The Cost Of Healthy Eating. Cheaper Than Chips!!

It should be everyone’s right to eat whole, organic foods and buy the best quality food you can buy but a lot of people are put off because they think organic or grass fed means $$$. Unfortunately, this is perpetuated by the big chains who operate on very small margins (Woolies run a 3% profit margin. Fact) and make it seem – by advertising their low low prices – that healthy food is out of reach of the average person. Not necessarily so.

I decided to break down my own shopping budget for the week so that you can see that eating healthy is not a break-the-budget matter.

Here’s what I consume weekly (cooking for my girlfriend and myself):

$50 - Eggs (If you know me, you know I consume a lot of eggs)
$90 - Meat (Buy roasts, they last a lot longer than single serves)
$21 - Milk (6 litres a week)
$16.90 - Cheese (A great healthy snack to enjoy between meals or after training)
$15 - Blueberries (can’t live without them in my yummy shakes!)
$8 - Coconuts (Food of LIFE. Do you have the food of life in your house?)
$15 - Fruit and Veg (added flavour and texture to some meals)

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$215.90 - Total (107.95 Each)

Now, the above list is pretty much starting from scratch. Once you have these things, it’s a simple matter of topping them up each week as you consume. I put that list up to show you what it would cost to go and buy everything you'd need to set yourself up with good food in the house so that you can make something that is fresh and healthy every meal!

My bills thereafter would almost be between 1/4 to 1/2 less, every other week.

Broken down, it looks like this:

I spend $108 per week divided by 7 days in the week = 15.42 per day.
I eat close to 6 meals almost everyday so daily price (15.42) divided by each meal = $2.57 per meal!

$2.57 a meal on average - So realistically, even if you double the $108 to $216pw it would still be CHEAPER than chips, pardon the pun ($5.17 per meal).





These costs are based on the foods I'm buying being organically raised or grown. For example the meats are grass fed and finished, hens are 100% free range, and fruit and vegies are from organic sources. The benefits include:


• Supporting myself with good nourishing food.
• Supporting the environment.
• Supporting humanity and rewarding farmers for doing things right by the soil.


There’s another benefit but I have to get on my soapbox for this one. When you buy from big corporations and big chain supermarkets you help to secure their dominance on our food industry and support poor quality food and the destruction of our environment. [You may even notice that lately the big guys are putting ‘Grass fed, grass finished’ on some of their labels in an effort to corner the rising tide of people looking for better quality.

Sure, you might pay a couple of dollars less than me but look at my shopping list. It’s not that much to eat high quality food is it? The expression ‘you are what you eat’ is spot on so knowing you’re eating 100% organic food from a reliable source gives you piece of mind that you’re as healthy as you possibly can be. Can you put your hand on your heart and say unequivocally that you know where the big guys’ meat and veg is sourced?

We need to understand that by paying for goods we are voting to have MORE of whatever it is we're buying in our lives. I'm comfortable knowing that my income goes to people who are doing the right thing and creating healthy wholesome foods.

Bon Appétit and use the big guys to buy nappies, soap and tissues. (Also be mindful that you can get sustainable options for these products to)


Health & Chi

Shane Richards

(Thanks to Alex Smith for his editorial skills!)