‘Many people can’t afford healthy food’

[Sian]

While making my morning coffee. Listening to the headlines this is what I heard.. ‘Many people can’t afford healthy food’ and it got me wondering, what are they classing as ‘healthy food’ ?

I feel I should dispute this fact and say that everyone can afford healthy, natural food - fruits and vegetables, rice, lentils etc, the dry items (grains, lentils, pulses) can be easily bought in bulk making them cheaper, they have an extended shelf life, they are healthy, fill you up and so versatile. In many of these cases, you can bulk cook and freeze, which means you can healthy ‘pint’ meals on the go too.

So, what is classed as ‘healthy’? I think that would be the first place to start any conversation- to define healthy!

[Jackie361]

I can say that healthy food is usually classed as fresh fruit and vegetables and I agree that vegetables are relatively cheap but fruit is expensive unless you buy from cheap supermarkets and it is force grown so no nutritional benefits at all. The health bars are expensive if you are on a low income. I have to agree that ‘Many people can’t afford healthy food’

[over the hill]

I agree that fruit is expensive, but vegetables, grains and pulses are cheap and these are the staple foods of some of the poorest countries in the world. I think pre-packaged ‘healthy’ food is extortionate and out of the price of most budgets as everyday-all day foods, but sure there has to be some compromise?

[J-jay]

I think there needs to be a re-education in schools about what natural food looks like, and how to make meals cheaply and healthily. Even adding herbs and spices can improve the health benefits of a meal.

Let’s take rice for an example Brown rice, full of B vitamins, which is great, but then you could add a spoonful of turmeric into the cooking water and now you have added anti-inflammatory benefits at a cost of pence. Rinse and add some peas, (vitamin C), some mixed herbs, and pulses (protein) and you have a meal that is cheap, very filling and is very healthy. All the products have a long shelf life, so you could buy in bulk. Herbs and spices can have a huge impact on our health, more than people realise.

This is where the education should come in!

[May26]

I think there are plenty of pulses, grains and seeds that are cheap to eat healthier but most people don’t use them now so don’t know how to. We need educating on how to eat healthier

[Westielover]

It depends what you call “healthy food” I don’t call mass produced fruit and vegetables healthy or these bags of salad that contain peroxide to keep them fresh. A “healthy” diet is one that contains a balance of all types of food in my belief.

[Ursula]

Seriously! Most people wouldn’t know what to do with pulses, or have a taste for them! There definitely needs to be some subsidy to encourage people to buy fruits and veg. If people only ate this way for half of the time, I guess that would reduce the obesity problem.

[Joolz]

I wouldn’t know what to do with pulses, probably boil them to death so no nutrients left in them :jb:

[Jake]

I wouldn’t know what to do with pulses, probably boil them to death so no nutrients left in them :jb:

They are so simple to cook, but can turn horribly wrong when over cooked. Did you know that lentils fat reduce our chances of fat, they work by blocking a gene that makes us store excessive fat.

[Bumblebee]

I think people can afford to eat healthily they just choose not to! Fruit is ridiculously expensive though, especially berries and summer fruits