Healthy Foods Cost Less
A new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that healthy food costs less â if you measure it by portion size or nutritional value. Previous studies have shown that eating junk food is cheaper than eating healthy food. Those studies used price per calorie to calculate costs. The USDA study analyzed 4,439 foods with three measures: price per average portion, price per calorie and price per “edible gram.” An edible gram took into account the nutritional value of the food and didn’t count “empty” calories. On a price-per-calorie basis, veggies and fruits appeared more expensive. But by the other two measures, they were less expensive than junk food. The study was released May 16. The Associated Press wrote about it May 17.