Dear Dad,
I want to eat healthier but…(fill in the blank) is a common phrase that I hear when regularly discussing the topic of food, nutrition, and health. Let’s explore.
“I want to eat healthy but…it’s too expensive.”
One of the best meals that I can remember was eaten at a waterfront resort. You were there. A perfect breeze whisking off the Caribbean Sea cooling our sun soaked bodies. A buffet was set over-looking the sand, gazebo, and aqua water. Down the line were heaping piles of rice, beans, fried plantains, green beans, coconut, other ripe tropical fruits, and freshly blended watermelon juice.
Now, calling our sleeping quarters a “resort” might be an oversell at least by traditional western standards. The air-conditioning only worked for a few hours per night, televisions were non-existent, and accidentally drinking the water = week over. But the food was delicious and nutritious.
This was our experience in Haiti1 during consecutive trips over a decade ago. The group we traveled with worked to complete projects at multiple orphanages while also spending time going to the markets, hosting sports camps, teaching seminars, and occasionally hitting the beach. All of our Haitian meals consisted of variations of rice, beans, and vegetables, and likely cost about $2 American dollars per person.
In developing countries around the world you will find similar dietary patterns; staples of rice, beans/legumes, and vegetables or locally grown fruit. Of course the price correlation between an impoverished nation and an affluent one is not seamless, but the broad point remains that this meal is one the cheapest meals that can be bought or grown and also one of the most nutritious. Beans are stocked with fiber, protein, and other minerals. Rice adds a whole grain consisting of balanced-energy-producing carbohydrates and complementary proteins. And fruits and vegetables contain various vitamins, minerals, and other antioxidants. It is for these qualities that former Olympic track coach Joe Vigil’s nutrition advice for his elite athletes was to “eat as if you are a poor person.”2
If this is true, why did healthy food get tagged as being so expensive? My experience tells me it’s for a simple reason, how we buy it. It is true that “out of season” fruits shipped from all corners of the earth, or pre-sliced, washed, and mixed vegetables, or fancy cuts of beef or wild fish can run up the grocery tab; it’s equally true that buying the same types of foods at a local farm stand, market, or butcher will cut the price be nearly a third. Further, buying dry rice and beans in bulk will cost you about $10 for the week.
Eating at restaurants also fuels the contention that healthy food is too expensive. I experienced this while traveling for a work conference and being away from my kitchen for a few days. Looking at a standard menu, a common choice might come down to a cheeseburger and fries or a salad for roughly the same price. Based on portions, I’m willing to bet the salad option would leave you hungry and unsatisfied. I have found this is because the portions are not adjusted for calories. I’ve written before why eating healthy food requires eating more volume, but restaurants have not received the memo and still have meals priced per relative portion size not caloric volume. By feeling hungrier after eating the “healthier option” at a restaurant the price per meal may rise if you have to buy more to satisfy hunger. This perception doesn’t have as much to do with the price of the food, but rather the portion price determined by the restaurant.
In reality, healthy eating can be done cost effectively many of us just don’t do it.
“It is embarrassing how few beans American’s eat compared to the rest of the world.” ~ Dr. Christopher Gardner, Stanford Medicine
One favorite food of mine that checks all the boxes and arguably provides the most nutrients per dollar while tasting amazing are lentils.
Lentils are protein packed, fiber filled, and absolutely delicious.
Put some fluffy rice in a bowl, add your favorite beans and vegetable, mix it with your favorite salsa and you will have a meal that is delicious, nutritious, and CHEAP.
With Love,
JSR
Keep Haiti in your prayers
https://www.reuters.com/pictures/inside-haiti-country-turmoil-2024-05-03/
“Born to Run,” by Christopher McDougall, p. 119.