There’s always been an idea that healthy food is more expensive. Is that true? Researchers at Cambridge University made a study of how food prices have changed over the last 10 years. Their conclusions show that the continued rise in food prices has been most prominent for healthy foods such as tomatoes, dairy products, and fish. In the counterpart, junk food has become cheaper with time.
So yes, healthy food is more expensive, and here’s why:
Why is Healthy Food More Expensive?
A case study published by the PLOS One magazine, called “The Growing Price Gap between More and Less Healthy Foods”, remarks that
“Healthy foods must be fresh and perish, so it is more expensive to get them to the consumer”
And this is completely true. Many factors can influence the increase in the cost of products, such as production, distribution networks, etc.
Why Junk Food Cost Less Than Healthy Food?
One of the things you may have noticed when shopping is the price gap between healthy and junk food. It turns out that the more heavily processed and artificial a product is, the cheaper it is.
Just consider it for a second, how is that something that comes out from a tree or the ground cost more than something that comes from a factory with heavy machinery? It’s odd.
However, you are not here for a lesson about capitalism and mass production.
Conclusion
In short, healthy food is so expensive due to various factors affecting the market, and all the work involved in producing fresh, rather than factory produced.
There are many ways to eat healthy for less, such as eating whole grains, or not drinking sugary drinks.
If you want to learn more about how to eat healthy for less money, check out our article “The 10 Secrets to Eating Healthy and Cheap”.