Is High Quality Food Worth the Price?
If you’ve been to the grocery store within the past couple months, no one needs to tell you that inflation is real and hitting our pocket books. According to the USDA, overall grocery prices have gone up 11.4% in 2022 from what they were in 2021. The highest price spike was eggs increasing 32.2% in one year, and the lowest being beef and veal still raising 5.3% from what it was in 2021. While the statics are alarming, our bank accounts are even more so.
With the constant struggle just to put food on the table these days, we may wonder if high quality food is really worth the price. I’m here to argue yes but with some caveats.
Let’s first dive into why it is worth budgeting extra for high quality food.
High quality foods have more nutrients in them. We’ve talked about how raw milk has more nutrients in it than pasteurized milk does in Nature's Supplement. Many of the nutrients like calcium, vitamins, and even the protein and fats in raw milk are destroyed in the pasteurization process. While raw milk may cost more, you’re getting more bang for your buck when you drink raw milk versus pasteurized. But it’s not just milk! Free range chickens lay eggs that are richer with more vitamins in them, and pasture raised beef have a higher omega 3 fatty acid profile in their meat than exclusively grain feed beef.
One thing I’ve heard recently is to count nutrients or ingredients instead of calories. While calories do matter if you’re trying to lose or gain weight, there is some truth in that statement. We could eat in a caloric deficit by solely consuming Doritos and Mountain Dew and we may lose weight, but would we be healthier? Surly not! Where as if we eat whole, high quality foods, we will become overall healthier beings. Sure, if we have a specific weight goal, we may need to pay attention to calories and macros. But unless we want to be spending more money on tons of vitamins and supplements, we need to eat foods that nourish us.
Another bonus to high quality, whole minimally processed foods is they are more satiating. I enjoy this thought experiment my favorite fitness podcast, Mind Pump, uses frequently: would you in one sitting eat four or 5 plain baked potatoes? Probably not. You would hit pallet fatigue before you got through all those potatoes! Yet, we could sit and smash a whole bag of potato chips. Why? Because they’re cooked in oils and coated in salt which bypasses our hunger signals. If we stick to high quality, minimally processed foods, we’re less likely to ignore our bodies as they tells us that we are full. Plus if we focus our shopping on whole foods, we’re avoiding harmful ingredients like seed oils that have more detrimental effects than just making us over eat.
Another benefit to buying high quality, whole foods is that you often can find a local farmer to directly source them from! As we talked about in Short Lived is the Family Farm this is key to the survival of many small family farms. We depend on you, our consumers, liking our products and methods. In addition to supporting your local farm, you’re voting with your dollars on how you want your food to be raised! If you know a farm that sells direct to consumer, support them! You not only will be helping their farm persist in challenging times, but your money goes direct to the farmer instead of going to big store chains like Walmart and Meijer.
Now, let’s dive into the reasons why I wouldn’t say you HAVE to buy the highest quality foods you can find.
Not everyone can afford to buy pasture eggs, a whole steer at once, or a herd share for raw milk. I don’t believe it’s ethical to go into debit for most things and that includes food. Maybe I shouldn’t say that as I may be encouraging some people not to buy from my farm, but before I can have my farm be a success, I need to honor God and what His word says. Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” And debt rates in America have sky rocked in the past years. Total consumer debt in America reached 16.38 trillion in 2022. We have had some debt on big things in all transparency but the goal has been to get out of debt. If it comes between buying high quality food or staying out of debt, I hope you choose to avoid debt.
There is a scale of food from good to better to best. Let’s take eggs as an example. Good being the cheapest eggs. They’re still a wonderful, nutritious food. Better would be a cage free egg. Best being free range, pasture raise. You can still get nutritious food without breaking the bank. While I do want people to buy beef or herdshares for raw milk from our farm, I am also so grateful for big farms that raise beef and big dairies to sell beef and milk in the store that is affordable for all. Let’s not demonize good for best.
In conclusion, I do believe that it is worth it to spend more of high quality, whole foods. We do in our home. But I don’t believe it is wise to do so if it puts your family in financial strain.
How can you make sure that you have room in your budget for the highest quality foods? Shop mainly whole foods! It’s not only better for you because of the satiating effects of whole foods mentioned above, but high quality processed foods are extremely expensive. If you buy snacky foods like crackers and chips made without seed oils or with organic ingredients, you’re going to be spending a tremendous amount more that you would if you just stuck to whole foods. I’m guilty of this! We unquestionably do not spend the most on our quality chicken breasts or eggs or beef or pork, but we spend a lot on our gluten free snacks and pasta! To make your food budget stretch further, try sticking to whole foods and making all that you can at home. Also, as I mentioned, buying directly from farmers makes cuts out the middle man prices. Lastly, making a budget and sticking to it isn’t fun or sexy, but it is a solid way to assure that you can afford the foods you want in your home. These are just a few ways you can make buying high quality foods more affordable.
To read further, look at this article! The Best Diet: Quality Counts
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