Has the price of food made you eat healthier or the reverse?

[RudsyFarmer]

I was thinking about this today. I’m genuinely so shocked at the price of food it’s made me restrict my own food massively. I have the money to pay the prices but I just keep walking out of shops kind of she’ll shocked. Tonight I had a bag of crisps for dinner.

I understand for many it’s had the opposite effect. Lots of cooking from scratch with beans and lentils etc. I wish I could be that person
but I absolutely loathe cooking which is unhelpful.

I’m the same. The types of foods I enjoyed eating have got so expensive now. I’m not a beans and lentils sort of person so everything is cheap and processed now.

Worse. I buy almost no fruit or salad and a limited range of veg. I used to eat salmon every week plus another oily fish but now we only have oily fish about once a month. I don’t but as much nuts/seeds/avocado. I buy much fattier cuts of meat and cheaper stuff like sliced white bread instead of a nice rye, cheap jam with a low fruit content etc. I do like beans and pulses and use lentils a lot but I wouldn’t say we were as healthy as we used to be because we have cut down on actual nutrition. I also rarely bake now as it’s cheaper to buy a cheap, processed cake than make one. It always has been but it didn’t used to seem like a big deal.

Healthier as we have no spare money for unnecessary foods. I don't much like cooking so I cook for a few nights at a time.

We've cut back on takeaways which is probably healthier but we have replaced them with easy things like frozen pizza or pesto pasta that are probably not much better. I suggested a salad with the pizza and the looks I got.

I hardly ever buy readymade and meat we only eat twice weekly.

We do breakfast for dinner for an easy night. Eggs in a roll with tomato and mushrooms.

Is it just you to cook for or do you have children @RudsyFarmer Do you have a slow cooker or have you tried tray bake recipes? They’re quite good as it’s minimum cooking and minimum washing up. I still buy pretty much the same but have always been quite good with a budget. I’m vegetarian, husband eats meat and son eats meat. I tend to buy larger cuts of meat/fish and either make multiple meals or freeze the rest of the uncooked meat for another day.

Fewer treats, definitely.

Less meat.

I don't think my meals have changed that much, maybe less meat. But my snacks have. I can't afford to have the amount of fruit to keep a teenager full and am buying cheaper snacks which aren't as healthy.

We've cut back on takeaways, restaurants, coffee/ cake in cafes etc to prioritise being able to cook the food we want at home.

I can't imagine having a bag of crisps for dinner, I'd have to be utterly broke to do that, I'm sorry you are feeling so bad about it all OP. You say that you can afford it but are just shocked by it... could you maybe make some kind of plan/ budget with your money so that you don't feel so overwhelmed next time?

We have cut back on take aways.
We have moved some of the red meat protien to become chickpeas which would be healthier.

we buy cheaper versions of things Which when i look at them in detail, often have more sugar in than the more expensive one.

I grudge the price of takeaway coffee, I bought an insulated cup and take my own.

Worse I'm no longer trying my autistic children on new foods as its a waste if they don't eat it and I have to pay for another meal

Instead of all eating the same meals we eat different meals that I can ping or airfry just so they will eat (they don't eat at school so evening meal is important)

I can see how it would make people unhealthier.

I was looking at labels in the supermarket to decide which cupboard staple items to trade down on, and the amount of extra stuff in some of the cheaper products was eye opening. In some cases it was more expensive to have the healthier options.

That's before you get into the well known problems that nutrition poor food is often cheaper than fresh produce.

A bag of crisps for dinner is unhealthier than most meals. Next to no nutritional value and barely fills you up.
Maybe you mean eating less and therefore less calories?

My main breakfast, lunch and dinner have always been quite healthy as I mostly cook from scratch. This is due to habits from the past of being on a low wage and needing to save money, but has always stuck with me. I'm more financially secure now, so the COL hasn't meant I need to cut back on my regular weekly shop.

However, I've really cut back on eating and drinking out, as I find the prices for certain things eye-watering - £6.50 for a pint, £20 for a roast dinner, £50 for an Indian take away for 2, £10 for a sandwich and some crisps on the side - so this has made me healthier. I refuse to pay that much unless it is a special occasion. I'm not even in London or South East.

So I'm eating and drinking less junk: When I go out I just have one drink, instead of several. Or me and DH will share a large portion of fish and chips. Or we'll spread a take away over a two days via having a smaller portion. We also do this less often. At one point, pre covid, we would have several take aways or meals out at week. Now a takeaway is something shared, once or twice a month max. Meals out in a restaurant have recently only been due to special occasions (probably once per quarter) or when we're away from home on holiday etc.

Covid/lockdown also helped to shift my habits, inflation has pretty much stamped it dead. I can have a nice time at home or alcohol free. My wages haven't risen in line with inflation so I find the cost of eating out especially shocking, as it seems to be rising at a greater pace than average.

If you have a blender, make your own coleslaw, it takes minutes. Carrots, onion, cabbages in the blender. Make washing up easier by taking it out of the blender at that point, put in a bowl, add whatever you want there, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, mustard, pinch of curry powder, whatever.

Stick it in the fridge and help yourself for the next 2 days

A fraction of the price of shop bought, and much healthier

Takeaway food has become poor locally. My treat of a takeaway is now over and I spend the money on better quality ingredients for home cooking.

So yes. I'm eating more healthily because of this.

Neither, we ate scratch cooked food mostly and not noticed much of a change in prices apart from bread and milk which has fallen recently. Never bought much junk to start with. A few things are up 25p or so but mostly shop is within £5 of a year ago

We don't buy any snacks anymore. Just fruit to go with breakfast and lunch.

When we were out the other day we had takeaway chips for lunch, where we might have had a pub meal in the past. We used to sometimes go out for lunch just because we fancied it. That has stopped.

We can afford more, but it just feels like an expensive waste now. I ask myself whether I will really enjoy something before I buy it.

If we are thinking like this, then I dont think it bodes well for the economy.

I'm shocked like many others at food price increases but if anything I don't necessarily skip meals but I do eat less now. My plate used to be overloaded but now we are both more mindful of what we eat and don't cook to leave leftovers (unless doing a large pot of chilli or stew to do for several meals)
We have both lost weight just reducing portions and are rarely hungry - so we must have just been eating too much anyway!!

A kilo of sweetcorn is £1 in lidl. Ditto broccoli, peas etc. a cabbage is 80p. Rice is from 50p. Beans etc are cheap. I always see arguments that junk food is cheaper and kids won’t eat healthy, but that’s all it is- an excuse. Spices are also cheap and with the right spices anything can taste good!

Crisps like doubled in price so if it's about money they are not the most logical choice🙈
I eat same just with small amends to some frozen instead of fresh

I’m not an oven chip fan (not cause I’m healthy just don’t like them) so i realised an issue when i did buy them. You can get a huge bag of chips for relatively cheap, cheaper than potatoes and they cook in 20 mins. Its an easy choice if your want your family to feel full.

We very rarely have takeaway now. Not that we often had it maybe it was every six weeks. I tried putting £30 in Monzo pot each month for take away. £30 a month would be a Chinese every two months. Tried bulking out takeaway with home made lemon chicken but then its double faff of going out to pick it up AND cooking.

We still cook every night from scratch but the variety has gone now.

I'm trying a no spend week and freezer diving.