(stltoday.com) For students living on ramen noodles or people in low-wage, time-consuming jobs, folks who are down on their luck or living on fixed incomes, healthy eating may seem too expensive.
Nutritionists say, however, that’s a false perception. Healthy eating, in fact, is cheaper. The cost of expensive eating often isn’t the food, it’s the bells and whistles of trendy packaging.
“You pay for convenience,” says Amy Moore, a dietitian at St. Louis University. “What it takes is planning and sometimes a little investment.”
That means eating more fresh food from low-cost stores and farmers markets, watching store sales and using store coupons. The nutrition gurus, from the United States Department of Agriculture to the American Dietetic Association, say healthy diets should be built around vegetables, grains and fruits, not meat and prepared foods — the biggest expense on grocery bills.
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Dorian Jones, dietitian and counselor for People’s Health Centers, says low-income families must learn to use money wisely. That means learning what benefits may be available to them, such as assistance with public transportation, to get to low-cost food suppliers. (read more for a very basic “how to” roadmap)
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