On Earth Day, how to eat well for your health and the planet, on a budget

Keishalee Torres isn’t a big vegetable person.

“The most I get is lettuce,” Torres said while scanning the produce aisles at Food Zone International Supermarket in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Torres is shopping with a specific grocery list in mind. She’s grabbing items that are approved through a federal food assistance program called the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program. She works with a nutritionist at Caring Health Center in Springfield to learn about what some healthy options are for her and her family.

Torres is 24 weeks pregnant and said having a card that helps her pay for groceries is very helpful, especially in today’s economy.

“I won't get the strawberries because they're $8,” Torres said. “I wouldn't pay $8 with my own money, so why would I pay $8 with my WIC card when I could just go to another store? So I think that's what I mostly pay attention to.”

Recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows fresh vegetables are one of the food groups seeing price increases so far this year. The data says all food items are expected to rise at least 3 percent from last year.

One of the main causes is the warming climate.

Claire Morenon from the Community for Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) nonprofit in Deerfield, Massachusetts said farmers in New England are experiencing more unpredictable weather conditions like severe flooding and drought.

“Farmers are seeing more crop loss and more difficulty in building plans that they can count on throughout the season and all of that makes it more costly to grow food in our region,” Morenon said.

She said there are also larger economic systems in place that make food less affordable.

“It feels like it should not be up to individual low income people or individual small farm owners to bridge that gap,” Morenon said.

She does point out there are some ways the choices we make as individual shoppers can help, like buying directly from local farms.

“It does make a really big difference to the farmers that are stewarding land, taking care of ecosystems, growing food for our communities when people choose to buy from them,” Morenon said.

WIC nutritionist Caroline Seymour works with Caring Health Center. She tagged along with soon-to-be mom Keishalee Torres and helped pick out her groceries for the week.

Seymour said climate change usually isn’t top of mind for her clients.

“At work, my focus has to be on nutrition because the people who have the least, who are coming into the WIC program, they're not the ones who are responsible for climate change,” Seymour said.

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But, Seymour said, there are ways people can eat healthy on a budget and help protect the environment at the same time. She often advises her clients to buy food items like onions, dried beans, grains or nut butters in bulk, because it can be cheaper and creates less packaging waste.

She also suggests buying in season.

“Buying fruits and vegetables in season is also incredibly useful because if something is in season and grown locally, the costs to get that food to the grocery store are so much less. The stores are able to stock it more easily and charge less for it,” Seymour said.

Local food also uses less fossil fuel since it doesn’t travel as far. And federal and state food assistance programs provide extra funding to help people buy more fruits and vegetables locally.

Seymour said nutritious meals don’t have to be costly. She recommends three food groups in every meal, like a protein, fruit or vegetable, and a grain, preferably a whole grain.

Here’s one breakfast example:

“One option could be oatmeal that you make with milk, which is from the dairy food group, maybe a scoop of peanut butter, which is a protein. Maybe you even throw a banana on top,” Seymour said.

Buy oatmeal in bulk and swap the banana for local strawberries or blueberries when they come into season. It’s a nutritious meal that’s easier on the climate and the wallet.