Many people blame rising obesity rates on the high costs of food and I have to (go figure!!) disagree. Is fast food really less expensive than "real" food? I know it's easier, but let's talk cost. Sure, I agree that buying a week's worth of food at one time feels like you are spending more overall, but broken down by meal, your savings can be pretty good especially if you shop store brands and watch for coupons and sales.

Fresh eggs are inexpensive as is a loaf of whole grain bread, generic Cereal, quick cook oats, applesauce. Frozen concentrated OJ, apple juice or grape juice is cheap and I've always watered it down by half to lower the sugar per serving and my kids don't know the difference. coffee Beans cost almost nothing, too.

Bags of brown rice, dried beans, whole grain Pasta, potatoes. They are all complex carbs, healthy, and pennies per serving.

Frozen veggies are much better than canned, are picked and frozen at their peak of freshness and great for you. Fresh veggies in season cost pennies per serving, but go for frozen for off season choices.

Fruit in season is the best. Bananas are always cheap, as are apples if you buy them by the bag.

Canned beans, jarred tomato sauce, canned Soup, and Peanut Butter are great staples and if you read the labels, there are healthy options.

meat is a tough one, admittedly, but tuna and canned chicken are often on sale and can be stocked up on. Whole chickens are inexpensive as are whole pork loins. I buy ground beef on sale and freeze it.

As far as dairy, blocks of cheese can be grated or sliced, the family sized containers of yogurt aren't expensive, and cottage cheese can be bought for pennies per serving.

Real food is NOT much more expensive it's simply not as convenient. It takes longer to prepare, it takes more planning, and utilizing leftovers is usually involved. Cooking and prepping in bulk is a great option as well as using that freezer for something other than ice cream.

What other options are out there that I missed?

Inspiring thread.

I think wheb eating out healthier foods tend to be more expensive than the fast food options.

When eating out? Absolutely. Eating at home or on the go, not so much.

No absolutely not cause most home cooked meals average out to be 1 to 4 dollars per meal depending on the quality of meat you are choosing. But even so for the amount of food most of us are eating our meals are probably a dollar to 2 dollars