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2.2: Reading- Eating Well on a Budget

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    104385
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    Before You Read

    Answer the following questions.

    1.      Which of the following statements apply to you? You can choose more than one.

    a)     _____ I think I spend too much money on food.

    b)     _____ I want to eat more cheaply.

    c)      _____ I need more information on how to eat healthy food.

    d)     _____ I am a good cook.

    2.      The following pieces of advice are given to people who want to eat well on a limited budget. What do you predict the reading will say about each one?

     

     

    Advice

    Why? What do you predict the reading will tell us about this?

    A

    Eat less meat.

     

     

     

    B

    Don’t be swayed by famous-name brands.

     

     

     

     

    C

    Never go to the grocery store without a list.

     

     

     

     

    D

    Shop in places other than the supermarket.

     

     

     

     

    E

    The best foods you can buy are found around the edges of the supermarket.

     

     

     

    F

    Think about growing your own food.

     

     

     

     

    G

    Don’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

     

     

     

    H

    Eat at home more often.

     

     

     

     

    The Reading

    Read the following text. For each piece of advice, choose the correct opening sentence from the list below.

    A.     The less meat you eat, the cheaper your food bill will be.

    B.     Don’t be swayed by famous-name brands.

    C.    Never go to the grocery store without a list.

    D.    Shop in places other than the supermarket.

    E.     The best foods you can buy are found around the edges of the supermarket.

    F.     Think about growing your own food.

    G.    Don’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

    H.    The more you eat at home, the more money you will save.

     

    Can you eat well without spending a lot of money? Even if you are on a limited budget (and most students are), you can still manage to eat healthily. Here are some tips for eating well when you don’t have a lot of money to spare.

     

    1       ____________________________________________________ If you can, have a plan for what you intend to eat every day of the week. For example, you may decide to have pasta on Monday, chicken on Tuesday, hamburgers on Wednesday, and so on. This way, you will know exactly what you need to buy, and you will not be tempted to buy things that catch your eye but that you don’t need. Plan for times when you won’t feel like cooking. If you have a part-time job on Saturdays, you will probably be too tired to cook when you get home. Don’t stop at the nearest fast food restaurant! If you are well prepared, you will be able to heat up a bowl of home-made soup, slice some crusty bread, and throw together a quick salad with the vegetables you have in your fridge.

     

    2       ____________________________________________________ If you do, you risk buying food that you don’t need. Research conducted at Cornell University in New York showed that people who had not eaten before going shopping bought more food than those who were not hungry. Food you buy when you are ravenous will usually be high in calories, unhealthy, and expensive—you are more likely to buy a bag of cookies than a bunch of spinach, for example. So, do yourself a favour and have a snack before you hit the supermarket aisles.

    clipboard_e40f4dff93873e8690471efcaf7e73d05.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Farmers’ markets are great places to shop for food.

    3       ____________________________________________________ Around the perimeter of the store you will find nutritious and inexpensive vegetables, fruits, whole-wheat bread, cheese, eggs, and other “real” foods. The aisles in the middle of the store are where you will find packaged cookies, breakfast cereals, boxed macaroni and cheese, canned soups, and potato chips. These processed foods are full of ingredients you have never heard of: cholecalciferol, pyridoxine hydrochloride, sodium phosphate, tartrazine, and more. These are things that sound as if they belong in a science lab, not on your dinner table. Frozen dinners are also best avoided. A frozen lasagna for two people might cost $8.99; you can make your own for a fraction of that, and it will be free of additives. Some of the worst food you can buy is processed food.

     

    4       ____________________________________________________ If you drink orange juice, you probably know that a two-litre carton of brand-name juice costs $4.99 at your local supermarket; the same juice in a generic package might be a dollar or two cheaper, and there may not be much difference in taste between the two brands. If you insist on having your favourite brand of ice cream as a treat, that’s fine; however, for most staples, such as butter, frozen vegetables, condiments, and baking supplies, the store’s own brand is just as good, and it will save you money. 

     

    5       ____________________________________________________ One of the best ways to ensure you are buying good-quality local produce is to shop at farmers’ markets. The produce sold at farmers’ markets is fresh, it is grown locally, and it is often organic. Experiment with going to the market at different times. If you go early in the morning, you can often get the best choice. If you go later, just before the market is about to close, you might get a good deal on your shopping. In the summer, you can also go fruit-picking; this is a fun and healthy way to spend an afternoon with friends.

    clipboard_e7563aac76eee98f6d04d14e1f4ccbf39.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Do most of your shopping around the perimeter of the supermarket.

    6       ____________________________________________________ Alisa Smith, co-author of The 100-Mile Diet, laments the fact that so many young people today have never learned what she calls “the household arts.” In other words, they have never been taught to cook. TV chef Jamie Oliver wants to remedy this; he recommends that every child leaving school has ten meals they can cook at home. Similarly, if you usually buy your lunch at college, try packing your own instead. A cafeteria lunch can easily cost $10; you can make your own brown-bag lunch for much less than that. If you are tempted to buy bottled water just because you think it is healthier, rest assured that B.C. tap water is perfectly safe to drink. Carry your water bottle and fill it from a fountain in your college.

     

    7       ____________________________________________________ A package of four chicken breasts costs at least $10, a box of eight frozen hamburger patties costs $12, and you are unlikely to find a package of bacon for less than $5. Buying a lot of meat can really make your food bill add up. The consumption of red meat in Canada is declining; nevertheless, the Canadian Meat Council reports that the meat and poultry industry still recorded sales of $23.3 billion in 2012—Canada is still a nation of meat eaters. Some of the cheapest and most nutritious meals come from countries other than Canada. Many dishes from India, for example, are based on rice and vegetables; meat is just a small part of the dish, or it may be absent. A delicious curry and rice can be made for only a few dollars. Do you know any international students at your college? Why not organize a potluck and encourage them to bring a dish from their home cultures? You will make some new friends and learn some new recipes at the same time.

     

    8       ____________________________________________________ People who are serious about eating well and saving money often become avid gardeners. Don’t let the fact that you live in an apartment put you off: even if you only have a balcony, you can still grow tomatoes, beans, lettuce, peas, carrots, cucumber, and many more. Invite your friends over, have a planting party, and reap the rewards later!

     

    Questions

    A.   Check Your Understanding

    Answer the following questions.

    1.      Why is it a good idea to eat before you go shopping?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

    2.      What will you find around the perimeter of the supermarket?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

    3.      Give two disadvantages of processed food.

     

    a)     ______________________________________________________________________

    b)     ______________________________________________________________________

     

    4.      Expensive juice always tastes better than cheaper juice. True or false?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

    5.      What are the advantages of shopping at farmers’ markets?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

     

    6.      What is a big difference between Canadian food and Indian food?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

    7.      List three foods that you can grow on an apartment balcony.

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

    B.   Develop Your Vocabulary

    One of the best ways to improve your vocabulary is to look at words in context. This means looking at how the word is used in a sentence—what comes before, and what follows it. Often, if you do not know the meaning of a word, you can look at the context and figure out what it means.

    Look at the words below. Find them in the reading, and write a definition of each one. Do not use a dictionary.

    1.      additives (point 3) __________________________________________________________

    2.      brand (point 4) __________________________________________________________

    3.      generic (point 4) __________________________________________________________

    4.      staples (point 4) __________________________________________________________

    5.      organic (point 5) __________________________________________________________

    Now use a dictionary to check that your definitions are correct.

     

    C.   Think About It

    Think about the following questions. Write your thoughts, or discuss your ideas with your class.

     

    1.      How many of the tips in the reading have you tried? What were the results?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

     

    2.      Is there a farmers’ market in your community? Have you ever been there? If so, what were your impressions?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

    3.      Do you eat much meat? Has your meat consumption changed over the last few years, or has it remained the same?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

    4.      Can you think of any other advice to add to the list above?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

    D.   Go Further

     

    Do you have a favourite low-budget meal or dish? Share it with your classmates, or write it in the space below. If you are studying with a group, you could even hold a potluck lunch and share your dishes!

     

    Name of dish:

    Ingredients:

    Instructions:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    clipboard_e6a7a888129c35dc69e9a818e7b49c435.png

     


    2.2: Reading- Eating Well on a Budget is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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