K a year and defined by Joe Biden as "rich" don't live in mansions...

@An_Engineer

Better yet, we could just offer euthanasia services to the poor. That way we wouldn't have to look at 'em.

I think the food stamp amount is the keeping you alive amount--not the keeping you healthy amount. The lack of healthiness show up in the Medicaid bill.

i-mMe: if the part of your taxes that goes to the food stamps program is $380, one might argue that you can afford it.

That will be the next thing out of Michelle Obama's mouth. The poor and the food deserts they live in. The taxpayers will have to subsidize the poor for eating healthy. You can eat frozen and canned vegetables and eat healthy.

I was at the grocery store the other day and was listening to a person talking about eating healthy so they started buying produce for their salad. (Lettuce, croutons, and bacon bits). That would be an expensive and not healthy salad.

People make decisions about what they eat all the time, but I think this is such a bogus article and it is not more expensive to eat healthy. It is about the choices you make.

You could cut out the tomato and orange, as well as all meat, and choose beans or lentils instead. They would provide even more nutrition and actually cost less.

Buying oranges now is expensive. They are out of season. Tomatoes are far less since they are in season at the farmers' markets. Don't be so obtuse.

....and when your hospital bill is through the roof because you have been eating nothing but mac n'cheese and beefaroni, maybe the fruits and veggies won't seem so bad. BTW, where are you buying your produce??? Try a farmer's market or better yet, try growing it yourself. You can eat healthy for less, but it does take a bit of effort on your part.

I live in King County and I challenge you to find a cheap tomato anywhere! Farmers markets here are very expensive. Who can afford $3 for head of lettuce when your week budget is less than $50. I used to work on an organic farm and for the farmers markets but now that I am disabled I can't afford it. Not everyone an grow their own, ever try to grow enough beans for a meal in an apartment? Or what about the elderly or disabled that physically can't work a garden?

beanfair - one pound of dry lentils costs less than $1 and lasts me about 2 weeks. I eat brown rice and lentils every day. The organic brown rice costs about $4 at Trader Joe's and lasts me also about two weeks. That's $5 for two weeks of very nutritious food and yields one meal per day. Stop whining and start being smarter about your food choices and budget.

BS. I eat three pieces of different fruit for breakfast and two servings of fruit for lunch, with a bowl of granola and a couple servings of yogurt. It cost me about $4/day for breakfast and lunch combined. That's less than one extra value meal at McDonald's.

I agree with the farmer's market statement above. You can get cheap produce that is local. As opposed to fruits and vegetables that have come half way around the world.

In addition, Tomatoes are almost out of season, so prices on those will fluctuate with how far grocery stores have to ship them to get them in stock. Shop seasonally and at a farmer's market and you'll be better off.

Obviously, I don't know where everyone else lives, but the farmers' markets around here are godawful expensive! Even in season. The grocery store is cheaper -- not that they're 'cheap.'

Our farmers' markets in western Pennsylvania accept SNAP benefits (food stamps). Many items are modestly priced; stopping at the market when they're getting ready to pack up is the best time for find dirt cheap deals as the farmers just want to unload their produce late in the day and not take it back on the road.

I feed a family of 4 on an 80 dollar a week grocery budget and we eat fresh almost exclusively. I make everything under the sun from scratch with fresh product. I have year round farmer's market that is dirt cheap. I bought 20 lbs worth of produce this week there and spent about 35 dollars total. Bulk whole grains are dirt cheap so I make breads and pastas every other week to freeze and eat later. It costs me 45 cents to make a loaf of bread at home compared to a 3 dollar generic whole wheat loaf from Safeway. We actually eat better now, spending less, than when my husband and I were in college.

Much more than $380.00. Definitely!

So let us pass legislation to force everyone to buy good food, just like Obamacare that forces us to buy health insurance. Wow, I think that when this all plays out, there won't be any life decisions left to ponder, we'll just have our Government nanny to tell us how to eat, sleep and conduct our lives since there won't be any money to do the things we might choose to do ourselves!

Has anyone been at your house with a warrant because you didn't purchase insurance?

As an engineer, does your company not offer you insurance? So what are you worried about? This obviously doesn't affect you.

The 'junk food' tax is logical and makes sense. It will never happen.

Of course, they probably said that about alcohol and cigarettes, right?

Republicans only want to come into your house when you're having sex or attempting to die with dignity,...otherwise, they are completely 'hands off'. Sarcasm meter set to HIGH.

Nicely put, Nomam! I understand that there are a lot of people out there with real, honest-to-goodness struggles to feed, house and clothe their families. Nobody is suggesting that everyone shop exclusively at Whole Foods or only buy organic produce. But what IS being suggested (and that nobody really seems to be hearing) is that people try to make better choices about what they put in their bodies (and, more importantly, in their kids' bodies!) and use their grocery dollars more wisely. I am also a busy working mother, and yet I still manage to feed my family healthy, balanced, vegetarian-based meals every day because I take the time to plan and I grow my own veggies in the summer. My spouse and I each earn six-figure salaries, but I still manage to feed my family of 3 for about $50 a week because we don't eat fast food, I don't buy processed pre-packaged "food", I buy in bulk when I can, and I buy what is on sale. It's a lifestyle choice, and it's a choice that everyone can make. Many people simply don't want to.

way to go SweetPea! I admire you for your chosen thriftiness and sense, especially where your income is obviously adequate and probably more than enough for your needs (i would hope). My family's income is only 1/6th of yours, and I spend about $40 a week in groceries and household items, but we also have managed to eat healthy, balanced, and delicious meals.

Thanks, Su. I have not always been as fortunate to earn the living I currently have, so my current habits are born of prior necessity.

Unless you eat spaghetti at every meal that is not at all true. I want to know what you are eating. If I buy food to cook a decent healthy meal for my family (and there are NEVER leftovers because it all gets eaten), I spend about $40 a day on cooking dinner (and we don't eat fancy AT ALL). If I go to McDonald's, I can feed the family for $20. I can't afford to eat at home unless it's Kraft Mac and Cheese and hot dogs or spaghetti or other crap that's equally bad as McDonald's food. GOOD food is expensive. I generally buy food from the bargain "eat today" bin and it's still more expensive than McD's... I'm not going to eat beans for every meal either.

What's wrong with spaghetti? 1 box of whole wheat spaghetti - $1.19. I jar of low sodium, chunky tomato sauce - $2.39. There you go - you feed a family of 4 for less than $5, and you get fiber from the spaghetti and nutrients from the sauce. There are only so many excuses you can make before people stop giving you the pity you seem to crave and start getting mad.

I have a family of three (my oldest is now in Job Corp) for an example on how to feed your family, we have cereal and an apple for breakfast, (bag of apples 4.00 cereal for them on sale at walmart 4.00 for a box that will last 2 weeks) for lunch Peanut butter sanwiches or deli meat with carrots or soup for suppers on Monday we grilled 6 chicken breasts daughter had one that night hubby and I split one (because they are just huge breasts) we had baked sweet poatoes and fresh corn. The next night we had stir fried zucchini (free from neighbors) mushrooms green beans and corn on cob bought from farmers market for 3.00 a dozen last night was one of the chicken breast spaggetti and homemade basil pesto (easy to grow in a pot) and easy to make along with a fresh tomato (from the upside down planter) tonihgt will be pizza easy to make your own crust the rest of the pesto the rest of the chicken----so reallly how hard is it to eat healthy and on low cost?

One box of cereal will last your family two weeks and you eat it every day? How big is that box of cereal?

it is the really big box but if you eat the serving size instead of just filling your bowl then yes it last 2 weeks

@Arwen...40 dollars on supper? How big is your family/what are you cooking?

My husband and I eat a pretty healthy diet and average 120/130 a week for food. Sure, we could stand to eat more veggies...but our diet is still better than a pure fast food diet. We go out to eat once a week so that 130 ends up being 21 bucks a day for 6 days of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even if we had two kids i'm guessing it would just double our food costs and make it 40 a day for breakfast/lunch/dinner.

I guess if we ate purely off the dollar menu for all meals at McDs we could eat for 15 a day (mcdouble and parfait for me...2 mcdoubles and small fry for him 3 times a day)...at the same time though a good chunk of our costs come from all the meat we have to buy because one of my husband's hobbies is body building and he requires extra protein...plus if we ate oatmeal instead of cereal that would also drop costs. So I bet I could comfortably get our costs down to 15 a day if I could buy less lean protein/cereal.

$40 on supper?? I'm even in shock over Hamster's $120-$130 a week for two people!!

I do 3 people for $40 a week... We eat well. I cook things like this:

Rice & naan bread with creamy tomato curry sauce, chili, noodles alfredo with broccoli or peas, vegetarian burritos (beans, rice, corn, tomatoes, peppers), vegetable / minestrone soup, breadsticks with 4 sauces to choose from, korean glazed potatoes with jap chae, omelettes, lo mein with bok choy.. etc... desserts might include cake, cookies, or a watermelon/strawberry sorbet.

everything homemade, everything cheap, everything very delicious if I do say so.

$40 on dinner? What the hell are you serving? We're a family of four (2 teenage boys) and I don't spend that and I live in the Northeast. I basically spend close to $200 a week on groceries but that does include junk food that my boys like.

A box of cereal in my house - 2 days at most. My boys have bowls of cereal as a snack.

Yeah, cereal doesn't last long when teens are around ! I have a teen girl, but cereal is one of her fav snacks. One she has always liked is raisin bran. At my local supermarket, the 16 oz box of store brand is only $2.69. A box will last us 5-7 days depending on how many bowls she/we eat per day. I feel this is a pretty good value, and a pretty nutritious snack for her.

Yep, that's the #1 way I cut my grocery bill by more than half.

Most people don't have home phones anymore because they cost the same as a cell phone plan and most people are at work or school and are rarely, if ever, at home so a home phone is the big waste of money. Most jobs require you to have a phone so they can call you thus most people need a cell phone. Get your head out of the 20th Century. College students can't afford health insurance because without an employer footing most of the bill, they don't have the $800-1,000 dollars a month to pay for the premium. Yeah, eradicating a $50 phone bill will cover that. Just because you pay $100 for health insurance from your employer (or let me hazard a guess, from your husband's employer) doesn't mean that's how much a college student would pay.

Most people don't have home phones anymore because they cost the same as a cell phone plan and most people are at work or school and are rarely, if ever, at home so a home phone is the big waste of money. Most jobs require you to have a phone so they can call you thus most people need a cell phone. Get your head out of the 20th Century. College students can't afford health insurance because without an employer footing most of the bill, they don't have the $800-1,000 dollars a month to pay for the premium. Yeah, eradicating a $50 phone bill will cover that. Just because you pay $100 for health insurance from your employer (or let me hazard a guess, from your husband's employer) doesn't mean that's how much a college student would pay.

800-1000 dollars a month premium for a college student?????? You have no clue what you are talking about. Go do some research---college students can easily get premiums for less than 2000 dollars per YEAR. As to my own health insurance ( not that it is any of YOUR business), I have my own plan through my work and am not "reliant" on my spouse (like you may be---if you have one).

BS on the health premiums. I pay my own, and it's about $435 monthly for me and my son. I'm older than a college student, so my rates are higher. A college student with no children would have way lower premiums than that. My college offered health insurance to students not on their parents' plan for about $120 per YEAR.

Wow...that was quite possibly the least mature string of posts I've read in some time. Both of you need to grow up and quit acting like brats on the playground. "You're a stinky head!" "No YOU'RE a stinky head with no spouse!"

College students are usually covered by their parents health insurance, and I'd be doing cartwheels if my son paid his own cell phone bill or any bill for that matter. My husband and I pay for everything.

StangSalie

LMAO... I was just typing, "I know you are but what am I?" (Peewee Herman) when your comment pooped up.

Truth be told, I've found most of this "discussion" to be on the playgound level.

Omg, I didn't mean "pooped" up... "POPPED up." Sorry!

(But it's funny -- something you'd hear on a playground!)

Not at all true. Just make up some more "facts".

Please note...1) I am not obese 2) I eat healthy 3) I have diabetes so by your rationale I shouldn't have diabetes. The fact is...I have unlucky genes. Eating healthy is more expensive. my current grocery budget (two working adults, one working teen) is 150.00 a month. Eating healthy with that small a budget is hard, but we do it. My health insurance? over 2000 a month. No we don't smoke. Some one needs to start looking at the costs for everything. It is more expensive to live now, and living healthy requires far more energy than it used to.

Arwen8Aragorn1

Not at all true. Just make up some more "facts".

facts are Iwork part time at small neighborhood grocery, and have people coming in and buying nothing but candy, soda and chips on EBT cards all day. They just made it to where you can not buy energy drinks on EBT, but before that they would hit the liqure store next door and them buy RedBull on their EBT cards. So, yes a Lot of money from food stamps goes to junk food and sodas. Dims the FACTS.

Possum, workingman5: At my small town supermarket I have noticed some similar grocery carts. Not all, but some.

I have the BEST story of a diet responsibility fail ever. Happened at the local DeMoulas' Market Basket store.

A morbidly obese man with battleship grey skin pushing a shopping cart - actually he was hanging on it, with an oxygen bottle in the front basket - and in the cart were 11 (ELEVEN!!) two-liter bottles of Mountain Dew and 8 or 9 frozen cheetza-type things in bright red boxes. He wheezed like a knackered locomotive and I left him in the cookie aisle where he was heading towards something in a blue wrapper (Oreos or Chips Ahoy?). At the checkout, he paid with one of those food-stamp cards, as somehow I'd managed to get behind him - again! - in the store.

How much is this man, costing the rest of us with his subsidized medical care that most likely came out of his wretched food choices? I think we need to ask that of people that buy candied 'food' with government subsidies.. At least WIC is brutally strict with their dietary enforcements of what they do and do not allow.

Yeah ... we could turn more of it into high fructose corn syrup!

Really ... the key is to quit subsidizing corn and if we insist on subsidizing something, have it be the leafy greens!

Bag of organic brown rice: $4

Bag of dried beans: $1

Bananas for dessert: $2

Water: FREE

$7 - healthy meal for four people with plenty of rice left over for more meals.

Brown rice, beans, bananas and water every night. Seriously? Why even bother to live if you have to dread every meal you ever have. Also, you may want to look in to the multitude of vitamins and minerals you're not getting with your tasteless heatlhy meal.

Go ask a pediatrician if beans, rice, and bananas contain everything a growing kid needs. At least tiredamerican is including milk.

No wonder you guys can't handle the grocery bill!!!!! Is this the scope of your cooking and resource management?? It shouldn't be a choice between eating beans for the rest of your life and a box full of preservatives....

And why are you using 1.5 lbs of hamburger for a single box of hamburger helper?? Cut it down to 3/4 lb if not less, then add more pasta or some vegetables to cut your costs!!! The sauce on a hamburger helper, if made from scratch, would probably cost about 30 cents... why are you paying nearly $2 for a half cup of pasta in a box and a terrible sauce full of preservatives, in addition to the other ingredients?

I can make enough homemade pasta to feed 6 people for 50 cents. A good sauce shouldn't cost more than $1 total, even if you're getting fancy...

So what do I eat? Rice with a creamy tomato-curry with lentils, peas, and tandoori chicken is surprisingly cheap to make at about $4 for 6-8 people. The chapati that goes along with it can be easily made from scratch for approximately 3 cents per person. If you want to get expensive, make naan bread for about 12 cents a person.

My vegetarian burrito filling of rice, black beans, corn, peppers, salsa, etc. Amazingly good for approximately $2 to make a huge skillet, about 10 large burritos.

I spend $40 a week on groceries and household items to feed my family of 3, soon to be 4. My top tricks - meat is viewed as a luxury purchase, use milk for cooking instead of guzzling, learn to use spices and make sauces, avoid cold cereal and anything else in a box, buy whatever produce is on sale that week, hit the bargain bins, quit snarfing expensive breads, grown your own basil. .. And oatmeal is good for you...

Free yourself from the boxed meals and bland 'health' foods! Learn to cook! Learn to manage your kitchen! Eat well, live well!

su-314019~I agree with your post. We have made some hard choices in our family and we have cut out all the processed foods, we cook from scratch and now my 19 yr old is a vegetarian, I am 90% there myself. I use to do all my shopping at Walmart...BIG mistake! I now shop at Kroger and BJ's. My weekly savings is around $75 to $100 per week....yes, that's right, per WEEK!(We purchase most non-food items at BJ's once a month.) We are buying more produce and whole grains more than we every have, not to mention spices (the $1 priced ones) and we have been having a great time coming up with our own recipes! I was just buying without thinking before and grabbing whatever looked good and easy. With the economy tanking, we had to rethink our spending big time. My daughter started on a healthy track a little over a year ago (she has lost 110lbs in a year...yes, she was obese and I have lost 30lbs in the past year and kept it off too) and learning to find her one true goal in life, she has recently passed her ACE exam to become a Certified Personal Trainer (in which I might add, has obtained fulltime employment with a gym within 3 weeks.) Unfortunately, my husband is not quite on board with everything we eat however, he has cut back on a lot of junk food replacing it with fruit. People complain that they can't afford fresh food but they still manage to buy soda, chips, ice cream and fatty meats. Yes, we still buy some chips but I try my best to get the lowest in sodium, whole grain type. You will also see some of these same complainers go to the drive-ups at their favorite fast food. The only "fast" food we eat is Subway on occasion. As far as mac cheese is concerned, well, it's all in a manner of choice of course but you can replace that nasty cheese sauce for veggies and tomato sauce which is much healthier and more satisfying. If any of you have watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, you will know that he is fighting to get the school lunches changed to a healthier menu. He has proven that the costs are nearly the same. I think one reason that led to my daughter's obesity was the food served in the schools and yes, I take responsibility for it as well...I have many regrets in my choices of what I served up for meals in her early years. It's not always easy to manage working and dealing with school aged kids but we need to stop the obesity rate in America! It is a fact that this current generation will not out live their own parents ! That is just plan sad.

su said:

Free yourself from the boxed meals and bland 'health' foods! Learn to cook! Learn to manage your kitchen! Eat well, live well!

This is SO true! Thanks for your post su!

Cheaper alternative to the hamburger helper meal. Buy a bag of whole or multi grain pasta, use 2 cans of store band tuna which costs less than hb. Mix tuna into cooked drained pasta, stir in a pat of margarine or butter, add salt, pepper, garlic powder, mix a little flour and milk, stir in. Cook small bag of frozen mixed veggies in the microwave. Serve as a side dish or mix into your casserole. Or skip the sauce, mix all the above mentioned, have as a cool pasta/tuna salad. I admit if two of your family of 4 are teenaged boys this will not be enough.

Su, what you see there in TiredAmericans post is the problem in a nutshell that too many families face.

Lack of food know-how.

That $8.51 dinner is average and look at it: Low-quality fatty meat, carb and chemical-laden hamburger helper and hormone laden industrial milk - and not a green leafy item anywhere in the home I'll bet.

The problem is all this 'survival food' as people are calling it is EXACTLY the thing that will lead to sugar spikes and insulin crashes that leave the person gaining weight, always hungry and nutrient deficient.

the hardest thing is to make people understand, and it took me years to get it, is that if you eat food that is less carb-laden, more protein (not necessarily meats, qinoa does well, or an egg) and you stop that up-down-up-down with insulin and sugar, then you CAN start to free up money to buy LESS quantities of higher quality food - that you will need to eat LESS of, as you've smoothed the spikes and crashes and flattened that energy curve to a long, slow rise and fall that goes throughout the day.

Honestly, to TiredAmerican if you're still out here reading this, if you can get a lock FIRST on portion control, you'll have better ability to put more protein into your daily meal and more plants - the darker colors, the better. When you eat better, more nutrient-dense FOOD (not product in boxes and refined junk), you eat LESS and go longer between meals and rarely need or want to snack unless it IS a treat.

Took me at least a decade to make the full switch away from the stuff that wasn't as expensive (in the short run, but cost MORE by my medical care costs it incurred), so please don't get discouraged by the power-cooks and foodies out here and think it's beyond you.

If you're interested in lots of flavors that make your meals seem luxuriant, try Indian spices. Madras curry (which isn't hot at all) is fantastic sprinkled on a fried egg as it's cooking and when served on a bed of green lettuce, it's heaven and cheap.

Regards,

Those are not Seattle prices where fresh green beans are $3 pound vs canned green beans loaded with salt are $1.25. Fresh peppers are $2.50 each. Lettuce is $3. I would love to be able to afford them but I can't. I can barely afford frozen peas to put into my rice. I haven't bought chips, candy or cookies in years. I am sure that some people make the choice to eat that way but don't assume that everyone does.

Those prices are a bit "unusual" for anywhere other than maybe 1992. Most of the produce listed is closer to $3 a pound... and the potato chips I've seen are usually two one-pound bags for $4. Quit twisting facts to fit what you want to say or quit stealing info from websites that post statistics from 1970.

heh i still have jelly beans i bought at easter as junk food ...the hardest part of eating fresh and healthy ...is i don't want to wade through a whole tomato potato cucumber onion ...and storage of same ...leftovers ...is not always as appetizing and if you share space with others ..it gets even more complicated ...

I got those prices from my weekly grocery flyer dated 8/1/2011 (not from 1992) and I don't even spend as much as the listed prices for most of my produce since I have a vegetable garden and often go to the local farmers market. My point is that it should not be costing more for anyone to enjoy healthful meals if they buy local produce in season. The real problem is that many people don't have access to fresh food so they rely on prepackaged ready to eat products that they can buy at the local convenience store.

Quality of life? Seriously? What is with some people on here. I read people discussing eating nothing but vegetables, brown rice, lentils and water and how cheap that is. There's no quality in life in having to eat nothing but food you hate. Moderation in all things people. And most of the diets proposed here are not moderate, they're extreme in deprivation and obsessiveness.

Deprivation my eye... I can still make a great homemade pizza for $2.50... My best cake costs about $1.50 to whip up...

Vegetables, rice, etc. are all very good and can be made into some wonderful recipes... What the heck do you eat that you'd consider vegetables obsessive?

su-the point went entirely over your head. I didn't say or even allude to eating vegetables as obsessive. Moderation in all things includes eating a balanced diet that is both healthy (with some cheats now and then) and tasty. I have no health or money issues. I'm am commenting on those that are eating "healthy" diets that are nothing but tasteless, restrictive, monotonous, obsessively limited and frankly soul-killing. We have to eat to live not live to eat but the journey shouldn't be torture, either.

I agree with that.. We are probably trying to point out the same thing..

I feel that I eat delicious meals made from a variety of fine ingredients very cheaply, I see nothing mutually exclusive in taste and cost. It's all in the spices!