As I look at my grocery receipt for this week, I cringe seeing it at $150.00, and that is only for 1.5 people! I believe that buying healthy food is less expensive than going out to eat; however, buying organic food costs way more than standard food.
Many registered dieticians, understanding the cost difference, recommend that, at a minimum, you choose these organic foods; dairy, meats, fruits and vegetables where you eat the skin. When I compare prices for just milk and chicken, I am spending on average an extra $15 a week. Then when you add up all the fruits and vegetables such as spinach, arugula, grapes, apples, tomatoes and beets; that is an extra $8-$12. That is roughly $1,400 a year. That total does not include “extras” like organic yogurt, cottage cheese and eggs, which are expensive items on their own. I love quinoa but in the grocery store a small bag costs $13. Another favorite is Ezekiel bread and wraps which cost $7 for a loaf of bread and $4 for wraps and they NEVER go on sale.
I shouldn’t do it, but let’s look at the cost of healthier snack foods compared to processed foods. Almonds, pistachios or walnuts cost almost three times as much of a bag of chips. Unless you want Terra chips or a more natural vegetable chip, which costs about the same as the almonds. You can find a bag of processed potato chips “Buy One Get One Free” in almost every weekly sale, but raw almonds and walnuts rarely go on sale.
I am all for healthy eating and think there are ways to get deals and find sales. But for the average middle class family to buy healthy organic food, it can be very costly. I think for there to be a change in the way we eat, it needs to be more affordable. In an effort to help, I am now making weekly social media posts for sales on organic produce and other healthy buys. Hopefully as more consumers buy organic foods, grocery stores will be able to order in larger quantities and lower their prices. We can all dream, right?