According to a recent study, the high cost of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables makes it difficult for many people to eat healthy. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Various news agencies are running stories about a University of Washington study that found costs of healthy eating to be higher than the alternative. The study found that buying the kind of foods that the government recommends in the new “My Plate” guidelines would add just less than $8 a week.
Scholars say eating healthy costs more than $1 a day
An article is appearing on various websites, such as MSNBC and USA Today, about a study in the journal Health Affairs, prepared by scientists from the University of Washington. The study looked at costs of healthy eating, by adding up costs of food that would fit U.S. dietary guidelines from the “My Plate” program that replaced the USDA “Food Pyramid” that had been standard for some time. The study found the higher cost of eating healthy, according to MSNBC, could be seen as a barrier to people of lesser economic means, as the cost of buying food that fit the government standards for what constituted a healthy diet would be too expensive. The extra cost of buying healthy food was about $380 per year, or $1.04 per day.
Steady rise in cost of healthy foods
The cost of nutrient-dense foods — such as lean meats, whole grains, fruits and vegetables — may be rising faster than the price of food overall. According to a 2009 article in ABC, a similar study by the University of Washington found prices for healthy foods rose by 20 percent between 2007 and 2009, compared to 5 percent for food overall. According to the New York Times, a 2007 study found high-calorie, low-nutrient junk food dropped in price by 1.8 percent in that period. A recent survey by the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group, according to PhillyBurbs.com, found junk food had declined in price over the last 20 years, while costs of fruits and vegetables rose by nearly 40 percent. This recent study found that 15 percent of Americans don’t purchase the food they wish to, mostly because of cost. However, both University of Washington studies were done in King County, and according to Citydata.com that county has a higher cost of living than the national average.
Switching to iced tea from cola would make up the cost
Here’s an idea: drinking iced tea instead of soda could pay for the extra cost of eating healthy. According to Walmart.com, a pack of 48 Lipton tea bags costs $2.42. A 12-pack of soda usually costs about $3, for generic. A person can make a gallon of iced tea using six tea bags. With 48 bags per box, that’s eight gallons of iced tea per box of Lipton’s. A 12-pack of 12-ounce soda cans is 144 ounces of soda, or 1.125 gallons. According to Yahoo!, the average family of four drinks 2,400 sodas (225 gallons) per year, which is about 200 12-can packs of 12-ounce cans, costing $600 per year assuming a cost of $3 per 12-pack. If a family of four were to switch to iced tea, they would only have to buy 29 packs of Lipton tea bags, at an annual cost of $70.18, an annual savings of almost $530.
Sources
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