As I've been trying to save money on food I've discovered that it is very difficult to do so without compromising quality. For example, I won't eat hot dogs, I don't care how cheap they are. I won't eat eggs or milk with artificial hormones. I won't eat candy, chips, junk food, or fast food. However this means I spend twice as much or more than some people here on food. At what point does it become more expensive in the long run (health wise) to eat the cheapest food available?
For those of you not in the USA. Here is why it is more expensive to eat healthfully in America.
http://www.salon.com/life/health/index. ... e_politics
Essentially our government serves corporate interests more often than it serves the public interest.
The cost of eating healthfully
Corn subsidies have been utterly disastrous... Still, I eat a mostly paleo diet for under $150 a month.
It helps being rural, I get pastured eggs for $2 a dozen, grass fed cow cuts for $2/lb... In NYC those would probably be $10 each.
I don't eat everything organic, the costs are too ridiculous. When it's in the ballpark, or the produce is notoriously saturated (dirty dozen) I'll go organic.
I joined a local farmers coop that has been an excellent deal. Comes to under $1/lb for fresh local vegetables if you're willing to make a commitment.
... Eating well is certainly worth the expense. When I start eating carbohydrate dense processed staples my health really declines. Someday I hope to be able to produce all the food I need.
It helps being rural, I get pastured eggs for $2 a dozen, grass fed cow cuts for $2/lb... In NYC those would probably be $10 each.
I don't eat everything organic, the costs are too ridiculous. When it's in the ballpark, or the produce is notoriously saturated (dirty dozen) I'll go organic.
I joined a local farmers coop that has been an excellent deal. Comes to under $1/lb for fresh local vegetables if you're willing to make a commitment.
... Eating well is certainly worth the expense. When I start eating carbohydrate dense processed staples my health really declines. Someday I hope to be able to produce all the food I need.
Eating well is definitely worth it. If cost is an issue, prioritize WHAT you're eating over how it was produced. Cage-free, fair trade and "natural" labels all might be nice for someone, but probably not for you. Take factory farmed chicken over grass fed beef (less saturated fat, higher % protein), choose whole grains over enriched flour, products with sugar, etc. If you choose less prepared foods you can definitely save a lot, long term.
Here's what I frequently buy on the cheap in Philadelphia
Whole grains: Brown rice ($.50/lb) Oats ($.83/lb)
Potatoes: $.50/lb
Fruit: Raisins ($1.60/lb-that's a lot of fruit given it's dried)
Protein: Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast ($1.99/lb), wild Salmon ($1.89/5oz), tuna, eggs ($1.49/18)
Fat: Olive oil, real peanut butter ($.09/oz, just peanuts and salt) fish oil
Vegetables: Frozen steam-in-bag 12 oz bags of Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, sometimes $.85 or so
Yes there are cheaper protein options, but I do body build and getting a high enough percentage of protein in my diet without going overboard on calories would be tough.
Here's what I frequently buy on the cheap in Philadelphia
Whole grains: Brown rice ($.50/lb) Oats ($.83/lb)
Potatoes: $.50/lb
Fruit: Raisins ($1.60/lb-that's a lot of fruit given it's dried)
Protein: Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast ($1.99/lb), wild Salmon ($1.89/5oz), tuna, eggs ($1.49/18)
Fat: Olive oil, real peanut butter ($.09/oz, just peanuts and salt) fish oil
Vegetables: Frozen steam-in-bag 12 oz bags of Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, sometimes $.85 or so
Yes there are cheaper protein options, but I do body build and getting a high enough percentage of protein in my diet without going overboard on calories would be tough.
Fruit is not really that good for you. It's better than junk food, but it's still loaded with sugar.
Location really affects availability of affordable healthy food. DH and I hunt our own meat and catch our own fish. I buy meat and poultry from the wholesale club to supplement about twice a year. Deep freezer really helps so I can buy in bulk when things go on sale.
Frozen vegetables are debatably healthier than fresh vegetables (when farm grown) since they are picked at the height of the season and freezing preserves the minerals, and they are cheaper, too. We also have a lot of friends and family with garden overflow, so we have more squash/cucumbers/tomatoes/zucchini than we'll ever be able to eat.
There are also local people who have chickens that produce more eggs than they can eat, and don't care to go through the hassle of selling. As long as you show up with your own egg cartons, they'll load you up to go.
But yes, the government is completely dominated by corporations when it comes to food. The food pyramid/plate is a completely inaccurate concept. The recommended portions are way off, especially for carbohydrates. You learn that during the first year of med school.
Location really affects availability of affordable healthy food. DH and I hunt our own meat and catch our own fish. I buy meat and poultry from the wholesale club to supplement about twice a year. Deep freezer really helps so I can buy in bulk when things go on sale.
Frozen vegetables are debatably healthier than fresh vegetables (when farm grown) since they are picked at the height of the season and freezing preserves the minerals, and they are cheaper, too. We also have a lot of friends and family with garden overflow, so we have more squash/cucumbers/tomatoes/zucchini than we'll ever be able to eat.
There are also local people who have chickens that produce more eggs than they can eat, and don't care to go through the hassle of selling. As long as you show up with your own egg cartons, they'll load you up to go.
But yes, the government is completely dominated by corporations when it comes to food. The food pyramid/plate is a completely inaccurate concept. The recommended portions are way off, especially for carbohydrates. You learn that during the first year of med school.
I'm buying eggs and most of my veggies at the farmer's market right now. Some things are cheaper than the supermarket, and some are not but most of it tastes better. I'm growing a small garden this year which is helping some, though I don't have the space/permanence to really meet our needs. I joined a herd share at a local farm with pastured cows so I can get high-quality raw milk. Unfortunately this is a lot more expensive than grocery store milk, but I'm willing to pay the difference. I'm also a CSA member of a nearby farm. To be honest I'm not sure I'm getting my money's worth out of that. Maybe this farm is just not very good so I'll try it again with a different one next year. Last month we spent around $350 on groceries for two people. We could eat just potatoes, beans, rice, bell peppers, and onions like we did all winter and save some money, but I'm enjoying eating my way through summer in the middle of rich farmland.
I don't think the sugar in most fruit is something to be overly concerned with. Their glycemic loads are almost all quite small, until they've been tampered with (dried [usually soaked w/sugar too] or canned [again with sugar], or juiced concentrate [essentially a sugar])... Also, we've been eating them forever and they have nutritional value.
The following would cause less of an insulin release than a bowl of breakfast cereal:
12 peaches
7 cups (1.75 lbs) sweet cherries or strawberries
5 kiwis
4 apples or papayas
3-4 pears or oranges
2 bananas (or 2 cups mango)... Bananas are pretty glycemic. I usually only eat .5 banana in one sitting, just to be cautious
http://www.alsearsmd.com/glycemic-index/
The following would cause less of an insulin release than a bowl of breakfast cereal:
12 peaches
7 cups (1.75 lbs) sweet cherries or strawberries
5 kiwis
4 apples or papayas
3-4 pears or oranges
2 bananas (or 2 cups mango)... Bananas are pretty glycemic. I usually only eat .5 banana in one sitting, just to be cautious
http://www.alsearsmd.com/glycemic-index/
I try to eat quasi-paleo. If you are going to shun the grains and legumes, there is no question that your calories are going to be pricier. In striving for ERE, I've reframed my food cost. In much the way that Jacob spends on bike tools to aid in his mastery of bicycle repair, I look at my quality food ingredients as the raw material for exploring the challenge of cooking that is more cuisine than fuel. As the Chairman says on Iron Chef, "Allez cuisine!" (from the bad old days when I used to watch TV).
Breakfast cereal is also the enemy. I'm not the insane food person in the house. I was raised on rice, so I have a hard time giving up a carb-based diet. DH, on the other hand, has cut out all carbs. His diet pretty much consists of cheese, butter, meat, fish, eggs, and vegetables. At this point, he has to eat quite a bit to keep from losing any more weight. Combined with the strength training, I do have to admit that he is probably 10x healthier than me, but I have pregnancy as an excuse ...for now.
I thought I'd use lunch today as an example of what I was driving at above:
1/2 lb. porkchop smothered in onions & mushrooms sauted in butter (approx. $2);
handful of carrots (approx. $0.50);
handful of cherries (approx. $0.70); and
1.5 oz. raw almonds (approx. $0.38)
Total Calories, approx. 1000 Kcal.
Cost per calorie, approx. $0.00358
By comparision, 5 cups of cooked rice (approx. $0.80 per lb. in bulk) would cost approx. $0.0008 per Kcal., about four times cheaper.
1/2 lb. porkchop smothered in onions & mushrooms sauted in butter (approx. $2);
handful of carrots (approx. $0.50);
handful of cherries (approx. $0.70); and
1.5 oz. raw almonds (approx. $0.38)
Total Calories, approx. 1000 Kcal.
Cost per calorie, approx. $0.00358
By comparision, 5 cups of cooked rice (approx. $0.80 per lb. in bulk) would cost approx. $0.0008 per Kcal., about four times cheaper.
Ahhh, Maus... Smothered porkchop sounds awesome. Feels like stomach got punched!
When I lived on the cheapest processed carbs I was slowly accumulating extra weight. On a paleo it is a struggle to keep weight on... Not a complaint that will earn you many friends, but it isn't fun or cheap. I'm more of an eat for fuel type, so I sometimes miss the ease of processed foods.
But I knew it was damaging me. Long, healthy, energetic life > good tastes and insulin spike addiction... And I want a very long retirement.
When I lived on the cheapest processed carbs I was slowly accumulating extra weight. On a paleo it is a struggle to keep weight on... Not a complaint that will earn you many friends, but it isn't fun or cheap. I'm more of an eat for fuel type, so I sometimes miss the ease of processed foods.
But I knew it was damaging me. Long, healthy, energetic life > good tastes and insulin spike addiction... And I want a very long retirement.
If you want a lot of nutritional bang for your buck, eat some greens. In Texas, a big bunch is a dollar or less, though some other places we've visited, they might be three times that. You're getting a lot for that dollar or couple of dollars. Get ones with lower oxalic acid (ex~ collards rather than chard) if you want to get the calcium out of them. I've been slacking while traveling, but I used to try to eat them at least 3 times a week.
@JohnnyH
Yeah. I struggle with "food reward" because I got an amped up dose of the hardwiring for sweet, salty and umami. I tell myself that I no longer miss the daily jolt of diet soda or potato chips, but the truth is, as you suggest, WRT these foods: "deny or die". I try to avoid them 100% and succeed 98%.
Oh, and BTW, the porkchop was AWESOME! (Yes, @Jacob, a rare deserving instance of the blighted hyberbole.)
Yeah. I struggle with "food reward" because I got an amped up dose of the hardwiring for sweet, salty and umami. I tell myself that I no longer miss the daily jolt of diet soda or potato chips, but the truth is, as you suggest, WRT these foods: "deny or die". I try to avoid them 100% and succeed 98%.
Oh, and BTW, the porkchop was AWESOME! (Yes, @Jacob, a rare deserving instance of the blighted hyberbole.)
I think spending my money on good food is a better use of it than spending on crappy food. So I'll get the gourmet cheese and just eat less cheese (and eat it plain instead of melted on something where you really can't taste it) or make my own delicious yogurt from raw milk rather than buy the crappy kind that isn't as tasty.
I find I can get a lot of organ meat for free if I go to butchers and ask, because people are only eating the muscle meat in North America these days. Organ meats are generally the most micronutrient dense parts of meat. In Korea they are using all of the organ meats and parts of the animal so you still have to buy it, but I've found I can get free slabs of pork fat there too, which I render into lard. By that I mean I just throw it on a frying pan and drain it into a container when it becomes liquid. It's great for making kimchi soup or eating with sweet potatoes or squash/pumpkin. I also try to make good use of bones of animals, which are thrown away by most people in the West. Use the chicken carcass or fish head to boil for a long time to start a soup. Calcium and other elements will enter the broth. I recommend the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon for recipes; alternatively you could search the Weston A Price Foundation website for recipes.
-
George the other one
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:55 pm
- Contact:
I eat about 2200 calories of oatmeal daily (15 servings). Honestly, I love oatmeal but even if I didn't I would still eat it just because it sticks with you through the day, has numerous health benefits, and is cheap.
Here is an outline of what I did and ate today:
Ate 5 servings of oatmeal for breakfeast (cost .33 cents).
Rode my bike 6.5 miles to work.
Ate 10 servings of oatmeal for lunch (cost .66 cents)
Rode my bike 6.5 miles home.
Ran 16.25 miles in 112 minutes.
Ate 100oz (volume) of tomato stew (cost 3.5-ish dollars)*
Did a push up workout.
Baked and ate some Rye Zucchini Bread.** (haven't priced this one out yet)
Everything was made from scratch so I feel pretty safe/healthy about what I ate. I didn't eat any meat today and I feel really sketchy about how beef/chicken/turkey/pig are raised and pumped full of chemicals.
*The stew had 3 "B" potatoes, 2 cups of zucchini, Half a big onion, .25 lbs of cheese, a clove of garlic, a bunch of noodles, half a cup of corn, half a cup of green beans, half a cup of peas, 20-ish ounces of 10-bean soup, and a tomato. (Usually I also add tomato paste, but I didn't today)
Here is an outline of what I did and ate today:
Ate 5 servings of oatmeal for breakfeast (cost .33 cents).
Rode my bike 6.5 miles to work.
Ate 10 servings of oatmeal for lunch (cost .66 cents)
Rode my bike 6.5 miles home.
Ran 16.25 miles in 112 minutes.
Ate 100oz (volume) of tomato stew (cost 3.5-ish dollars)*
Did a push up workout.
Baked and ate some Rye Zucchini Bread.** (haven't priced this one out yet)
Everything was made from scratch so I feel pretty safe/healthy about what I ate. I didn't eat any meat today and I feel really sketchy about how beef/chicken/turkey/pig are raised and pumped full of chemicals.
*The stew had 3 "B" potatoes, 2 cups of zucchini, Half a big onion, .25 lbs of cheese, a clove of garlic, a bunch of noodles, half a cup of corn, half a cup of green beans, half a cup of peas, 20-ish ounces of 10-bean soup, and a tomato. (Usually I also add tomato paste, but I didn't today)
I'm trying to reduce my food budget while eating Paleo-ish. Most sources seem to say that grass-fed meat is nice but not necessary so I mostly stick to the supermarket stuff, especially beef as its fatty acid profile is still reasonable (yes the omega-6:3 ratio isn't as good, but the total omega 3 and 6 content is very small in the first place, and I think we're all past the "saturated fat is unhealthy" myth). I liked the "loss leaders" idea in the book, but loss leaders on real food just aren't very common, at least where I am. You can find weekly specials on meat which claim to be great offers (e.g., a big "£2.50" sticker, with "per kg" in tiny writing, or "half price" on a product that's never sold at the claimed full price) but aren't actually any cheaper than the standard items. Maybe this is one area where living outside the city where there's bigger and cheaper supermarkets and/or farms gives you an advantage...
-
George the other one
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:55 pm
- Contact: