I've heard this limiting belief so many times (usually from my own thoughts) that eating healthily is just too expensive.
When I did a raw vegan diet experiment and tracked my spending I was shocked and seemingly justified my frugal thinking; in a bid to not only save my bank account I swung around and challenged myself to spend only $30 on food in a month - creating a strong contrast to the physical effects of a clean diet. This comparison would give me the knowledge of if it is even worth it.
My friends, your health is always worth it - even if a minor improvement is disproportionately expensive. But what if there was a way to eat a healthy diet for a low cost?
Time-travel
Does it count as clickbait if it is a sub-heading?
Throughout history (I am no historian) there are many examples of the poorer population eating more healthily (by todays standards) than the aristocracy. Being overweight was a sign of wealth, having black rotten teeth meant you could afford the exotic export of sugar cane. Meanwhile the peasants worked the land and ate what they could - let's rephrase that - peasants ate locally grown, fresh, organic produce.
Since then, farming practices have only gotten more effective - however the vast majority of that advancement (and depending on what country you're in some tax resources) is now being used to feed an entirely different species - livestock. We have gotten so good at growing plants that we can make urban farms and aquaponic greenhouses - businesses that only exist due to the growing demand for... locally grown, fresh, organic produce. So why are we using such advanced technology to eat like medieval peasants?!
Health, Expense, CONVENIENCE
The analogy with peasants falls apart in the modern world because of a new value we place on food: convenience. Many cultures today emphasize productivity and efficiency, however it wasn't until the last century that the traditional vegetable patch in the garden became forgotten. Perhaps it's time to remember it.
Going back to my diet experiments I always knew that raw veganism would be expensive but what I didn't expect was just how damn long it would take to stock up and prepare all that produce; ultimately, convenience is why I stopped the diet, I couldn't keep up when classes started again! But when I tried cheap diet I had to get creative, I had to forage and grow food if I didn't want to literally eat only rice (and beans, if I was lucky)!
This new focus on convenience has limited us and formed an 'iron triangle' between health, cost, and convenience in which one cannot be increased or decreased without having the opposite effect on at least one other aspect; we all know that cheap and convenient food is going to be awful for one's health. The problem is when we say buying healthful foods cost too much its because we aren't aware of the option to reduce convenience - there is a tendency to imagine lifestyle changes in isolation, for example in the past when I've had the courage and motivation to eat a more healthy diet my eye's scan the price-tags at the supermarket I go to every week, I sigh and keep on moving. But what about other supermarkets? Farmers markets even? What if I grow my own food...?
I know that when I started to actually explore these options it is only the initial change that is inconvenient, in-fact exploring the asian markets and growing my own food became fun and interesting, but we don't know until we make the leap.
