First lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America announced yesterday that they are working with a number of major grocery retailers to bring affordable, healthy food to areas that desperately need them. “Make no mistake about it, this is a big deal,” said Obama during yesterday’s press conference. The partnering companies have agreed to open or expand over 1,500 stores combined, according to PR Newswire.
Stores participating in the initiative include Walmart, Walgreens, Brown’s Super Stores, Calhoun Enterprises, Klein’s Family Markets and Supervalu. Walmart has been an early supporter of Obama’s initiative to fight childhood obesity. Earlier this year, they announced plans to reduce the sugar and sodium content of their in-house brands and is now committing to building or expanding 300 stores. Additionally, the California Endowment has pledged to give $200 million through the FreshWorks Fund for new, independent retail channels and food distribution programs in California.
According to Partnership for a Healthier America, these efforts will provide nearly 10 million Americans with the ability to buy fresh produce close to their homes. An estimated 23.5 million Americans currently live in low-income “food deserts” where there are no stores likely to sell nutritious foods at a reasonable cost. Michelle Obama has explained that getting businesses to take this kind of active role is key to the success of programs like Let Move!
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For years, we’ve heard that the way to stick to a budget at the grocery store is to avoid paying with credit and go to a cash only system. Now, a new study has shown that paying for groceries with cash may be good for the waistline as well.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Research, found that shoppers were more likely to buy items considered “unhealthy” when they paid with credit or debit cards than if they paid with cash. You might think that a person who paid with a debit card would be as conscious of spending as a person with cash, due to the fact that a debit card drafts money from your account immediately. The study showed the opposite, even when the subjects completed their shopping in a computer simulated task.
When you are trying to eat healthy, sticking to a budget and a well planned out grocery list can be one of your greatest tools. Grocery stores are designed to part you from your money, and the areas that are on eye level are often full of the foods that are the least diet-friendly. Companies often pay extra for the “prime real estate” and they place the foods with the greatest income potential in those sections.
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Supermarkets are typically laid out to encourage costumers to make as many purchases as possible. The most frequented areas of the grocery store, such as the ends of aisles, are occupied by highest bidder. These choices are driven by profit margins, and not with the shopper’s health in mind.
But what if encouraging healthy purchases were a grocery store’s priority? The Marketplace Health Desk at WHYY public radio in Philadelphia takes a look at this topic. They interview Karen Glanz, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has done extensive research in consumer habits in supermarkets. She explains that she’s “trying to learn from what commercial marketers have been doing all along, see if we can’t turn that to health advantage.”
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Turn on the television or pick up a magazine and you can’t avoid seeing the latest craze – Extreme Couponing. It’s a full time job for many women and it’s become the next big thing. TV shows spotlight shoppers who pay next to nothing for cart after cart of merchandise, and cameras focus on closets of toothpaste and basements full of toilet paper. You can’t help but be interested; after all, who among us hasn’t fantasized about being paid to shop and bring home food for free?
Having a larger than normal size family, I’m always interested in trying to cut my large food bill. The most I’ve ever been able to save is about $25, and although I’m happy to accomplish at least that much of a savings, I’d love to do better. I’ve thought for quite a while about trying to use coupons more successfully, but having spent some time cutting coupons from my local paper I’ve noticed that there’s just one small problem: The vast majority of the coupons I’ve seen have been for heavily processed, high fat or high calorie foods that my family just doesn’t eat. Is it just the reality of extreme couponing that you will have to sacrifice eating healthy in order to save money?
Stephanie Nelson, the Coupon Mom, has a philosophy she refers to as strategic shopping to help save money at the grocery store. “Strategic shopping is not changing the way you eat, it is about changing the way you buy the food that you like. If you are working on losing weight, improving your health, improving your family’s health or all of the above, it is possible to do that while saving money on groceries when you know how to be a Strategic Shopper.”
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Whole Foods Market often gets a bad rap for being overpriced, as do many other grocery stores or markets that specialize in organic or natural products. Making a commitment to buying just organic produce may mean spending a greater percentage of your disposable income on food. That said, here are few ways to cut down on your grocery bill at Whole Foods Market.
First off, avoid the pre-prepared dishes. At almost any grocery store, there’s a higher mark-up for convenience items, and Whole Foods is no different. You’ll pay much more per ounce for a salad that is pre-prepared than you would buying all the ingredients individually. The same goes for pre-packaged produce items. For example, any produce that’s been chopped and shrink wrapped will be more expensive than something sold by weight.
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