The cost of Healthy Eating?

[Novella]

So another thread got me thinking about how the cost of eating healthy food choices is more expensive in Australia and that doesnt sit well to me.

Heathy Food, Unhealthy Prices
LOW-INCOME families are struggling to afford healthy foods as price rises outstrip inflation, a South Australian Council of Social Service report has found.

The report, to be released today, has found food costs are rising at more than the inflation rate, but the cost of healthy food is rising even faster.

SACOSS executive director Ross Womersley said the rise was undermining public health messages to eat healthy food.

"Low income households spend proportionately more of their income on food and have less room to move in their weekly budgets," Mr Womersley said.

"They also have fewer resources to deal with the poorer health outcomes that result from unhealthy diets."

The report found the cost of healthy food had risen by 9 per cent more than the general price of food since 1990, and 29.2 per cent more than CPI.



Adelaide food prices rose by 2.9 per cent in the March quarter this year and 4.4 per cent for the period from March 2010 to March 2011.

He said the increasing cost of healthy food would also affect the low-paid working poor.

"Anyone earning less than $45,000-$50,000 per year is going to be really struggling," Mr Womersley said.

"It impacts on the choices they make."

The SACOSS report found a two-child family relying on the Newstart allowance would have felt a $12 cost of living increase in the past 12 months, compared with a $7.45 increase in their allowance.

It says that at the extreme, poor diet becomes not a choice but an economic imperative. Mr Womersley said the increasing cost of food was a growing trend, further affected by natural disasters in recent years.

Dr Jon Buckley, from the Nutritional Physiology Research Centre at UniSA, said good nutrition was important factor in preventing the onset of later health problems later in life.

"Unhealthy diets over the long term increase the risk of chronic disease," Dr Buckley said.

"It increases the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes - diseases that are increasingly affecting our health care system. The Government should probably look at ways to subsidise the use of healthy foods now."

Anglicare chief executive officer Dr Lynn Arnold said families on low incomes suffered pressure points all around.

"Children need nutrition but it isn't just the cost of fruit and vegetables - there are increases in petrol, electricity, water, rent," he said.



Mother-of-four Ingrid Anderson, of Torrensville, said she was conscious of the rising cost of fruit and vegetables.

"What I have found myself doing is checking prices a bit more and certainly looking at the unit price to compare pre-packaged and loose produce," she said.

The abstract and conclusion for this article also concerns me A healthy diet consistent with Australian health recommendations is too expensive for welfare-dependent families

So do you think we need a tax on junk food? Should healthy foods be subsidised, does the fact that fresh produce is GST exempt mean we already are? Any other thoughts

[Novella]

I think there is a need to make healthy food choices affordable to all families. I dont see how a junk food tax would make healthy food more affordable but it may make it comparable to less healthy food choices but how does this help families on low incomes, the toral cost of food would go up? I do think money from a 'junk food tax' could be put in to researching and investing towards making healthy food choices more affordable, as well as creating healthy living programs.

[Calluna]

We recieve in total 40k a year and just scrape through spending 150pw on groceries. That said, we are living with DFs mum and only pay 200 pw rent. So I guess that stretches our food budget a bit more. I do know, though that the weeks that DF buys his lunch instead of taking food from home, we really struggle and usually have to tell MIL we'll make up the rent next week. For us, take away costs significantly more than healthy food from the supermarket and fruit shop.

[Phteven]

I'm totally down for a tax on junk food and for some of the revenue raised to be put towards subsidising fresh/healthy food. If the cost of junk food rises and the price of healthy food is driven down it provides an economic incentive towards a healthy diet.

[PumpkinZulu]

We recieve in total 40k a year and just scrape through spending 150pw on groceries. That said, we are living with DFs mum and only pay 200 pw rent. So I guess that stretches our food budget a bit more. I do know, though that the weeks that DF buys his lunch instead of taking food from home, we really struggle and usually have to tell MIL we'll make up the rent next week. For us, take away costs significantly more than healthy food from the supermarket and fruit shop.

This is the same for us, $150pw on food, often we can manage $250pf on groceries if we meal plan well, and we pay $350pw rent. Is it actually cheaper for some people to buy junk food? I just can't understand how? When you want chips for dinner, buy 2kg of potatoes on special that week, make up some oven baked chips, and have 1-1.5kg potatoes left over for the rest of the weeks meals, in curries, stews, pies, mash, a salad. As opposed to buying a bag of frozen chips and the amount of oil used to fry them, or even picking them up from a shop. Then do the same for every other ingredient (cheap cuts of meat used in multiple dishes, or in one dish big enough for multiple meals) and your shop will be very cheap. Start shopping around for the best deals and go to markets if you can, and you see a price drop again. We earn well under 45k, and we've always cooked our meals to a 4 person serving for freezing or lunches. I'm just lost as to how people can say take away is cheaper. Maybe it is, if you buy ingredients per meal, don't meal plan or use the same ingredients through multiple meals, and only shop at the big supermarkets, buying produce that's not in season....

[Novella]

Calluna yep I can definitely see how take away can add significantly to a families food costs, its one of the first things we cut out/reduce when trying to make savings

If you look at from the perspective of a shopping trolley full of frozen chips and other processed foods compared to that of one full of fresh produce, to feed a family for a week it does end up cheaper to buy the less healthy stuff as shown in these studies which is a real shame IMO

ETA The SCACOSS report looks at grocery items rather than takeaway, although the article here doesn't really make that clear sorry

I think funds from a 'junk tax' would be well spent on educating people how to eat a healthy diet on a budget, unortunately not everyone has the knowledge of how to eat well/shop well especially when there are budget constraints

[briggsy's girl]

unfortunately, some of the way to reduce the cost of fresh food is to take money from the pockets of farmers, who struggle a lot as it is. we already pay the GST on convenience/processed/take away food - so adding another tax is going to make those items more expensive without combating the cost of fresh/healthier alternatives. it's a really messy situation to try and find a balance where "good" food and "affordable" food marry up... i dont' want to be responsible for screwing farmers out of their living - it's hard enough with cheap imports doing this to many of them. so i struggle with a solution to the problem


i will definitely say i'm not surprised at the variance in CPI increase and the cost of eating fresh being so different though...

[Calluna]

We shop in Carindale, one of thier higher end suburbs of Brisbane because the produce is better and I refuse to eat substandard food or end up throwing half my purchases because they are poor quality and rot quickly.
For enough fruit and vegies for 3 adults and a child for one week it costs $60 maximum. That includes things like cherry tomatoes, avocardos, some kind of melon, bananas, the odd purple carrot, etc. So not all super cheap basics.
DS gets to help choose what we buy each week and when I dish something up I give him options. If he then decides he doesnt want it, bad luck, its what he chose, if he doesnt eat it he goes hungry. I explain to him that we cant afford to waste food. He, to a point, understands that this means he doesnt have a choice beyond what the ones I gave him and he is fine with it. If he decides not eat it I either put it away and bring it out again later if he decides he does want it, or just leave it out for him depending on what it is. Because of this, we have very little waste.

[Jellyfish]

I think the biggest factor is time, many families need and desire convenience. Another side to it is portion control; eating unnecessarily large meals bumps the cost.

I also find it strange that junk is cheaper... we earn very, very minimum wage (I'm at home, DP is an apprentice butcher) and we wouldn't dream of buying anything in a packet, it is just not worth the cost. When we need to watch our budget, first thing to go for us is meat and cheese in favour of bulking up with more veggies. We also grow veggies which has been a great investment (we have survived 'rego week' on $27 because of that gold mine lol), maybe I need to set up a charity that helps low income families create their own sustainable veggie patches... that seems a good idea to me! But we do have a lot of time, I can watch a pot making stock all day and don't have the stress of rushing around after a day of work to throw something together. I think time really is a big part of the picture.

[~clover~]

Its not so much the difference between healthy supermarket & take away. Its the difference between a packet of 6 frozen meat pies for around $4, a bag of b&g chips for $2-$3, which can be a cheap meal for a family of 5 or 6.

Compared to a 500gm tray of mince - $5-6 in bigger s/markets (7-8 here), a 2kg bag potatoes (almost half that for a family of 5/6) $4, a variety of fresh fruit & veg would come easily to $3 - $5 for a night, depending on what you choose.

The unhealthy options work out cheap ALOT of the time, & I'm guilty of choosing those options at least once a week. More when the budget is stretched.

Fresh fruit & veg needs to be cheaper. I can rarely afford to buy more than a bag of apples, 4 banana's, maybe a 1/4 watermelon, a bag of potatoes, 1/4 cabbage, 1/4 pumpkin. Thats my average fruit & veg shop & thats IF I have the money for the banana's, watermalon, pumpkin & cabbage. I would love to buy more!

Not everyone has the option of cheaper priced bigger supermarkets or farmers markets etc.

[nothing2lose]

And if you don't have a fridge? Or a freezer? You've never been in a supermarket in your life? You've never seen your parents cook anything, let alone anything healthy? You can't identify basic fruits and vegetables let alone know how to prepare them?

What then?

Food poverty is intergenerational. It's not a moral issue, or an issue of laziness.

[fionas]

I don't think it's just a question of cost, it's a question of how to cook healthy food on a budget. Some people would have no idea that you can make your own wedges and chips from potatoes. Being on a budget means being more inventive and some people have never learnt how to cook.

I'd like to see government-sponsored TV ads showing how to cook simple, cheap, healthy meals or a 5 minute segment within Masterchef.

If people have never seen their parents cook, they really are behind the eight-ball - being on a budget and worrying that you're going to stuff up the $20 of ingredients you've just bought because you don't know how to cook suddenly makes a Maccas run seem very appealing.

[PumpkinZulu]

Here's the other thing. Trying to turn unhealthy foods into healthy ones. Yes, that will often be a bit more costly. Like the pie example (not using you as an example though Clover!). The alternative? Don't eat pies. Don't eat chips. Don't try to make junk into healthy food. Just eat other healthy foods. People can live without pies and burgers.

[Novella]

Its a really good point n2l and FS

I was floored watching the Jamie Oliver series when he went into US schools and a large number of the chidren could not identify what I would call your basic fresh vegies, onions, cauli and potatoes! How are these kids supposed to make healthy choices as adults if they don't know?

Education is a big component of healthy eating, then people can make informed choices about what they buy, although they still have to be able to afford it!

[Calluna]

We are living out of a bar fridge. Its a much less exciting game of tetris to fit everything in but we manage.
The staff at the fruit shop are always happy to help me pick the good fruit and veg from the bad.
The library has computers with internet access which is free
ETA - dont know about other community services but for a while, my dad was teaching a group of men with mental / drug issues to cook very simple meals. Microwave jacket potatoes, simple steamed veg, etc. If there isnt something like that in homeless shelters and community centres, there should be.

Im sure in some circumstances it you're right N2L, but I find it really hard to belive that the majority of people dont have access to information they need to cook a basic meal.

Going vegetarian is another way to dramatically decrease costs and the meals can be simple.

[briggsy's girl]

Here's the other thing. Trying to turn unhealthy foods into healthy ones. Yes, that will often be a bit more costly. Like the pie example (not using you as an example though Clover!). The alternative? Don't eat pies. Don't eat chips. Don't try to make junk into healthy food. Just eat other healthy foods. People can live without pies and burgers.

why not? honestly? why can't you have a healthier alternative? we have shepherds pie instead of pie in a pastry base. we home make it and load it with veg. it's divine. we do oven chips sometimes. we make our own burgers (and i've seen you do the same PZ). Kids want what their peers have. it's natural to want it. media advertising shows burgers and things. kids want it. hell, ADULTS crave them too. i know i have (and i hate maccas - wouldn't eat a burger if you paid me to!!) - so why do you have to give up what you like? isn't the current notion to swap it instead of stopping it??

[~clover~]

Yeah, but thats not the point I was trying to make PZ. The pies & chips aren't healthy, but so many people don't understand that very well. Andwhen you don't know how to make a healthier meal for the same price, how do you do it?

The learning how to cook the cheaper healthier options IS a huge thing. We grew up on a tight budget. Our food was very basic, so I only really know basic foods. Chops, sausages, rissoles, mash, continental packet pasta's, peas, corn, carrot & broccoli. Those were our dinners every night. I'm still learning from others how to make different things now. We never had spag bol, or lasagne, or pasta's. Not that they are the healthiest of foods, but we just never had them. I never heard of lentils til a friend was cooking her DD a veggie lasagne. I've never eaten or used them myself. I wouldn't have a clue what to do with them.

I also had a DH who was raised on the same basic foods as me, so he only wanted those foods, so those are the foods our kids first ate & are used too. Its alot easier to just make sure they're eating than have them not eat a thing while you try to switch to healthier options.

I'm not making excuses here, I genuinly don't know much better, but I am learning. And I don't have the money to be buying some of that stuff if its something that noone will eat. I've done that alot lately by trying to get the kids to eat better. Their diet isn't too bad, but it could be better.

[briggsy's girl]

Going vegetarian is another way to dramatically decrease costs and the meals can be simple.

not always - $8 for enough chicken breast to feed four adults and a couple of kids for a low gi meal - trying to replace the protein with vege options isn't always going to be cheaper. especially if you don't like lentils (i have tried lentil alternatives cos i'd prefer that option, and they make me ill! i wish i could go there but i can't!!)