Money has been on my mind a lot lately; rather, lack of money has been on my mind a lot lately.

I am, to no one’s surprise, a huge advocate of local foods, whole foods and organic foods. In discussing food with other mothers and families, I consistently run into the same excuse for not purchasing wholesome, organic foods time and time again: money, or, rather, the lack thereof.

Time and time again, people will say that they haven’t the money to purchase wholesome food for their family. They outline how white bread is cheaper than organic, sprouted wheat. They express that regular (e.g. feedlot) ground beef is less expensive than local, pastured meat. They’re right. It is. You can’t fool with the numbers.

Still, in six decades the average family’s food expenditure went from 1/5 of its income to 1/10 of its income. That is, in the 1950s the average family spent 20% of its income on groceries. Today, the average family spends only 10% of its income on groceries. Perhaps our perceptions of how much we should budget for groceries is skewed?

Indeed what we aren’t spending on quality food, we are spending elsewhere. Health costs of soared. Personal debt has soared. Our collection of stuff has soared.

Perhaps I’m an idealist, or perhaps I’m simply speaking from a life privileged by education and positive community, but I do think that eating a nutritious, wholesome diet is accessible for almost everyone. It’s about the choices we make and the priorities we set. Most of us can afford to make eating well a priority. Sure, that choice might require sacrifice, but it’s a wise trade.

My family survives on a single, very modest income in an area where the cost of living is 60% higher than the national average so I’m no stranger to the trials of balancing, or not balancing, a budget. Still, we’ve made it a priority to eat well and we make the effort to eat well.

We limit expensive foods, relying instead on less expensive but equally wholesome options. We stretch what we do have. We grow our own. We belong to a co-op. We make everything from scratch. My husband has volunteered at a local farm for the last three years–earning us limitless produce and pastured eggs for free. He manages our farmers market which, from time to time, brings in meat, eggs, fruits, sourdough breads, fruits and vegetables for free thus reducing our overall cost of food. And we use every bit before it’s sent to the compost bucket and returned to the earth. Leek tops and carrot shavings become vegetable stock. A roast chicken carcass turns into bone broth, as do those free bones the butcher gives us.

And, beyond those efforts, we go without. Paying $30 for a local, grass-finished roast is a large one-time expense but it pales in comparison to the long-term financial, health and environmental consequences of thirty visits to McDonalds or any fast food joint. We skip expensive entertainment, clothing, household goods so that we are able to increase our food budget and make the choice to live and eat well.

Ultimately, the question should be, “Why is unhealthy food so cheap?” not “Why is healthy food so expensive?”