Blog

Do you ever wonder how it’s possible to spend $95 a week at the grocery store? I never walk into a grocery store without my carefully thought out and extensively planned list, if I can help it, because I simply cannot be trusted. Without a precise list of the exact items I came for, I come out with spinach, a chocolate doughnut and garlic paste – random crap you can’t put together a proper or remotely edible meal with. Since I plan each week’s meals on Monday morning and have the chance to scour the cabinets and fridge to see what we’re out of and what we already have in stock before I hit up Kroger, I always have a pretty clear indication of exactly what I need to buy so we don’t waste money on things we don’t need that week or things we already have enough of. I comb through the Sunday paper for coupons to clip too, but usually the coupons are for name brand products or processed foods we don’t eat much of. Sounds like an A+ plan for healthy eating and penny-pinching, right? I like to think so too but I’m always a little shocked when my total reaches the $90+ range.

Since I have the luxury of time to make all our meals fresh and from scratch right now while I’m job hunting, I do. I know that most people don’t have time to do this, so we’re very fortunate to be able to enjoy this. On nearly every grocery trip I stock up on fresh leans meats, fruits, vegetables and dairy. I’d say a good 85% or so of the cart is fresh items while 15% is canned, boxed or processed things. Plus, most of the things I make require lots of ingredients for nutrition and flavor, not just 3 or 4 easy ingredients. Between opting for healthier, fresh foods and a variety of ingredients, I can see how a trip to the store can be pricey. But why is the healthy stuff so much more expensive than the unhealthy junk? I don’t understand the logic behind it. There are phenomenal campaigns going on all across America to fight obesity in children, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in adults, encourage physical activity, promote healthy eating, and encourage people to help the farmer’s stay employed by buying more produce. I think any grocery store would claim to be on board with supporting and encouraging the health of their community, but their prices seem to say otherwise.

What’s on sale when you go shopping? Reduced-fat milk, whole wheat pasta, broccoli, 94% lean ground beef, and apples? No. It’s the white bread, cookies, chips, sodas, 10% juice “juice drinks”, and candy that’s on sale. I often wonder if I filled a cart with healthy food (fresh produce, chicken and fish, lean beef, rice, and dairy products) and filled another cart with less healthy things (soda, boxed meals, processed meats, fried and frozen dinners, etc.) how extreme of a price difference there would be in the outcome of this experiment, or how much more I could get for $100 if I bought the cart full of processed things. I truly believe that many people out there hear those campaigns. They want to eat healthier, eat fresher, and control their health and weight a little better for any number of reasons. But how discouraging is it when you find you simply can’t afford to fill up on healthy foods, but what you can afford is the stuff all these campaigns tell you to stay away from? I sometimes wonder how much money Ted and I could be saving (knowing it would come with the sacrifice of poor health and bulging waistlines) if I only shopped differently.

It’s pretty sad when so many people have to choose between their health and well-being and affordable food. I’ll step off my soap box, but before I do so, just imagine how nice of a change it would be if the expensive stuff was the junk food and fast food joints, and the affordable stuff was the fresh foods? People would buy what they could afford – fresh, healthy foods – and save the pricey junk food for special treats instead of subsisting on it on a day-to-day basis. Can you imagine how much healthier and happier everyone would be if only this were true? Farmers would have plenty of business, the rate of illness and disease would be drastically decreased, and because people are eating right, their bodies would be working properly, thus boosting their moods and brain power. People would be happier and healthier. With this post, I don’t care about the facts or statistics on health, or farming or obesity. I don’t care about the reasons why food is priced the way it is or why or how it could or couldn’t be changed. All I’m saying is in my dream world, things would be different.