Have you ever noticed that everything on the latest health food or diet craze is not within your financial means? All of the “healthy” food is at least three times more expensive than the not-so-healthy choices. I try to eat healthy and “clean,” but I’m on a very limited budget.
I mean, let’s face it, ground beef is the cheapest option in the beef department (as opposed to steaks and roasts) and the ground beef with the highest fat content is also the cheapest of the ground beef choices. So, that’s what I buy. The truth is, I can buy 3 packages of the cheapest ground beef, enough for 3-6 meals, depending on what I’m cooking, or I can buy 1 package of the more expensive ground beef and net 1-2 meals. It’s economics vs. my health. Sometimes it’s the difference between actually eating anything or nothing at all. And, ground beef is so versatile. It goes with anything. But, it’s not necessarily healthy. Oh how I’d love to buy those choice lean cuts of meat.
The same with juice or any other drink options. The less sugar and preservatives and additives, the higher the price. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. Soda is cheap. And cheap soda (not name brand) is even cheaper still. Green drinks or Odwalla type juices are expensive. I can by an entire case of soda for the same price as 2 green drinks from the health food section at the supermarket. I don’t understand it, but that’s the truth.
Plain white “enriched” bread is often less than a dollar a loaf. Bread with whole grains and wheat flour is 4 times that much. Then there’s the free-range, grass-fed meats and cage-free eggs that are exorbitant in price. Who can afford these things? Not me. Are they really that much better for me? Am I leading myself to an early grave because I’m poor?
And don’t even get me started on organic anything. Add the word organic and it goes up by at least twice as much as the non-organic equivalent. Organic bananas – $1.29 a pound. Regular bananas – $.33 a pound. What’s up people? It seems like it should be the opposite. I mean someone has to pay for all of the fertilizer and chemicals used to spray the non-organic stuff. Wouldn’t that drive the price up not down?
I tried switching to nuts instead of chips to satisfy my cravings for salty snacks. Do you know how many more chips I can get for the same price as that 8 oz can of mixed nuts? A lot.
Anyway, I’m trying to eat sensibly but my pocketbook and growling stomach demand more than the healthy options afford. So while I still avoid the soda (most of the time) I do buy the cheap cuts of meat and the non-organic vegetables and the sugar-rich juices, although I usually drink water or tea. If I had to eat healthy, I’d have enough money to eat about 4 meals a week. That’s not gonna cut it for me. I like to eat. Every day. Sometimes more than once a day. Thank God for the dollar menus at Taco Bell.
How about you guys, do you eat only organic or healthy foods? Do you think organic is better for your body? How to do you stretch your pocketbook to include healthy grocery items? I’d love some suggestions.
Word of the day: Kibe
Fun fact about me: I used to drink Jolt soda. Anybody remember that? Twice as much sugar and twice as much caffeine. Good times!
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, May 2019. Images by Unsplash.
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This post is dead on, Patricia. I do a lot of the grocery shopping and couldn’t agree more. Thankfully for me, I don’t even pretend to want to eat healthy. I’m not a big eater, but love me some meat and potatoes. And sweets…don’t even go there.
Your “fact about me” comment brought back to mind an incident that could have killed me. I was traveling in my sales territory and really getting sleepy at the wheel. I stopped at a 7-eleven and bought a Jolt soda, not having had one before. Within 10 minutes on the road, I began sweating profusely and getting light-headed. I had to pull over to the side quickly. I took about 45 minutes of resting on the side before I could continue. It was my first and last Jolt soda.
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Ha! Al, I’m sure a Jolt soda would probably kill me now, since I’ve pretty much given up soda altogether. But, as a teen-ager, I sometimes had 2 of those puppies a day. Times have changed that’s for sure.
And, here’s to the meat and potato people. At least potatoes are cheap right? And they last a long time so you can buy a whole bunch at once and not have to go back to the store every day.
As always, thanks for visiting. I hope you have a Jolt-free week!
Patricia
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Just for example, tonight I’m deciding between a grilled ham and cheese or a pizza for dinner, along with a beer. Unhealthy enough for you?
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They both sound delicious!
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“They” – the people who seem to know everything and are always telling us what is healthy and what is unhealthy, get it wrong and/or do 180 degree flops so often I pay zero attention to them. “Eggs are bad for you. No, you need to eat eggs.” “Coffee will kill you. No, coffee is good for you.” If you listen to the ‘experts,’ you will spend most of your time scratching your head.
I eat red meat – particularly rib-eye steak – anytime I want, and I salt everything thoroughly. I don’t eat as much fat as I used to, but I don’t avoid it altogether, either. Since I’m diabetic, I do severely limit carbs, but other than that, I eat pretty much what I want – and at 76, I’m healthier than most people I know.
I don’t care what “they” say.
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Yeah, I’m with you on the “experts.” I believe in everything in moderation (except smoking or drugs). We’re all going to die from something and life is short so I don’t really worry too much about it, but since having cancer I’ve tried to be a little bit more aware of what I put into my body. I’ve never really been a label reader, but sometimes the foods I know are healthier for me I truly cannot afford to buy. I’ll use avocados as an example. Just today I went grocery shopping for the inn. I picked up some salad greens for myself and wanted to add some tomatoes, cucumbers and avocados for color and flavor. Avocados were $1.99 EACH. $1.99 for 1 stinking avocado. That’s crazy. It’ll be an avocado-free salad for me.
Anyway, I’m glad I’m not the only one. I try, but there’s only so much a few dollars will buy.
Have a wonderful week my friend.
Patricia
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You are absolutely right. Its ridiculous and I refuse to pay 5x the price for organic bananas oranges or similar when I dont even eat the exterior that gets sprayed. I actually watched an entire documentary on the subject. According to the experts on that show only worry about produce that have consumable exterior or very thin outer layer. I also buy the clearance meat, the big package and split it up. Anything to stretch a $$. And I consume as much gluten as I can.
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I also get the big packages of meat and divide them up. I have to stretch the money everywhere possible. And I’ll get a big bag of potatoes because they last a long time. So does cabbage but there’s only so much cabbage a person can eat before needing a break.
And I too consume large doses of gluten. I could live on bread alone.
Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts. I’m glad I’m not alone here.
Patricia
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Since my doctor instructed me to go gluten free, I know exactly what you’re talking about. While some people follow gluten free as a fad, it’s necessary for me, and since the fad has become so popular, any time a package can claim gluten free, apparently that’s a license to double the price. So annoying. I have a garden, so during summer and fall, I can avoid spending the big bucks on organic vegetables and fruits, at least. I suppose anything organic is more expensive because it produces less than plants treated with all the chemicals, but still. It shouldn’t be so hard to eat healthy!
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It’s ridiculous that some food prices sky rocket just because of the latest fad diet. I remember when grapefruit juice soared because the grapefruit diet was all the rage. Now, it’s priced normally. Same thing with bottled water. Some brands are exorbitant. You can’t tell me the expensive water is that much better for you. I’m not going to believe any argument presented.
I’m glad you grow your own veggies. There is nothing like the taste of tomatoes fresh off the vine.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week.
Patricia
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