Eating healthfully: Expensive? Time-consuming? You decide
June 14, 2010 by dianescholten
The other day on Facebook I posted a link to a blog entry I liked on the Money & Happiness blog. This particular entry was on the relationships between obesity and income (http://www.moneyandhappiness.com/blog/?p=965).
I found the article interesting, but I found the comment stream on my Facebook page even more interesting. My commentary, in posting the link was “Interesting article on links between money and obesity. I think she left out one important variable, that is related to money, but not entirely – that is socioeconomic class. I don’t know this for a fact, but I think a Hummer might cost more than a Prius, but I think we’re talking two different strains of population here. The Whole Paycheck peeps are different from the Albertsons peeps in more than money, I think….”
The first comment was from my friend Carolyn who said “It’s expensive to eat well.”
My friend Dave countered with “Isn’t the author making the point that good food is *less* expensive than junk?
Convenience foods are highly processed, loaded with preservatives, and elaborately packaged. People buy them ’cause they’re easy, not ’cause they’re cheap.
The Albertson’s/Whole Foods thing is a red herring. By nature of the products they carry, a WF shopper is going to have a more healthy diet — you’d have to work relatively hard to find fattening food there. The Albertson’s shopper can find good food and pay less for it than for bad food, but you have to do it on purpose. The author makes that clear.
Eating garbage is not the unavoidable lot of the poor. It’s the result of bad decisions.”
I agree with Dave. I had mentioned to Carolyn that in my hippie youth I was poor as dirt but ate pretty healthfully – though it involved more beans and rice than salmon. She countered saying she couldn’t eat grains.
Tonight I made an over-the-top delicious variation on the classic French summer salad “Salad Nicoise”.
I started with a big handful of homegrown greens from my friend Bill’s garden. Cost to me – only trying to be a decent friend to this generous and kind man. If you know any gardeners getting some free greens right now should be very easy!
The only prep time was hard boiling 4 Farmer Nick’s eggs (2 of which I used in the salad – have two as snacks). Farmer Nick’s eggs ARE expensive compared to factory farmed eggs – that is unless you are measuring by true nutrients. Cost per nutrient they’re probably cheaper, but in terms of money$4.00/dozen so 70 cents worth of eggs.
While the eggs were boiling, I steamed some asparagus and cooked some potatoes. Both were from last week’s shopping and needed to go – so they were ‘rescue veggies’ in their way. Dunno the exact cost – bought the asparagus at the store, the potatoes at the Farmer’s Market and there were just a few of each. I would estimate it was about 75 cents tops for these.
Though it’s not part of the traditional recipe, I sliced up 1/4 of a red pepper as much for color as anything – I think I could call that another 40 cents.
Fresh garlic (3 cloves), 1/2 lemon and some garlic-infused olive oil maybe added anther 75 cents.
The big-ticket item (and the source of protein in tonight’s dinner) was a can of tuna. I don’t have an exact price, but a quick Google search tells me that $2 is a fair estimate for this.
That comes to $4.60. Even if I’m really underpricing things, let’s say $6 to be wildly high. This was salad for 2 meals – so $3 each for tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s lunch. I don’t think that’s rich people dining, though it was delicious enough (and befits the movie star region of the world from which it emanates – Nice, along the mediterranean in the south of France).
This little exercise was a helpful reminder to me when I feel i don’t have time to cook. See Carolyn thinks it’s expensive to eat healthfully, but I tend to think it’s time-consuming. And really, getting in my car and driving to Panera for the Fuji Apple Chicken salad (my usual ‘fast dinner’ if I’m on the run) not only would have cost me over $8, but would have taken LONGER than fixing this delicious meal.
So if one of the results of the post-crash economy is that we take matters more into our own hands and do for ourselves, maybe one of the unintended consequences COULD BE better health.
I know I came home exhausted and a bit cranky. 20 minutes of meditation and my fancy French salad dinner and now I want to go for a walk and maybe (after all the veggies settle in) even do some crunches or use my new weight bench to do some bench presses. Eating healthfully rejuvenates us in a myriad of ways – including spiritually and emotionally.
And there’s little in life and cooking that some good fresh garlic won’t help, don’t you think?
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It does cost more to buy organic or even just fresh fruits and vegetables but in the long run it is cheaper. If you figure in all the medical costs resulting in eating processed/junk foods laden with chemicals no one can pronounce it seems to me to be cheaper to eat better food that unfortunately cost more. Healthy meals can be prepared in very little time with a little advanced thought and preparation. I know it’s tough when one works and has young children. But isn’t being healthy more important than a quick meal of non-nourishing food?
Diane, great post!! And the Salad Nicoise sounds wonderful (all except the tuna, I would leave that off!!) And fresh garlic…nothing better!!
Hey Myra – you and I think alike (as always!) – except on the tuna
I tell my friends who object to the high cost of good food – would you rather spend the money here or on “health” “care”?
Plus good food tastes so, well, GOOD!
I’m thinking I should have added some black olives – that would have been good. Next time.
And instead of packaged low-fat chocolate pudding for dessert, I just made myself a strawberry/blueberry smoothie that was way yum. Greek yogurt/milk really makes for a delicious smoothie!
I totally think it has a hell of a lot to do with lack of education about healthy foods, time (lack of it) and bad habits passed down either over generations or within socioeconomic class.
People have to LEARN how to eat well. Eating crap and blindly following the powerful marketing forces to your local fast food joint is the easy way; learning about the food groups and proper health takes effort. A large chunk of Health class in school was about eating … you don’t see Ronald McDonald giving classes on how to eat shitty, preservative-laded “food.” Not needed.
The time factor is really sad, and I think it’s also connected to the lack of education. But the author’s right when she says the two working parents with no time on their hands may not carve that time out to learn how to cook healthy meals, etc.
When I was broke, I bought things that I knew would go a long way, make me full, and didn’t cost a lot. Eggs, potatoes, pasta and garlic bread felt like one of the only “real” meals I’d eat, mac & cheese, ramen noodles, etc. I don’t really care for fish, salad seemed like a waste of money as it never felt very filling, and chicken… well, a person can only eat so much chicken! So as you’ve probably noticed I pretty much lived off of carbs. Food was some necessity to get out of the way in order to quell hunger pains and go on with the day, not some conduit of nutrients to increase my health. Just never connected those dots until I got a little older. I’m not sure why.
Amie -
Thank you so much for your thoughtful, honest post. As you know, I very much value your opinion and seek it out!
I think family and socioeconomic class play a HUGE role in our food choices (I made that point – well the class issue point at least – in my original sharing of the link on Facebook).
For those of us who grew up with a parent or parents who have/had food issues our view of food starts out skewed.
How different for our friends who grew up in families with food traditions and a sense of the sacredness and sensuality and delight of good food.
I wonder if you see food as a task (“food was some necessity to get out of the way…”) or a way of Being Good (“conduit of nutrients”) but not as a way of connecting with the Life Force (aka God/creativity/sensuality) and pleasure?
My dad cooked a lot and seems to overall have a healthy relationship to food while my mother’s relationship to food was quite skewed and she clearly saw everything about food as a chore. So i’ve had some very mixed feelings myself.
Add to that my sugar addiction (and white starchy food = sugar, let’s not kid ourselves) and I’ve had some issues wiht making sense of it all. Luckily, like my dad I really do LOVE good, healthy food and could easily be a foodie (in a good way). But then the Sugar Junkie can get in my way.
I agree with you about education. Luckily for me, it was part of the hippie ethos (at least my band of hippies) to explore new things about food – part of our rebellion against Velveeta and fish sticks and the like – and a lot that i learned about nutrition i learned from my hippie pals (and voracious reading).
I really love getting people excited about how good and easy and inexpensive and healthy food can be. Perhaps you guys could come on by and we could have a cooking night – have fun, make a kickass dinner and revel in the true delight that eating “right” can be! It’s a serious invitation.
As a single mom of two young children, and having a full time job on top of that, I can honestly say that I do not have the time to shop Farmer’s Markets (though I’m working on getting that into the routine). Therefore, I must shop at the local chain store and all of the healthy, yummy goodness that is on the outside perimeter of the store is, no doubt, expensive. On top of that, the organics and naturals are even more pricey. But I am paying the higher price for the convenience of having it at a location that is on the way home from work, or sometimes right around the corner from the Cubicle Hell that I can swing into on my lunch break.
EDUCATION IS KEY. I could only wish that I had someone to literally MAP OUT cost-effective HEALTHY meals for me and the kids. If it comes that easy to anyone SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE. How about an “Easy Does It” blog… simple, organic, healthy, tasty recipes that are cost effective and a cinch to throw together. Another bonus? Have some sort of collection or data base of the Farmer’s Markets. Everything you need on one awesome blog. If it already exists, point me to it.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. A “simple creation” may come easy to many, but to this 30 year old that is over-worked it’s a bit harder.
Is food a task? Yes and no. Changing Tyler’s diet at first was a HUGE task. A new learning… but it got easier. Right now, DINNER IS THE DEVIL. LUNCH IS LAME. BREAKFAST IS… well, you get the point.
Melissa -
Totally agree that education is the key and that absent ease it just won’t happen, especially for working moms. My nieces Daniella and Julia (both moms of 3 little kids) rave about a web site called the Six O’Clock Scramble, which focuses on healthy meals you can make in 30 minutes or less: http://thescramble.com/ . There are also lots of cool recipes and healthy living ideas at a website I got into for weight loss (but it’s not just for that) – sparkpeople: http://www.sparkpeople.com . I recently started reading a very cool blog, http://agrigirl.wordpress.com . The author, Tammy McLeod is also a mom who wants to teach her children well (her 11 year old son just wrote a guest post – you’ll have to read it for that alone!).
I agree with you & Amie – it’s education. On WHY it’s important to eat right (it matters a LOT, and even more so for kids whose brains and bodies are being created by what you feed them – i wonder when i see parents giving their kids crap – do you really want your kid to have a Cheeto-brain? really?).
But it also matters to learn about the emotional and spiritual consequences individually. And the consequences to our planet.
I think one wonderful book for those points is Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” – it’s really instructive, well written, short and easy to read. You’ll learn a lot.
Jamie Olivers’ Food Revolution cookbook which I recently got looks really good and practical. I’m making dinner tonight and tomorrow from recipes in the cookbook – will let y’all know how it turns out.
Seems like a bunch of the peeps on agrigirl’s blog are working moms – or at least moms – so the issues around getting your kids engaged might be addressed there. Moms who read this blog – chime in!
I get the overworked part for you. And I think there are some kickass meals you could make for you & the kids that are just about as fast as microwaving some processed stuff.
And maybe get the kids involved. The other night my 5 year old friend Michael made my dinner. Whole wheat pasta with tomato-based sauce (not sure if it was store bought or some his mom had made earlier) and cherries. It was a great dinner!