Healthy eating adds $2K a year to family grocery bill

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Healthy eating adds $2K a year to family grocery bill
Topic Started: Dec 7 2013, 02:17 PM (356 Views)
Darcie	Dec 7 2013, 02:17 PM Post #1
Skeptic Posts: 31,154 Group: Member Member #714 Joined: March 30, 2010	Quote: A family on a healthy diet can expect to pay $2,000 more a year for food than one having less nutritious meals, say researchers who recommend that the cost gap be closed. The research in Thursday's issue of British Medical Journal Open reviewed 27 studies from 10 high-income countries to evaluate the price differences of foods and diet patterns. http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/healthy-eating-adds-2k-a-year-to-family-grocery-bill-1.2452451 For sure the poor have a problem eating healthy, they don't have the money to do it.



Deleted User	Dec 7 2013, 04:31 PM Post #2
Deleted User	Absolutely. I think what DH and I pay for food is obscene, and more than many people earn. I am chemically sensitive so we buy organic everything...or grow it ourselves. We would buy ALL local grass fed beef, but even we cannot afford to buy it exclusively.
Deleted User


Olive Oil	Dec 8 2013, 05:46 AM Post #3
Gold Star Member Posts: 4,747 Group: Member Member #785 Joined: June 10, 2010	It's unfortunate that many of the working poor cannot buy in bulk as they don't have the initial outlay in cash. Also in many cities, (at least mine) groceries often cost more in the Safeways, etc. on the poorer side of town. There is not the competition that there is in the burbs.



Darcie	Dec 8 2013, 05:54 AM Post #4
Skeptic Posts: 31,154 Group: Member Member #714 Joined: March 30, 2010	Olive Oil Dec 8 2013, 05:46 AM It's unfortunate that many of the working poor cannot buy in bulk as they don't have the initial outlay in cash. Also in many cities, (at least mine) groceries often cost more in the Safeways, etc. on the poorer side of town. There is not the competition that there is in the burbs. This reminds me of a survey that was done in Vancouver that I participated in. What you said is right on, food was less in affluent area. Not only that, but during the week when the welfare/disability/pension cheques came in, the sales were mostly box and canned foods that were not at all nutritious. At that time the community groups got together, took orders from the poorer segment of the population in the poorer part of town and we went and bought in the rich areas. We also had a lot of coverage about the research in the Province and local area papers. It changed those practices a little, but the time was such when it was negative to take advantage of the poor. Now it seems that we think it is all their fault so publicity of this sort matters little to the upper middle and rich group of people.



heatseeker	Dec 8 2013, 11:00 AM Post #5
Veteran Member Posts: 10,320 Group: Member Member #713 Joined: March 30, 2010	Hmmm. Many of the poverty pockets in Toronto are in the suburbs. Competition for the food dollar is intense here. I think it is possible to buy nutritious food for less in Toronto than anywhere else in Canada. It is true, though, buying organic fruits and veg, free range eggs and hormone free grass fed beef and other good meat is expensive, often at least twice the price as the commodity items. Costco is starting to offer some organic and free range eggs and other items. If others follow sut the prices will come down somewhat.



erka	Dec 8 2013, 01:46 PM Post #6
Gold Star Member Posts: 5,330 Group: Member Member #233 Joined: February 8, 2006	Darcie: I think the cost of food have shifted in the last 20 years. Now whenever I want to fine fresh, inexpensive produce, I go to east Vancouver. Much more choice in fresh (maybe not organic) produce as this area have lots of Asians (Chinese, Phillipinos, East Indians) - this ethnic mix prefers fresh and exotic (to us) produce.



Dana	Dec 8 2013, 02:04 PM Post #7
WWS Hummingbird Guru & Wildlife photographer extrordinaire Posts: 13,054 Group: Member Member #830 Joined: March 23, 2011	The price of apples has at least tripled in the last three years pushing up toward $2/lb. Potatoes over a dollar/lb. I remember thinking it was a ripoff when they went to 25cents/lb. I hope that my purple ones in a pot on the patio have not frozen this week!



Olive Oil	Dec 8 2013, 03:49 PM Post #8
Gold Star Member Posts: 4,747 Group: Member Member #785 Joined: June 10, 2010	Dana Dec 8 2013, 02:04 PM The price of apples has at least tripled in the last three years pushing up toward $2/lb. Potatoes over a dollar/lb. I remember thinking it was a ripoff when they went to 25cents/lb. I hope that my purple ones in a pot on the patio have not frozen this week! I've noticed that too. There are still some cheaper deals around but the everyday price of apples is close to 2.00 lb. For those families that buy Campbells canned soups, they are a real ripoff often around the 2.00 mark.



Trotsky	Dec 9 2013, 03:32 AM Post #9
Big City Boy Posts: 38,319 Group: Member Member #79 Joined: September 8, 2005	I am SO tired of the phrase "healthy diet" as if there is a real consensus around what that means. It is almopst as meaningless as when somebody spouts on about "the middle class" with no real meaning behind the term. Quote: Eating a healthier diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts would increase food costs for one person by about $550 a year, the researchers said. Has this author ever BOUGHT fish and nuts on an ongoing basis. If so they he/she would know how preposterous to talk in terms of $1.50 a day extra. I pinned my doctor down after his palaver that I should lose a few pounds by going on the Mediterranean Diet. I asked trappingly Did me mean pasta, olive oil, and wine. He stammered a bit and said "Nuts." I asked what kind and he was stumped. I then asked if he know how calorific they were...NADA. I wish people would take to heart: "A little learning is a dangerous thing." Food is 1. Calories to keep from starvation 2. Protein to keep from muscle wasting And of course, one should avoid poisons or things proven to damage organs Edited by Trotsky, Dec 9 2013, 03:36 AM.



Darcie	Dec 9 2013, 03:44 AM Post #10
Skeptic Posts: 31,154 Group: Member Member #714 Joined: March 30, 2010	My idea of healthy is - not eating out of boxes and cans, no nitrites and other preservatives, protein at every meal, meat grown with no antibiotics, wild fish, a variety of fresh vegetables and fruit every day, preferably organic, whole grain bread products, little sugars, and most of all a wide variety of food. That's all I can think of. In my store soda/pop per liter/quart costs less than milk. Most of all it is not eating pasta 5/7 times a week and Twinkies/etc, for desert. Boxes and cans an prepared foods cost less that fresh. Has little to do with nuts and red wine, but I do occasionally have some.



Daniel	Dec 9 2013, 05:42 AM Post #11
Small Star Member Posts: 902 Group: Member Member #759 Joined: May 9, 2010	If junk food cost as much to manufacture as real food, there'd be no junk food on the market. That's the same problem with living environmentally conscious. The skeptics take advantage of the price disparity and use it their political arguments. Edited by Daniel, Dec 9 2013, 05:43 AM.



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