I have an ongoing debate happening with an overweight friend about the cost of healthy eating. She contends that the poor can't eat healthy meals because it costs too much. That fresh fruits and vegetables are not in the budget where pasta and starchy foods are affordable. I don't find buying fresh veggies to be expensive. Fruit can be because I live in a northern area where most fresh fruit is imported putting the price up for part of the year.

I contend that buying a smaller quantity of good, fresh, healthy food is better than stuffing yourself with pastas, breads and junk food. I truly think a lot of it is mindset on how much you need to eat. Her thought is that it isn't her fault she is overweight because of her poor diet not that she makes poor choices.

Even if you had to live on cheap pastas, etc there has to be some ability to control portions. It can't be cheaper to eat a whole bag of pasta rather than eating a healthy amount of veggies and low fat meat.

Anyone else have any thoughts? I have to admit I've never had to live on a fixed income but that's another story when it comes to work ethic......

I don't think it is true at all that the poor cannot afford to eat a healthy diet. When I was a student, I was on a very limited budget and I found that becoming a vegetarian saved me money. It helped my budget more than I can say. When I had more money, I went back to eating meat and other things.

I ate a mixture of fresh and tinned fruit and vegetables. For carbohydrates, I usually ate potatoes, which can be bought cheaply and cooked in a variety of ways and are filling in small amounts. I supplemented this with carrots, peas (usually tinned), beans, sweetcorn (usually tinned), leafy vegetables, tomatos, as well as bananas, apples, oranges grapes, etc. There are usually bargins to be had if one shops at the end of the day and one doesn't buy premium or organic stuff. To save more money, I rarely ate junk food and I never bought processed meals. I lost some weight on this regime and I felt healthier.

The reason that the poor do not eat a healthy diet is that they don't want to eat a healthy diet. You never hear of poor people lobbying for more fruit and vegetables at lower prices in the shops. While they may, for instance, be on the lookout for bargain pork pies and crisps (potato chips), they never, ever, in my experience - and I have lived among them - even try to find bargain fruit and veg. The people lobbying for this are people who want the poor to eat these things, even though the poor will not eat them if they have other options.

I have to agree that the costs of fresh fruits and veggys is high this time of year but frozen and canned are not as bad and have to be healthier than pastas. I to lived on pastas while in school (KD) but I think our age and metabolism helped geep us in shape, not quite as easy with age.

Thanks for your input. I don't think my grocery bill is any higher for buying good healthy food. Pre prepared frozen dinners etc seem expensive to me and the food quality is definitely questionable. I'll stick to my fruits and veggies.

We can't assume that all the poor eat the same way any more than all the rich do. Some of the rich eat rich pastries, lots of meat, and other rich foods, others are vegetarians or vegans and eat very carefully.

We had a few years when money was very very tight, and I was very focused on health. Since I could not afford meat (and we had kiddos) I made sure to get complete proteins with whole grains, beans, lentils and other inexpensive foods. I ordered food in bulk from whole food distributors. A group of us ordered together and we could share things.

We did very little pasta- nobody liked whole wheat pasta. I spent money on good seasonings so that the kids would enjoy the food. Do you know that the kids never had cavities in their teeth when growing up, which I was told would be the case if we ate only whole grains. I also grew a garden and canned and froze things. That costs money to do, so some poor cannot do that. But growing a garden is not expensive compared to shopping for the same foods! When we did have a little extra money, I ordered treats, but healthy treats. The kids loved it when the truck (lorrie) came in!

Compare the price of vegetables to a bag of corn chips or potato chips. Those are very spendy for what is in the bag! A couple of sliced and fried potatoes for $4? Ridiculous! A few ounces of corn? That is really a waste of scarce food money, but people have a right to choose. And I admit to craving carbs and hating my diet if it means I have to do without carbs. When I go buy a lot of veggies and it is time to make dinner, I don't want to cook and I don't want to eat. When I finally give up and cook it all though, it smells and tastes wonderful! Even without fancy sauces. Once it is cooked, I love having a big old plate of veggies. And I feel good about what I am eating.

I agree with your friend that pastas are cheaper than meat and veggies. But there are ways around that as my experience has shown. It is really about how much you care about having a healthier diet. If you just want to eat pasta, that is your choice. But you can find other ways.

Kesach, you are right, we can't assume anything about anyone. Here in the US, especially in the Northeast fruits and veggies are expensive, and not very appealling especially in the winter. Decent tomatoes have been really hard to find for a long time out of season. Everytime there is any harsh weather in the south, prices rise alot and quality goes down even further. BUT, we have this great, almost nationwide food coop called Angel Food Ministries www.angelfoodministries.com that offers good food (both healthy and not so healthy) including allergen free packages. My Lions Club started a community service project this year of picking up the food at the co-op location and delivering it to the seniors and disabled in our low income housing developments. It's a once a month delivery but they take food stamps and most of our seniors get very limited food stamps (US 10.00), and they really appreciate it. The most popular thing ordered is the Senior Convenience Boxes, which are one person frozen meals, but seem to be better nutrionally than your typical frozen meal, and they only cost 2.80 each. I delivered one package last month and the woman is wheelchair bound and told me she used to love to cook, but physically can't do it anymore, she has to nuke her food.

Sounds good! When I used to order from a distributor, we got the food wholesale. It was health food, and cost no more than retail foods at the grocery store. I bought 25 lb. bags of beans and rice and large blocks of cheese, seasonings, tortillas, etc. I need to get back to that group!

I think if you compare going out and eating fast food vs. say, eating a Caesar's salad with chicken (which you can get at a lot of fast food places now), chances are the salad will cost more. That's only because of dollar menus and so forth, I think you can eat very cheaply on fast food.

But if you are comparing the prices of eating healthy vs. junk with foods you prepare at home, it may be a different story. A lot of it may depend on where you live. I'm fortunate to live in the South, with a long growing season, great produce place within walking distance of my house, many farmer's markets to choose from on weekends, etc. But as someone else mentioned, even frozen veggies in a supermarket are better than eating junk. So it may not depend so much on where you live. There seem to be plenty of healthy choices.

Rich/poor/middle-class- people eat bad food because it's convenient, it's all they know, or they've developed a taste for it, or all three.

totally agree! The information and advice you are giving is great. I believe that eating healthier and in proportion is very important for everyone in their journey to a healthier life style. Having the right mind set, will power and real commitment are essential.

This is a question very near and dear to me, because I have been very aggressively trying to budget and save over the past couple of years. I have been tireless in shopping sales and looking for coupon deals.

It is true that pasta, rice, beans, and pototoes can be cheap ways to stretch a grocery budget. And unfortunately, healthier alternatives such as whole wheat pasta can cost significantly more. So I was worried about the cost of the low carb diet I am currently doing, which involves eating lots of salad, lots of fresh non-starchy veggies, and grilled meats or deli meats.

Meat and fresh veggies are relatively expensive. However, I have not seen a big change in my grocery costs. I think this is because I am eating less. This diet is very filling, I just don't need a lot to fill me up. Salad ingredients aren't terribly expensive. A big salad followed by a few ounces of grilled meat and some canned green beans or fresh or frozen steamed veggies is not a very expensive meal. And I am not buying any junk food, and very mininal amounts of pre-packaged, prepared foods or mixes, all of which are expensive alternatives to "real" food. Eliminating these items saves money.

I think the trick is to shop sales. Check the weekly flyer and stock up on those items that are on sale. If bell peppers and ground beef on are sale super cheap, then have stuffed bell peppers and a big salad for dinner that week. It does take some planning, but menu planning and shopping sales will save a ton. Plus the savings you will reap from better health!