It doesn’t take a lot of money to be healthy. It really doesn’t. You can live a very healthy lifestyle on a budget if you commit to making it happen. You can exercise outside and at home and you can buy some healthy whole foods to cook with. I also know it can be hard to eat well unless you have time to grow your own food and visit farmers markets and shop around for deals… which most of us don’t have time to do.
Today I realized that a lot of what goes into a healthy lifestyle is above the reach of the most people purely for financial reasons. I find this to be especially true here in Memphis.
This morning I needed to pick up something to eat for lunch so I decided to try a local grocery store in the downtown area. It was actually a really awesome store that had a health foods focus with good produce and healthier packaged foods. The only problem was the price of everything was a lot higher than what you can get at a standard grocery store.
The same thing happens at Whole Foods, the biggest and most well known healthy food store. They don’t call it Whole Paycheck for nothing. (I try to limit my purchases here, but I looooove Whole Foods.)
In fact, all the health food focused grocery stores I’ve ever been in do this. Healthy food just costs more. Right? Even in your regular grocery store the health food and organic sections will cost you more than the cheap processed food.
Because the food is more expensive health food stores tend to be in wealthier areas. In Memphis all the stores that are health conscious are located in wealthy, upper class areas. I live in a lower income area and I have to travel at least 20-30 minutes to get to any of these stores. My closest grocery store? It’s a Walmart. And it’s not a great place to buy groceries except for the fact that things there are cheap. (Although I admit, I do shop there sometimes even though I aim to at least go to a nicer Kroger a little further away.)
It seems like most cities have setups like this. It makes sense because obviously a store like Whole Foods wouldn’t do well in an area where people couldn’t afford the food.But it’s frustrating to see and even live in areas that don’t have the same access to good food. Not having my own car here has shown me how difficult it can be to get any food, let alone food that is good for you.
This is just something I’ve been thinking about while living in between the land of privileged white girl with a job and broke kicked-out-of-our-house girl living in a bad neighborhood. There is such a disconnect in what is offered in terms of healthy food in both worlds.
Maybe healthy food is only for the wealthy. Maybe this isn’t something that is going to change for a while, or ever. I don’t know. I know personally it’s worth getting the best food I can afford, even if that isn’t always the best food that is available. (Yeah, I hardly ever buy organic even though I would like to.)
What do you think? Where do you shop for groceries? Is healthy food only for the wealthy?
I’ve started to understand that healthy food that is also convenient and in a pretty package is expensive, but that basic healthy food is not. And then there’s the billions that is spent on clever advertising and marketing of all kinds of food, healthy or not. And then there’s the disconnect in our general education about food. It’s SO complicated!! And it should not be!
It’s not just packaged foods I’m talking about though. Basic produce, especially if fresh or organic, tends to cost more.
No, I know…but what I meant is that places like Whole Foods are, in and of themselves, “pretty packages.” Going to a Farmer’s Market or growing it yourself is much cheaper…not as convenient and not as “pretty.”
Sure growing it yourself is better. But that involves having some space. You can try the urban garden growing it in your apartment method, but honestly that’s pretty hard to do. Farmers markets are cheaper but they aren’t in the areas I’m talking about either. Farmers markets tend to be in wealthier areas too, at least in this city. It’s not really a matter of “pretty” that you keep mentioning, just any availability in some areas.
true, i live in an apartment and we don’t have a yard space or even a fire escape to grow food.
Are there local farmer’s markets? Eating locally-grown/raised items and buying what is currently in season is usually a good option to get healthy options at a good price. It does, however, require once a week shopping (usually unless you have a year-round, 7 day a week farmer’s market) and planning. So for stopping by to pick something up, that might not work as well.
There are local farmer’s markets. The bigger and better ones again tend to be in the wealthier areas. But I saw a structure for a farmers market the other day in a lower income area and that gave me some hope. :)
We used to go to the Agricenter in Germantown for groceries, but we live in Olive Branch. We’ve started going to the farmers market in Hernando, because it’s only 20 minutes away. My daughter LOVES the farm-fresh milk…
Yeah. I lived in Millington for years and my choices were either to go to the Agricenter or Downtown farmers market. I live in Raleigh now so I’m closer to both but those are still my choices though Millington now has it’s own weekly market.
I have to agree. When I worked in a low income, very bad part of a city, kids ate like crap. There was no grocery store for miles, and most of the food had to be bought at the small convenience stores that were dotted around. Kids would have soda and Doritos for breakfast. It was awful, not to mention that the food there for lunch was probably worse than prison food. Who gives spam chunks and canned sweet potato as a lunch and calls it healthy?
Here in Scotland I see the same issues. The local Tesco has some fruit and veggies, but not a lot, and it isn’t always cheap. The Waitrose is 2 miles away and while I would rather shop there, I can’t afford to. When we do, our bill is 3-4 times as much as when we go to Tesco or Morrisons. (It’s also a pain to carry it all across the city and walk.) Local food options are not very healthy as well- there is a takeaway with chips and pizza and curries on every block, not to mention the fish and chippies.
When I lived in Massachusetts I had the choice of Whole Foods, Trader Joes AND 2 other large supermarkets. Granted I lived practically in the city and there were plenty of options to eat healthy. I miss Trader Joes and Whole Paycheck. It’s very hard to find nut free/soy free things here, unless they are also gluten free too, but then I have to watch out for nuts again.
Yuck. That lunch idea grossed me out!! It’s definitely a problem that there are so many local convenience stores and that’s the only option. Where I live those are all that is within walking distance. Even getting to Walmart for “fresh” groceries involves a car or bus ride.
Are there any good CSA (community supported agriculture) groups in Memphis? A single gal pal and I are going to join one together and split a share every two weeks. It is pretty affordable if you are open to using whatever is in the share. For me, I love cooking and trying new things with veggies, so I’m excited about it. They also have some organic meat/cheese add-ons, but I’m not sure how affordable they are. But, if you can share with someone else, it might be a good option!
There are some CSAs I’ve seen at the farmers markets. But the problem isn’t really for me. This isn’t about me because I buy plenty of healthy and fresh food – it’s just that I have to go out of my way to get it and I know a lot of people here don’t have that opportunity.
I go to a store called Fresh Market here in NY State. It is located in a wealthy areaand the food is a higher price, but not so much that I can’t afford the produce there. The produce offered in our local markets is sub-par quality at best so I tend not to purchase it, so spending the extra money is worth it. I agree with you though, if I was living on my own and had a single income shopping at Fresh Market wouldn’t be an obvious option for me.
Fortunately, there are a lot of local farmers markets and coops around here that offer people a more affordable option.
The whole situation is unfortunate though!
You are so right that eating healthy requires time and planning, something working families don’t often have in abundance. I think there is a clear line between those that don’t prioritize healthy food and those that truly cannot afford it. Most middle class families would find that with a little effort, home cooked food can be more affordable than processed convenience foods. Easy example, the cost of a ten pound bag of potatoes (often on sale for under $2) versus a bag of potato chips (at least $3 where I live). The nutrition and volume comparison versus price makes this an obvious choice.
I have heard that healthy food is the next civil rights issue and I agree with that, especially when you look at children. I grew up in an area with 90% of the kids at my school were on free or reduced lunch. They’re fed the cheapest, most worthless food by the school and it’s often the best (sometimes the only) thing they see all day. Everyone should have access to healthy food, regardless of their income.
That being said, no one should expect that healthy, nutritious foods can be prepared FOR them at an affordable price.
Most middle class families yes, they can afford it. It just means making it a priority. But really I was thinking more in terms of lower and working class families. The option just doesn’t exist in those communities. This is definitely tied in with what free and reduced lunch kids are fed at school…. when that is the best food you have access to there is a problem.
I agree, people shouldn’t expect healthy affordable food prepared for them. It involves work. But at least having the option and having access to healthier foods should be more important.
Food deserts in DC are a huge problem, as they are in most low-income urban neighborhoods. If you don’t have a car, and you have to take three bus changes with your kids to get to the grocery store, and then carry all of the bags back over those three bus changes with your kids after work, it doesn’t take long for healthy food to become impossible instead of just inconvenient.
Exactly. Food deserts. That’s the phrase I was searching for but couldn’t find. I never noticed these until I had to go without a car in a city that has unreliable public transport. I can see how it’s definitely impossible for some families.
Eating healthy food does seem to be quite pricey. I can prepare a crap meal for super cheap, but if I want something that is actually good for me it will cost me. But, I try to think long-term; paying a little bit more now will save me from some seriously scary medical bills down the road.
I love this theme – is healthy eating and living the domain of the well off?
I think about this and talk about this with others a lot. Just this weekend I was talking about this with my mother in law. And I saw this report was released: http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/tfahfasinfat2011a.pdf
And Annabel posted this as well, about the social justice of healthy eating.
http://www.feedmeimcranky.com/2011/07/12/f-is-for/
Thank you so much for raising this as a topic of discussion. I like to think that anyone can eat well. But can we, really? And is society doing the right thing for us all?
I saw both of those things but haven’t had a chance to read them yet. I will do that soon!
I like to think the same thing. But the logistics of it – making it possible – can be hard.
I used to live in a lower income area of town for many years. Slowly but surely all the major chain groceries started shutting down. The difficulty of grocery shopping for many of my neighbors was doubly increased by the fact that many of them didn’t have vehicles and had to ride the bus 8 miles to the nearest grocery. After a while though, some of your lesser known chains did move into the area, so there was access to food besides fast food and convenience stores.
This has actually become a problem in many cities. They are doing studies on the effects of it now. And it’s sad that in America people don’t always have access to one of our needs.
I now live in a more middle class neighborhood and have 3 groceries within a 2 mile radius…
This comment. This. I’m sad to hear it is a problem in more cities and not just a few.
My mom gave the excuse that healthy food was expense and she was trying to cut back. So I went across the street to what some would consider a no frills grocery store and bought 2 big bags of groceries including produce for $38 with enough meal ingredients to last her for 2 weeks with meal suggestions. I shopped off of sale ads too. She said point taken (though when I’m there I still see pure crap on her counter…chips, candy, crackers, etc).
We just went to a farmers market last weekend and scoped the whole thing first to see what produce we needed and went back to those with the best price. I go back to those vendors year after year. We shop at 3 different grocery stores to get the best prices on stuff, Trader Joe’s being one of them and they have no preservatives in any of their foods and I was seriously shocked at how reasonable they are. I always had the impression that they were expensive like Whole Foods but they’re not. But I just checked and saw there wasn’t one in Memphis. :-( Boo!
We don’t have a TJ which makes me sad because I love that store. I expect us to get one within a couple years though.
I think that healthy food can be affordable. 2011 has been a journey for us to eat less processed food and it works. Our grocery store bills are not any more expensive now than they were when we bought a bunch of crap. And now that we have a veggie garden, we are buying less produce.
I find that whole foods isn’t really as expensive as people make it out to be. We have a mollie stones that just opened up equal distance from my house, the opposite direction, a few months ago, and it’s supposed to be more regular grocery store. They have worse quality food that actually costs MORE. Meat costs an arm & a leg at whole foods, but if we skip that to get at safeway (the big chain store around here) and shop just regular stuff, shopping there costs as much as at safeway, with better quality. You just have to pay attention to what youre buying, and use things like the bulk bins. BUT I do agree with you. My family in NH has no stores like whole foods or any other healthy stores, just the regular chain store. I didn’t even know about half the food that exists that I eat now when I lived in a small town in NH. When your family is using rolls of coins to shop, there’s no extra for organic. When I first moved to SF & had no job we shopped at random asian markets & often were eating spoiled meat from there cuz it was so cheap. Once I made a steady income, u can see from the pics, I am much healthier. Every year that I make more, im able to take better care of myself through the gym, healthy eating, and even things like beauty products and mani/pedis, etc, so my friends and I look BETTER not worse as we age. Sadly, some people don’t have that option for luxury, which is wrong. Oh and the farmers markets around me are $$$$!! It costs more than wholefoods or any grocery store, vs when I lived in boston, the farmer’s market was super cheap, and ppl of all incomes went (i know, because i was poor then).
I buy the 365 Whole Foods brand stuff and I find it pretty reasonable actually for canned/packaged stuff. I don’t buy produce there though nor do I buy meat.
More reading….
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/12/health/la-he-food-deserts-20110712
Recent study says that access to grocery stores doesn’t improve choices. It’s income and proximity to Fast Food. Which you are getting at in this post. Food deserts are real and in large portions of this country. Most of New Hampshire for example that doesn’t sit along the Massachusetts border. Like 8 stores for 2/3 of the state (geographically).
Still I don’t however think good food is only for the wealthy. It takes thought and planning and effort but I do think it’s possible. Sigh. Shouldn’t have to be so difficult.
I don’t think good food is just for the wealthy either… but you know bloggers and titles. ;)
I remember when I lived in New Hampshire in a small town without a grocery store. The closest place to get food was a Burger King 10 minutes away. We ate Burger King way too often, and daily during a bad period of winter weather where we couldn’t get much farther than that.
Ive thought so much about this too and for me it seems to boil down to the fact that MY HEALTHY FOOD IS (Im not proud of how I lean toward the convenience healthy these days and I hope that shifts when the child is in school) but basic whole foods are not.
After a couple years of living on a shoestring budget, I’ve found a couple ways to keep it healthy on very little. Basically, there’s a cheapest form of everything. Cheapest protein is chicken or eggs. Cheapest carbs are rice and beans and oatmeal. Cheapest fat is probably canola oil, although I usually just try to find some nuts. Cheapest veggies are usually frozen. Center a lot of meals around these, and you’ll be fine. Oh, and get lots of spices since it gets boring eating the same thing over and over.
You really only have to go bargain hunting once. When you’ve found a good place to get each item, you’re set. You’ll never be able to compete with Ramen, but rice, beans, and onions with few spices will get you through a tough financial patch with your waistline intact.
I think it relates to government subsidies at the core. It’s choices made by our elected representatives, greatly impacted by single-interest groups with financial power and no unified opposition thereto.
As usual, you have addressed a very serious subject which is hidden right out in the open. It is just accepted that only people with access to enough funds have those stores like Whole Foods in their living areas. Of course, no retail store, food or otherwise, is going to open in a poor neighborhood with high crime. So, it’s the American dream to be upwardly mobile . . . to achieve these “perks” by living in upscale areas. This entire bubble is popping as we speak.