The USDA predicts the price of foods to be consumed at home to increase between 10-11% this year, according to a recent outlook summary.
In 2020, the Colorado Health Institute discovered that one in 10 Coloradans were eating less because they couldn’t afford food. Of those surveyed and who identified as being food insecure, 37.5% reported poor or fair general health.
Broomfield FISH found, during the pandemic, that many of its clients depended on it for all their food needs. According to Maggie Sava, communications and media manager at Broomfield FISH, said prior to the pandemic families used FISH’s marketplace primarily to supplement their grocery purchases.
Recently that trend has further increased due to inflation. In June, FISH distributed 132,642 pounds of food to 4,122 people. The year prior those numbers were were lower at 104,959 pounds of food to 2,288 people.
For some, eating healthy is impacted by the price of food, but a local nutritionist says it doesn’t have to.
Bobbie Covert has been a nutritionist for the past decade and is now the owner of her own business, {RU} Nourished. In addition to owning her own business, Covert has taught courses about sticking to a budget and eating healthy.
She said the basics for a healthy diet is to include foods that provide the three macronutriets the body needs, carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
“To be an optimal fuel burning machine, which is what we all are, you have to have a little bit of everything,” Covert said.
The important thing to remember, Covert said, is to choose foods that are whole foods. She recommends cutting out refined and processed foods which increase the price due to extra packaging.
Even while choosing inexpensive foods, some budgets can only accommodate a few items. Covert suggests focussing on proteins such as beans, eggs and lentils.
Every penny counts when it comes to food shopping. Locally, Wednesday is the day most grocers release the next week’s sales flyers. Covert suggests looking through the flyers and trying to buy proteins and the more expensive items while on sale.
“... even if you don’t want to shop the sales for everything in the sales flyer, at least shop sales for your protein. And if you can stock up, if you have a way to freeze those proteins … use that space wisely,” Covert said.
Frozen fruits, vegetables and proteins are another way to save money and eat healthy, Covert said. These items are the same as buying fresh, but can have a lower price tag.
Most of the items Covert recommends gravitating towards requires extra preparation on the consumer’s part, she said. This may mean more time in the kitchen or learning how to cook items that before were more convenient but also more processed.
Covert recommends turning to YouTube videos and other resources to learn the best way to cook these items with the kitchen wares already in the home.
In order to not feel too overwhelmed by learning to cook all of these items at once, Covert suggests learning to cook one thing at a time until getting the hang of it.
“I find that cooking is an area that if people can commit to doing it a little bit more, you get better at it fast. You start to learn tricks,” Covert said. “The hardest part about cooking, I think, is setting aside the time.”
According to Covert, keeping up with a healthy diet doesn’t involve spending more at the store. With a few tweaks, families can get the nutrients they need while staying within a tight budget.
