Since America's obesity problem began to arise, there's been plenty of unresolved speculation as to whether sufferers of obesity simply chose to eat poorly or whether they simply couldn't afford to eat well. Different sets of data support both theories, and the jury's still out over whether it's more expensive to eat healthy food. One thing we know for sure, though: income levels and BMI remain inversely proportional.

Instead of trying to answer once and for all whether good food is more expensive, I thought I'd look into some of the problems surrounding the question. The economics of food and health can't be explained with a dollar-for-dollar comparison. There are also questions of time and personal labor--and how each are spent toward different eating habits.

If you look solely at the dollar amount of groceries, it may well be possible to eat healthily and cheaply at the same time. For the most part, produce isn't hugely expensive. Loose fruits and vegetables can easily go for under a dollar a pound. The problem is that not everyone has easy access to a cheap produce mart. Big grocery stores don't focus on cheap produce and often overcharge for low-quality fruits and vegetables, as it's a risky stock that can be easily spoiled or damaged. If you're living in a city, chances are you'll have access to cheap fresh fruits and vegetables, but then you'll also paying more in rent. There are huge regions of America where you just can't get cheap, quality produce without traveling far out of your way. 

There's also the issue of timing. If you live in an area where a trip to the grocery store is big enough to cost you plenty in gas, you're not going to want to go more than once a week. You'll want to pick up a week's worth of food in one go. Not all produce lasts from Sunday to the following Saturday, especially if it's the low-quality stuff generally found on Stop & Shop shelves. It's easier to pick up processed, dry or frozen goods or other non-perishable meals just because you know they'll last. They don't require the same kind of careful meal-planning that meals made from fresh ingredients do. The mental labor that goes into preparing food from healthy, whole ingredients has to be taken into account when estimating the overall cost of a certain type of diet.

So while it may be possible to spend the same dollar amount on healthy food as unhealthy food, the labor required to procure, plan, and execute meals made from whole ingredients generally makes eating well more expensive overall. Cost isn't just measured in dollars and not everyone can afford the time or labor necessary to keep eating well.