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Home > Cost of healthy food is sky high. Self-made lunch is $7

Cost of healthy food is sky high. Self-made lunch is $7

August 19th, 2009 at 08:15 pm

It cost a lot to eat healthy.

For example my lunch that I MADE myself is normally $7.

Today:
1 heirloom tomato from the farmers market $3
2 small Japanese cucumbers $1.5
5 little balls of fresh mozzarella $1.5 (it was a half of a tiny container that cost $3)
I cut it up, added salt and pepper and that was my lunch for a total of $6.
I'll also have a nectarine that cost $1.2 for dessert. Maybe a few fresh figs (so sweet and fragrant).

Prices are high for vegetables that smell like vegetables, not the ones from grocery store. I also believe that they have more nutrition than vegetables that taste like nothing.

The cost of making dinner is even higher. We eliminated almost all saturated fat from our dinners(I have a little bit for breakfast or lunch occasionally). This really limits our choices to fresh produce, fish, unprocessed grains. Most of it has to be bought in specialty stores. Good fish has to be bought at a good fish store, produce at super-expensive farmers market. Whole wheat bread - artisan bread store. Vegetarian fed free-range chickens/eggs are bought from upscale supermarkets. *sigh*

You cannot stockpile fresh food or shop in bulk. It has much shorter shelf life. So the only things we have in a cupboard are brown rice, buckwheat, steel-cut oatmeal and a can of nicer brand wild salmon. And things like garlic/onions/nuts etc. But even those have to be bought in small quantities.

I have gone to a regular supermarket few times during the year and ended up frustrated. There is almost nothing I can buy there. Most things are processed and quality/freshness of poultry and fish not to good. Fruits and vegetables are "shipping variety"(that means look ripe but taste green).

Everything in a farmers market is "in season" yet is not cheap. People just go there to get stuff that ripened on the plant, not the shipping variety.

I think I spend $40 a day on food if we do not eat out at all (breakfast, lunch, dinner) for the 2 of us. I don' see a way to cut cost without compromising quality.
But this is about quality of life and health. So for health reasons, I think grocery budget would be the last place I'll cut. I just wish it was not so expensive to eat right.

11 Responses to “Cost of healthy food is sky high. Self-made lunch is $7”

  1. whitestripe Says:
    1250711779

    while the costs for our fresh produce are nothing near what yours are, i still agree i would never cut our grocery bill so drastically so to buy vegetables from the supermarket. fortunately for us, it's actually cheaper or the same price to buy it from the growers market because we live close to farming areas. so for the same price as a hydroponically grown tomato from the supermarket, we can get a certified organic one from the markets on saturday.

    the only downside is that i do shop weekly as the markets are only on saturday or sunday, it was hard at first because i had gotten used to stopping in the store every couple of days when we lived at another place. but now i use all the fresh wilting vegetables in the first few days of the week and make meals out of the longer lasting root vegetables at the end.

    but i agree with you, groceries and fresh fruit and veg is the last thing i would attempt to cut at our budget. i have a certain amount i aim to spend but it is not something that worries me when we go over; good food is important to me, it is more important than clothes or shoes or entertainment, it is what you put INSIDE your body, what could be more important than that???

  2. davera Says:
    1250711892

    Yikes, $1200 a month to feed two people?! That is an enormous budget, even in NYC. However, you are very clear that eating this way is a high priority for you, and we each put our financial stake in the ground where it's most important to us. Bon appétit!

  3. Nika Says:
    1250714200

    Well, I think it is a matter of health. We educated ourselves about food and it really makes it difficult to go back.

    We are eating really different food today that our bodies evolved eating.

    The nutrition of today commercially produced food is much lower in even whole foods, let along in processed.

    We are just not getting the nutrition we need - daily recommended amounts of fiber, protein, calcium, vitamins and good fatty acids. And the more you read about vitamins and supplements the more you realize it is not going to cover the gap. Frown
    So we make and effort to at least do the best we can.

  4. Nika Says:
    1250722186

    I hope I don't come across as a health nut. Far from it.
    I love draft beer, margaritas, bbq pork ribs, a fresh, airy Mille-feuille... It is OK when we are in a great bbq place or a cafe. And i NEVER count calories.

    I'm just trying to meet nutritional recommendations in average every day meals.

  5. zetta Says:
    1250723547

    Produce doesn't have to be all fresh, organic, and locally grown to be healthy. The biggest benefit comes from cutting out the processed stuff and saturated fat and eating more produce and grains.

    According to nutritionists like Marion Nestle, Frozen veggies have almost the same amount of nutrients as fresh, and canned only a little less. Both work well in soups and dishes like Indian curry, where the veggies are cooked until very soft. Frozen fruits work well in smoothies, baked desserts, and on top of cereal.

    You might also try shopping at ethnic grocery stores instead of the supermarket for better tasting fresh produce that is reasonably priced.

  6. cptacek Says:
    1250726192

    Could you have a small "garden" anywhere? Do you have a porch, so you can grow your own pot tomatoes, cucumbers, etc?

    You could buy some of that stuff at the farmers market and freeze it. Maybe blanch some of it first (look up online what needs to be done to keep food). But that way you could have variety.

  7. scfr Says:
    1250729845

    Have you tried Food For Life sprouted grain bread? You buy it in the freezer section and keep it in the freezer at home, so it lasts as long as you need it to. Longer life and (no offense) quite likely healthier than that artisan store bread. Our regular old grocery store carries it. My standby lunch when I lack time to prep or desire to think is an almond butter sandwich made with that bread (the almond butter is stored in the fridge and has a decent shelf life) plus some fruit (sometimes fresh, sometimes organic raisins that I buy in the cute little boxes at Costco). Under $2 for lunch, and yes, it's healthy and organic. Would definitely be more with NYC prices, but a far cry from $7.

    Text is http://www.foodforlife.com/sprouted-grain-difference.html and Link is
    http://www.foodforlife.com/sprouted-grain-difference.html
    For canned salmon, do you get yours at Costco? The Kirkland Signature brand (wild sockeye) is very tasty.

  8. Nika Says:
    1250733604

    Csfr, thanks, I will try the bread.

    I like "think pink" by Pure Alaskan Salmon Co. In Manhattan is $4.99 a can. It is $31 for 12 online, with $10.35 shipping.

    No, I don't have a garden. I wish! Even a 5sf would be amazing. I live in an apartment building with no outdoor space at all.

    Zetta, of course I am familiar with ethnic grocery stores - I think Brooklyn is the ethnic food US capital. Smile

  9. Broken Arrow Says:
    1250775060

    Since you're into eating healthy, perhaps this
    Text is pesticide exposure list and Link is http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php
    pesticide exposure list may be of some interest to you.

    But please don't let that scare you. Hopefully, it will be more useful than anything in terms of what to eat with the skin peeled off and what you can save money on because you don't need to buy organic....

  10. Analise Says:
    1250793226

    Like you, I try to buy fresh, organic meat and produce whenever possible. And it is definitely more expensive, although we do not spend anywhere near $1200 a month like you do. But you are in NYC, a very expensive place to live. I do remember that when I was in NYC, I liked shopping at some of the small bodegas that usually had great-tasting fruit and nice produce (which I did not buy since we were in a hotel). I can't be sure the fruit was of the "shipped" variety or not, but it was good and also expensive.

    I do wonder if restaurants take as much time and expense to shop as carefully as I do. "Organic" does not guarantee better flavor... it is usually a certification that pesticides and hormones were not used. And then I always wonder about restaurants' preparation methods (kitchen cleanliness) and the use of flavor enhancers (MSG, salt, etc.). To eat healthier, we have started to limit eating out.

    How I wish I could go back to the time I used to grow most of my fruits and vegetables!

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