More Help for Healthy Eating on a Budget

Last month, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) unveiled their newest consumer-friendly tool – the Good Food on a Tight Budget list.
shopping basket

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Shopping Basket of Food

Photo by: Mark Swallow

Mark Swallow

We keep saying that healthy eating can and be budget friendly. Late last month, the folks that brought you the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) unveiled their newest consumer-friendly tool – the Good Food on a Tight Budget Guide, so there's more help than ever for consumers who are trying to eat right but not spend more.

The List

This guide sets out to identify the most nutritious, economical and pollutant-free foods available. Looking at ingredient quality, price, nutrients, pesticide load and other factors helped to create a list of top 100 go-to foods.

The easy-to-use guide is divided into familiar food categories: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, dairy, cooking fats & oils and staples & spices. Each section includes helpful tips to make you a more savvy shopper. For example, a tip from the dairy category reads:

“Freeze cheese that starts going bad. Defrosted cheese tastes best melted. Don't buy shredded cheese – shred it yourself.”

The guide also has other useful tools like recipes, downloadable meals plans and shopping lists to help shoppers stick to their budgets.

Top Picks

Some of the big budget-friendly winners included: bananas, pears, watermelon, broccoli, collards, parsley, barley, toasted oat cereal, canned light tuna, beans, eggs, walnuts, turkey, dry milk, ricotta cheese, plain yogurt and canola oil.

Tell Us: What are your best budget-friendly tips for healthy eating?

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