Green eating--with whole grains and fresh vegetables--is no doubt the most important part of green living; yet, as anyone who has tried to eat healthier knows, it is expensive. A dinner of organic brown rice, lentils, and steamed vegetables will probably be he more expensive than a Happy Meal--and if you eat the Happy Meal, you won't have to cook and clean up.
In South Florida, the situation is complicated by the fact that very few crops can successfully be grown down here because of poor soil quality, punishingly hot summers and dry winters. An additional problem is that our semi-tropical climate provides an ideal breeding ground for insects like white flies, which are currently a threat to South Florida crops. This means that most vegetables will have to be imported from other states or other countries and that locally grown vegetables are likely to have been produced with far more pesticides than those grown elsewhere.
While healthy eating will always be more expensive than unhealthy eating as long as the U.S. government subsidizes corn and wheat, making white bread and corn-syrup-sweetened sodas cheaper than whole grains, you can minimize the amount of money you spend on good food with careful shopping.
As part of some research into this topic, this blogger compared prices at three stores in Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach: Walmart, Publix, and Whole Foods. Many people would naturally assume that Walmart would be the cheapest of the three and that Whole Foods--often nicknamed "Whole Paycheck," would be the most expensive. While this assumption is often true, it is not always true.
When buying fresh vegetables, Walmart is indeed the least expensive of the three. As of February 2012, a large bag of collard greens costs $2.12. A similar bag at Publix costs $2.99. At Whole Foods, a small bunch of collard greens costs $2.99. Of course, at Whole Foods, the greeens are organic. While organic eating is ideal, many people can't afford it. If you can't afford organic produce, eat the inorganic kind. You need the many nutrients vegetables provide.
On the other hand, health food staples like soy milk, rice milk, and tofu are often cheaper at Whole Foods, especially if you buy their store brand, 365. For example,365 Organic Tofu costs $1.99, while a similar product at Walmart costs $2.78. The 365 brand of unsweetened soy milk costs $1.79 per quart. The Walmart Brand, Great Value, costs between $2.50 and $2.93 per half gallon, depending on the flavor, but they all contain sugar.
Pasta Joy gluten-free brown rice pasta is cheaper at Whole Foods--1t $3.69 per 16-oz bag. The same package costs over $4 at Publix and was not stocked at Walmart when I visited it. Walmart actually has a fairly decent health food section, with whole grain corn meal, brown rice, and quinoa. However, they stock national health food brands and some of their products--quinoa for example--is usually cheaper to buy at Whole Foods. This may change, however, as prices of quinoa seem to be skyrocketing.
On a related note, this blogger would like to commend Publix for stocking a wide variey of useful health foods. One can usually find organic brown rice, gluten-free pasta, gluten-free organic soy sauce, quinoa, a large selection of organic produce, and a very nice brand of smoked salmon that is made without sugar and preservatives. If Whole Foods were to close tomorrow, I could shop at Publix with very little disruption to my dietary routine.
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