Food for thought
Feel like the price of health just got hef tier? Dietitian Azmina Govindji explains what a cost-ef fective food shop adds up to
Packing your food shop and waiting to tap your card on the reader shouldn’t be a cortisol-spiking experience. And yet, more than half of people feel that the cost of living crisis has negatively affected their health, with rising food costs blamed by 78% in a recent YouGov poll. But watching the pennies doesn’t have to add up to beans on toast every night.
The secret to a weekly shop that is cost-effective and healthy lies in a phrase you’ll have heard many times before: meal prep. It begins with planning your meals for the week ahead, building in flexibility for any offers you may spot while shopping.
Base as many meals as you can around vegetables (using frozen as well as fresh), filling carbs (rice and noodles) and plant proteins (such as tinned beans and dried lentils). Not every meal needs to be perfectly balanced, but ideally you’ll include fruit or veg, protein, carbs, healthy fats and dairy or dairy alternatives in each. Get your food groups right and the micronutrients tend to follow. Once you’ve planned a menu, make a shopping list – and stick to it.
When filling your basket, it pays – literally – to keep an open mind. Opt for wonky, frozen or tinned fruit and veg, which is often cheaper than fresh while just as nutritious; studies show that vitamin C levels in frozen vegetables are higher than those sold as fresh, while a 2014 study in the Journal Of Agricultural And Food Chemistry found vitamin B2, vitamin C and vitamin E were stable in frozen fruit and vegetables. If you buy fresh, compare the price per kilo – bagged vegetables and fruit can be more costly than loose.
For your starchy carbs (think potatoes, bread, rice and pasta), look beyond the shelf in your eye
