People are always asking me if I find it more expensive to eat healthy foods. The honest answer is I don't really know. I suppose there are valid arguments for both sides. There are so many variables such as whether you buy premium brands or own labels, whether you bulk buy, whether you focus on the deals etc. I could argue that to eat healthy I could live on rice and beans which would be cheap enough but you could also argue that on the unhealthy side you can pick up microwave meals for £1 (and sometimes less).
I decided to do a little bit of research picking out some fairly standard foods and have tried to match up like for like so where an unhealthy food is branded so is the healthy option and so too for the own brand labels. Obviously you could go cheaper on both sides of the fence by buying only own brand stuff. Another factor for me is I tend to buy almost all of my fresh meat and fish from the reduced shelf and make it go further by making stews etc.
We could argue the finer details all day long but I would say this is typically Representative of what I used to eat and what I eat now. I have picked out a couple of options for a main meal (excluding accompaniments) and a few snacks. I would say there is not much difference. I have also omitted drinks where I would save a fair bit because I don't drink any fizzy drinks or juices, only tap water. (Prices taken from leading supermarket website and does not include offers or multi-buy savings.)
Unhealthy:
Chicken breasts in breadcrumbs (4 pack) £2.99
Battered cod fillets (4 Pack) £2.00
Mars bar (one from multipack) 25p
Pack of crisps (one of branded multipack) 23p
Mr. Kipling apple pie (one from 6 pack) 23p
Aero chocolate mousse (4 pack - 236g) £1.29
Chips (Basics range frozen price per kg) 55p
Total: £7.54
Healthy:
Whole fresh chicken £3.00
cod fillets (plain 450g) £3.25
1 apple (granny smith or similar) 27p
1 banana 12p
Hard boiled egg (one from 6 pack large) 24p
fat free natural yoghurt (500g) 55p
potatoes (basics range price per kg) 59p
Total: 8.02
So to summerise, I would say its all about making wise choices. When chosing to eat healthy, don't be suckered into buying exotic foods (did you know strawberries have roughly the same amount of antioxidents as blueberries and are probably about half the price!) or branded diet/low fat options.
