How can the less privileged afford to eat healthy?

Whether rich or poor, everyone needs to choose healthy foods. If you’re on a budget it’s even more important to make every penny go towards foods that will nourish you. Visit a few grocery stores and join their mailing list to see if they have specials on items in the following categories: Fresh produce – fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and lentils and some nuts and seeds preferably unsalted. Make a budget and buy the ones on specials or sale price after comparing the prices on a few stores in your area. You will get a fair idea about which store gives the best prices after a few weeks of doing this. Some ethnic grocery stores might offer good deals too. If you find packaged foods to be the cheapest, then please choose carefully to avoid refined carbohydrates and trans fats – don’t waste any money on ultra processed junk that doesn’t provide any nourishment. It’s much healthier to cook wholesome meals at home whenever you can afford it. It might be a better idea to choose plant based for the most part because plant based foods provide more nutrients per pound of food. Budget carefully and only buy what you’ll finish in the next few days. Just because something is on special, don’t buy too much unless you’re actually going to eat it. This is true for the rich and the poor – it’s a terrible thing to waste food. Remember that whole foods have an incredible ability to satiate – you’ll find that you’re full much longer when you eat grain bread instead or white bread. So while white bread is cheaper – it won’t give you any nutrients except empty calories, and it’ll make you hungry much sooner. This is why it’s definitely worth every penny to buy foods as unrefined as possible. Most stores have a bunch of ‘about to expire’ packaged goods at a discounted price. Feel free to buy some from that section as well but as always, choose only healthy packaged foods. Eat simple meals. Oatmeal for breakfast cooked in water if that’s all you can afford (savory instead of sweet – a pinch of salt and spices to make it taste better), salad sprinkled with some nuts and seeds for lunch, a pear for a snack and whole grain brown rice and kidney beans for dinner. One of the answers mentioned that the poor tend to be more unhealthy and obese. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Some poor people who eat their traditional foods are among the healthiest in the world (they simply have no access to any fast foods, and just depend on home cooked meals), and the rich in many developed countries are among the unhealthiest. Stay away from fast foods no matter how cheap they are and how tempted you might be to eat at a Mc Donald’s or a Wendy’s everyday. You might be poor in monetary terms, but it’s entirely possible to feed your body with the right kinds of food. Don’t consider healthy food an unnecessary expenditure. It’s an investment you’re making towards your health.