Eating healthily can save a family of four $150 at the checkout a fortnight, research finds
Eating healthily can be less expensive than the unhealthy diet many Australians currently live on, a new study has found.
Key points:
- There’s a perception that healthy food costs more, but it can save you money, research finds
- A trolley of healthy food costs $150 less a night than what the average Australian family buys
- The takeaway message? Try to eat five servings of vegetables a day and replace processed food with fresh food
A regional Victorian hospital’s health promotion unit has shown that by following the recommended Australian Dietary Guidelines, families can save $150 at the checkout a fortnight.
And that’s without needing to buy expensive items from the heath food aisle.
But it does involve wheeling the trolley past national favorites like sausages and beer, wine and preserved meats, fruit juice, sweet snacks and muesli bars.
The study took a trolley to the supermarket aisles to test the affordability of the Australian Dietary Guidelines, comparing the cost of the recommended diet to what an average Australian family buys and eats a fortnight.
‘Back to basics’
The study