This is from a U.S.-centric viewpoint, though insights from other countries are appreciated.
Nearly every article on the topic says healthy food is 1.5-2x+ the cost of UPFs and other foods generally viewed as unhealthy. That hasn’t been my personal experience at all, bit clearly there is more to the story – because every source on the internet contradicts my opinion.
Groceries are pricey and it’s hard to budget as a single person because of portion sizes. Even so, foods like poultry and vegetables are far cheaper to cook at home than to buy at a restaurant or (from a nutritional perspective) the frozen foods section at Kroger.
Some foods – like certain kinds of beef or fish – are either similar to or slightly cheaper to get a restaurant or frozen food item as opposed to making healthier types at home.
I guess some fruits are kinda pricey and eating healthy is a challenge in a food desert, but otherwise I’d spend so much more on UPFs as opposed to buying whole foods.
What part of the story am I missing?
In: Economics
The price of fresh produce is very dependent on where you live/shop.
I’ve lived in a food desert before. You drag yourself to the nearest grocery store and a bag of apples (which are usually of poor quality in these areas) costs more than a bag of chips. So the choice is between a more expensive item, which has fewer calories, and will go bad in just a couple days because it’s not really that fresh to begin with, or a bag of chips, which is cheaper, tastes better, and will last until you eat it.
I no longer live in a food desert. The produce where I’m at now looks fresh, is high quality, and is much cheaper than it was when I was in a food desert.
If you’re able to, I recommend going to a grocery store on the edge of a food desert and see for yourself. Healthy food is legitimately more expensive there.
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