How to Shop for Affordable Healthy Food on a Budget?
In a perfect world, healthy and delicious food would be all around us. It would be easy to choose, easy to find, easy to buy and easy to enjoy. You can learn how to eat well on a budget it just takes time, practice, dedication and confidence to try new things! You don’t have to go to cooking school, own fancy kitchen equipment or spend all day in the kitchen to make delicious meals at home. Start with the basics like bringing your lunch, avoiding convenience foods and cooking more meals at home.
My name is Joanna and I helped to coordinate the FreshRx program at Jupiter Medical Center. In 2017, I moved to Florida from New Jersey and I found myself on tough times with very limited income. I was really nervous that I wouldn’t be able to eat healthy. However, I read a lot and started my journey on healthy eating on a very limited budget. I am still learning new things every day. So here are some of my top tips:
Focus on Fruits and Vegetables
More vegetables = more flavor. Nothing livens up a bowl of rice like summer squash and corn! Vegetables make the great sauces: They’r earthy, bright, tart, sweet, bitter and savory. Consider incorporating more vegetable forward meals. They are often healthier, more environmentally friendly, and less expensive.
Why not give a flexitarian diet a try? A flexitarian diet is essentially a "semi-vegetarian" diet. It is primarily vegetarian with the occasional inclusion of meat or fish. If you are not fully on the vegetarian bandwagon, a flexitarian diet can be a nice compromise that can be associated with benefits for your health, the environment, and your wallet. Data suggests that vegetarians can save, on average, $750 per year on groceries simply because they are not purchasing pricey meats.
One simple meat swap is subbing lentils into recipes like tacos and meat sauces. Lentils are an inexpensive plant-based protein source that gives dishes a similar consistency to ground beef. Dried lentils have an extremely long shelf life and are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
Buy food that can be used in multiple meals
Versatile ingredients save meals. Start with pantry and fresh fruit + vegetable basics like flour, canned tomatoes, garlic, lemons. Each week. mix things up by buying different varieties of staple foods like grains and beans. If you have time to shop frequently, pick up smaller amounts of produce every couple of days to ensure everything is fresh. If you can’t shop as often, consider getting canned or frozen versions of the vegetables you won’t use immediately.
Start building a pantry
If possible - and admittedly this can be difficult for people living on their own - reserve part of your budget to buy one or two semi-expensive pantry items each week or month. Things like olive oil, soy sauce and spices are pricey at first, but if you use just a little with each recipe, they go a long way.
Think seasonally
During their local growing season, fruits and vegetables are generally cheaper and definitely tastier than outside of the season. Check out a great growing guide below.
And think FROZEN! For example, fresh berries are a yummy and versatile staple that are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and gut-healthy fiber. Unfortunately, the shelf life of these sweet treats is not very long and they have a short growing season in Florida. Choosing frozen berries like blueberries instead of fresh allows families to continue to enjoy and save often. Make sure when choosing frozen food you opt for the whole, not seasoned fruit or vegetable.
You Don’t Have to Buy Organic for Everything
As much as we may want to eat organic 100 percent of the time, the reality is that's not always possible with our budget. By knowing which foods to definitely buy organic, we can better manage our grocery budget. Start with buying from local growers at farmers markets and ask about their growing methods. Also try to avoid the Dirty Dozen and buy from the Clean 15.
Don’t Let Food Go to Waste
Get creative with wilted vegetables,. sometimes you forget a pepper or bunch of spinach in the back of the fridge. Although wilted veggies aren’t great for a salad, they’ll still be wonderful in any dish that calls for sautéed, grated or baked vegetables. Or even throw them in a smoothie! Just cut off any actual rot. You can also use them in homemade broth. Also use tips like keep similar items together, store fridge items in clear containers so you can see them, or move things with shorter shelf lives in the front of the fridge. Did you know Americans waste nearly a pound of food per person each day, and by some estimates a family of four can lose $1,500 a year, or more. A great resource to learn more and start your journey to reduce food waste is NRDC + WWF.
Menu Planning
You can have a big impact on your health — and your budget — just by eating at home more often. With menu planning you know what your meals will look like and what you need to buy. That makes grocery shopping more efficient and cuts down on unplanned trips to buy one or two items. And with a grocery list in hand — a byproduct of good menu planning — it's easier to resist impulse purchases. Some easy tips include trying themes or two like pasta nights, or meatless Mondays, planning for leftovers, recycling family favorites and being flexible, of course!
The Library is Your Friend
To learn more about healthy eating on a budget, I would encourage you to read some great cookbooks for healthy eating on a budget. The Palm Beach County Library has the following books…
Good and Cheap - Eat Well on $4/Day - Leanne Brown. You can download a free PDF version of the book here in English and Spanish.
Good Cheap Eats - Everyday Dinners and Fantastic Feasts for $10 or Less - Jessica Fisher.
Budget Bytes - Over 100 Easy, Delicious Recipes to Slash Your Grocery Bill in Half - Beth Moncel.
100 Days of Real Food on a Budget - Simple Tips and Tasty Recipes to Help You CUT OUT PROCESSED FOOD Without Breaking the Bank - Lisa Leake
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask For Help
There are local and county wide organizations here to help you and your family if you are struggling to purchase healthy foods to feed yourself and your family. Additionally, there are federal and state assistance programs to help like SNAP
If you and your family may be struggling with affording food right now, please check out the Palm Beach County Food Finder Map to locate free food and hot meals in Palm Beach County. This is the most comprehensive list for Palm Beach County. Locations and hours of distribution may change so consider calling the site prior to visiting to verify information listed.
You can also contact 211 - a community helpline and crisis hotline that provides suicide prevention, crisis intervention, information, assessment, and referral to community services for people of all ages. They proudly serve; Indian River County, Martin County, Okeechobee County, Palm Beach County and St. Lucie County.
SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food and move towards self-sufficiency.
If your household passes the Food Assistance Program's eligibility rules, the amount of food assistance benefits you get depends on the number of people in your household and how much money is left after certain expenses are subtracted. Individuals must pass eligibility rules to get food assistance benefits. Some of the eligibility rules are:
Identity - Individuals must show proof they are the person they claim to be. Applicants must provide proof of their identity.
Income and Deductions – Most households must pass a gross income limit less than or equal to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Households with a member disqualified for breaking Food Assistance Program rules, felony drug trafficking, running away from a felony warrant, or not participating in a work program must have gross income less than or equal to 130% of the FPL. Households with a disqualified member must have net income less than 100% of the FPL. Households with people who are age 60 or older, or disabled, must only meet the net monthly income limit. Some household expenses may be subtracted from the total monthly income in the food assistance budget. The budget may subtract for shelter expenses, dependent care, medical expenses, child support paid, utility deductions, and earned income deduction.
Residency - Individuals must live in the state of Florida.
Citizenship - Individuals must be a U.S. citizen or have a qualified noncitizen status.
SSN - Individuals must provide a Social Security Number or proof they have applied for one.
Child Support Cooperation - Certain individuals must cooperate with the state's child support enforcement agency to prove a child's legal relationship to their parent and to get the court to order child support payments.
Assets - Most food assistance households may have assets such as vehicles, bank accounts, or property and still get help. Households with a disqualified member must meet an asset limit of $2,250 or $3,250 effective October 1, 2014 (if the household contains an elderly or disabled member).
Change Reporting - Households must report when the total monthly gross income exceeds 130% of the Federal Poverty Level for the household size and when work hours of able bodied adults fall below 20 hours per week when averaged monthly. The household must report these changes within 10 days after the end of the month of the change.
There are people to help you through the process! The Palm Beach County Food Bank has Benefits Outreach Specialists that will help you navigate the Food Assistance process. Benefit Outreach Specialists are located throughout Palm Beach County. There is a Benefit Outreach Specialist at the Jupiter Branch of the Palm Beach County Library - 705 Military Trail, Jupiter, FL, 33458 - on Mondays. You can find the most up to date information on where to find a Benefit Outreach Specialist here.
You must make an appointment to get help from the specialist. There are new strict COVID 19 guidelines being implemented by the Palm Beach County Food Bank during appointments.
FreshRx is a fresh produce prescription program launched by Lox Farms, a certified naturally grown farm rooted in Loxahatchee, FL, to work with oncology, cardiology, neurology (stroke), and pediatric patients in the community whose doctors have advised them to change their diets as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. This program is fully funded by FreshRx, as such participation in the Fresh Rx program is free, allowing participants to start incorporating more fresh produce into their diet without adding any additional financial pressure. As a key part of a patient’s comprehensive treatment plan, physicians, case managers, social workers and nurse navigators may recommend patients to participate, as well as talk with their patients about the importance of food as medicine and compliance with healthy eating.
Current partners of the FreshRx program is Jupiter Medical Center and Healthier Jupiter.
Jupiter Medical Center’s mission is to deliver excellent and compassionate health care advancing the well-being of the people we serve. Since Jupiter Medical Center’s founding in 1979, they have flourished to become one of South Florida's most respected and preferred hospitals, consistently performing in the top 10 percent of hospitals for patient quality and satisfaction. All of the physicians, nurses, technologists, administrative staff and volunteers at Jupiter Medical Center are highly committed and dedicated to offering world-class care, close to home.
Healthier Jupiter in partnership with Jupiter Medical Center is dedicated to bringing the greater Jupiter community together to encourage each person to live their healthiest life. Healthier Jupiter is part of the Palm Health Foundation’s Healthier Together Initiative, a long-term, community-driven approach to solving a community’s complex healthcare issues.