Supermarket Savvy

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Supermarket Savvy

• More Nutrition for Your
• Arizona Nutrition Network
• January 30, 2009
• Sharon Hoelscher Day, CFCS
• Area Extension Agent, Family Consumer Sciences
• University of Arizona Cooperative Extension

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What do families spend??

• How much did you spend the last time you went to
  the grocery store?
• How much do you spend on all food?
• Per person per month
• Family for a month

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Cost of Eating Healthy

• Billions around the world eat on 1/day
• Food Stamp - SNAP
• Arizona average 112.38/month per person
• 3.73 per day per person
• 271.88/ Arizona SNAP household/month
• 9.06 per day per AZ SNAP household
• Average American spends 7/day

Parker-Pope, New York Time, Nov. 3, 2008 AZ DES,
Oct. 2008
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Cost of Eating Healthy

• Low-Cost - month
• 1 Adult 195
• Family 4 666.30
• Thrifty Plan - month
• 1 Adult 154.90
• Family 4 525.80
• 17.53/day

• Liberal - month
• 1 Adult 307.20
• Family 4 1016.90
• Moderate - month
• 1 Adult 239.80
• Family 4 821.20

USDA Official Food Plans Cost of Food at Home
Nov. 2008
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Eating Healthy in the Media

• Dollar a Day - couple in CA
• http//onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/
• Food Stamp Challenge
• Michigan Governor tried 5.87/day
• Oregon governor ate on 3/day

Parker-Pope, New York Time, Nov. 3, 2008
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Cost of Eating Healthy

• Low income or high school or less education
• More likely to consider food price important
• Considered fresh fruits vegetables too
  expensive
• Consumed less energy
• Consumed less milk and non-starchy vegetables
• Drank more sweetened fruit drinks
• More likely to add fat to vegetables fried meat
• More likely overweight plus health problems

Bowman, Qualitative Quantitative Assessment of
Community Based Nutrition Programs, June 2006
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Price of a Calorie

• 1.76 for 1000 Kcalories energy dense junk
  foods
• Cost Increased 1.8 percent in 2 years
• 18.16 for 1000 Kcalories low energy, high
  nutrition foods
• Cost Increased 19.5 percent in 2 years

Drewnowski, Univ. of Washington, 2007 Journal of
Amer. Dietetic Assoc.
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Eating Healthy in the Media

• Eating local
• Eat more plants to save the world!
• Slow food
• Organics
• Vegetarians, Vegans
• pescetarians

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Barriers to Good Nutrition

• Money and . . . ???
• Break into groups of 3 and brainstorm for 5
  minutes
• What are other barriers to good nutrition for the
  SNAP families you work with?
• How can we overcome
• those barriers?

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Barriers Solutions

• Lack of storage
• Limited cooking skills
• Limited cooking equipment utensils
• Poor refrigeration
• Limited transportation
• Time squeeze with jobs
• Vary by community
• Others . . .

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Usual Suspects . . .

• Cook from scratch
• Use coupons wisely
• Purchase fruits veggies in season
• Plan meals with nutrition in mind!!!
• MyPyramid.gov
• http//www.mypyramidtracker.gov/planner/
• Low Cost 2 week recipes - pdf file
• http//www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodPlansCostofFood.h
  tm

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Supermarket Savvy

• Shop the perimeter
• Limit items from the middle of the store
• Buy more single ingredient foods
• Store brands
• Quality nutrition similar
• to national brands
• Limit processed foods
• Anything in a box

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Store Brand vs. National
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Store Brand vs. National
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Shops the specials

• Plan meals around sale specials
• Especially expensive items
• Meat and milk
• Stock up on canned produce
• Choose low cost protein
• Rice, beans
• Eat more plants, less meat

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Freezing Meat on Sale

• Its safe to freeze meat or poultry directly in
  its supermarket wrapping but this type of wrap is
  permeable to air.
• Unless the food will be used in a month or two,
  over wrap these packages for long-term storage
  using airtight heavy-duty foil, (freezer) plastic
  wrap or freezer paper, or place the package
  inside a (freezer) plastic bag.

USDA Food Safety Inspection
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Freezing Meat on Sale

• At 0 degrees F, frozen foods remain safe
  indefinitely, but quality decreases.
• Frozen raw ground meat maintains optimum quality
  for 3 to 4 months.
• Larger pieces of meat like steaks or chops
  maintain optimum quality for 4 to 12 months.
• The safest way to thaw meat is in the
  refrigerator on a plate on the bottom shelf so it
  doesnt drip on other foods.

USDA Food Safety Inspection
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Cost of Protein

• How much is needed for 20 grams?
• 3 eggs
• 3 oz chicken or ground beef
• 2 cups milk
• 3.5 oz cheddar cheese
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 cup soybeans
• 3 oz tuna
• 4.5 Tablespoons peanut butter
• 1.5 cups beans
• 10 slices of bread

What is Protein?, G. Lauritzen Utah State U.
Cooperative Extension
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Cost of Protein
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Cost of Protein
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Store Brand vs. National
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Store Brand vs. National
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Healthy Foods Under 1

• Oatmeal
• Eggs - half dozen
• Kale
• Potatoes
• sweet or white
• Apples
• Bananas

• Beans
• Butternut squash
• in season
• Broccoli
• Whole grain pasta
• Milk
• Rice

Parker-Pope, New York Time, Dec. 29, 2008
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Healthy Foods Under 1
MORE

• Canned Pumpkin
• Beets
• Carrots
• Spinach dark greens
• Tuna

• Tea
• Sweet potatoes
• Yogurt
• Canned tuna
• Tofu
• Frozen berries

UA WorkLife Connection 2008 Parker-Pope, New York
Time, Dec. 29, 2008
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Save on Snacks

• Buying one less bag of chips weekly
• Save 2.50 - 3.80 per week
• 130 - 198 in a year
• Make your own popcorn
• Low cost, high fiber, whole grain

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Save on Produce

• Balance conventional vs. organic
• Fruit vegetables in season
• Look for low sodium canned
• Frozen fruits and vegetables have similar
  nutrition to fresh and can be much less expensive

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Fresh vs. Frozen
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Fresh vs. Frozen vs. Frozen
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Fresh vs. Frozen vs. Canned
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Fresh vs. Frozen vs. Canned
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Fresh vs. Frozen vs. Canned
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Think your Drink!!

• Purchase high nutrition drinks
• Milk
• 100 juice
• Buy a reusable water bottle and fill with tap
  water instead of buying bottled water
• SAVE 4-6 / week
• 298 - 312 / year

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Barriers into solutions

• Turn less healthy foods into healthier ones
• Ramen noodles - 15 cents for 2 servings
• BUT 880 mg sodium and 190 calories/serving
• Use half the seasoning packet
• Add canned or frozen vegetables
• Add left over chicken or canned tuna for entre
• Complete meal

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Keep a grocery list

• Saves gas money on extra supermarket trips
• Reduces impulse purchases
• Easy access in kitchen
• Stay flexible for sales
• Divide into groups of 3
• Pick 2 stores and select food a day under 10

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Savings Examples

• Save gas for extra trip driving 6 miles to store
• 1 - 2
• Save on impulse purchase
• 1.50 bottle of soda
• 2.80 1 lb. crackers
• 4.79 for twelve 1.25 oz
• Cheeze Its Mini packs

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Reduce food waste

• Money is tossed when food is tossed!
• 1 - 10 per week of the trash!
• 52 - 520 per year
• Buy only what you need!

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Reduce food waste

• Reuse it in menus more often serve more
  salads add to sandwiches, tacos or enchiladas
  make wrap sandwiches
• Eating your lettuce before it gets tired and
  needs to be tossed!

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Savings Examples

• Too many mashed potatoes?
• Reduce the amount made
• Recycle in a day or two as potato patties,
  shepherds pie, potato soup
• Bananas too ripe?
• Recycle in banana bread or smoothies

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Dont Shop Hungry

• Extra costs of hunger
• 1.40 candy bar to tide you over until you get
  done
• 1.50 bottle of soda
• If ONLY once per week,
• totals150 in year

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Pack lunches and snacks

• It can be as simple as a peanut butter sandwich
  and piece of whole fruit
• Or, leftovers fromlast night
• Save 5 15/week

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Choose convenience foods wisely

• How much time money are really saved!
• Microwaving regular oatmeal takes only a few
  minutes more than pouring hot water over a
  pre-measured package
• Cutting your own fruits and veggies saves money
  they keep longer than precut ones, too!

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Choose convenience foods wisely

• Buying a carton of oatmeal providing 30 servings
  vs. buying 3 boxes with 10 instant oatmeal
  packets each
• Savings 5.50

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Stock up on Staples Sales

• Tuna
• Cereal
• Tomato sauce
• Canned vegetables
• Store brands are comparable in nutrition to name
  brands

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Store Brand Savings
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Buy Bulk for Nutrition

• Buying a 5-pound instead of a 1-pound bag of rice
  (if you serve rice frequently)
• Only if you can safely store and use it!

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Bulk Convenience Savings
Frys Foods, January 2009
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Bulk Convenience Savings
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Cost of Eating Healthy

• A dollar saved is even better than a dollar
  earned
• You dont have to pay taxes on it!
• 10 saved
• Better than
• Interest

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More information

• Sharon Hoelscher Day
• shday_at_ag.arizona.edu
• Sources
• University of Arizona Cooperative Extension
• USDA, New York Times, NBC
• Alice Henneman, MS, RD
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension
• http//lancaster.unl.edu/food/supermarket-savings.
  shtml

Brand names are only used as examples and no
endorsement is implied