It was on several sites as news this morning- the healthiest diets cost $1.50 more per day than the least healthy diet.
So reading on, you find such gems as a large part of the cost difference comes from the higher cost of lean beef and skinless chicken breast, that "Additional manufacturing and processing costs could explain some of the price differences, in that lean beef and skinless chicken require more processing.
Healthier snacks, sweets, grains, fats and oils were also more expensive per serving than less-healthy options."
And of course, in many of the expert opinions solicited, it was pointed out that, although the cost difference is relatively small, it could be a burden to lower income people to eat healthier and that the benefit of eating healther far out weighed the extra cost of healthier foods.
Geesh- what these sudies compared was the most expensive "healthy" choice to the least expensive "unhealthy" choice per calorie- as if that is the only valid comparison. You can eat cheap if you get all your calories from candy bars and potato chips but that is not a useful comparison unless you choose it to make pre-selected point.
I never buy skinless chicken breast because they are too pricey. But that does not mean that buying a skin on chicken breast is unhealthy- it just means you should rip the sdkin off yourself. You then get the "healthy" skinless chicken breast and stuff to make stock too. And buying a whole chicken and preparing it well is probably pretty inexpensive as is a veggie and fruit heavy diet.
Now I wish they had done a cost/health comparison between buying processed foods and making your own. Not as poltically functional I suspect.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/healthy-...y-study-finds/
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