Eating Healthy - Eating Cheap!

Yesterday I had a conversation with a young co-worker who was sharing insight on how he can't make his money last.

Hmmm .  .  . I think we've all be down that road!

It’s hard to argue with a $1 double cheeseburger. Perhaps that’s why so many believe that eating healthy is expensive.

The myth has become so pervasive that everyone from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to health care providers is attempting to dispel it. Now the Environmental Working Group is joining in.

The EWG has combined forces with anti-hunger group Share Our Strength to create a healthy shopping guide for low-income households: “Good Food on a Tight Budget.”

The guide contains lists of “best buys” – those that pack the most nutrition for the lowest cost – in each food group, cooking/shopping tips, recipes, a meal planner and a price tracker.

Best buys include bananas, watermelons, broccoli, raisins, romaine lettuce, barley, tuna, lentils/beans, eggs, turkey and cottage cheese.

Price was the primary concern for the group’s choices, EWG nutritionist and lead author Dawn Undurraga said. Experts then screened out foods that contain a lot of chemicals, like pesticides, or whose production creates greenhouse gases.

Your food choice is one of the most powerful choices that you make everyday that affects your environment.

Some of the guide’s top tips include buying grains in bulk, cooking dried beans to save money, mixing your own cooking sprays and substituting yogurt for cream in recipes.

Healthy food is affordable, but it’s definitely a different style of eating.  Still, I would rather eat healthy and right and protect my body!