February 2014 Question #3
How would you educate individuals who feel that it is cheaper and easier to eat away from the home?
posted by Unknown @ 7:24 PM
28 comments
ISU Dietetic Internship Journal Club
Objective: To become familiar with current scientific literature on a variety of nutrition topics and to gain experience in gathering, organizing, critically evaluating, presenting and facilitating group discussion of the literature and the implications to practice.
28 Comments:
The proof is in the pudding: recipes. Show them specific recipes and cost them out so that they can really see the difference. Have them track their spending for a month and reflect on what worked and what didn't. I would also encourage the mindset that they should invest in their health and point out the money they could save on doctors visits and future health costs by eating healthier.
I would emphasize how inexpensive it ends up being when you buy items in bulk. You could then make a bunch of freezer meals on a day you have some free time. Nothing is easier than throwing a prepared bag of food in a crock pot and then leaving it cooking all day. It is perfect for the winter time! Freezer meals are becoming increasingly popular, so I am sure your client could attend a Freezer Meal Workshop/Party. You are able to make 10 meals for under $100.
I would show cost comparisons of restaurant entree prices compared to making it at home. Number 1 you are not paying a chef to cook it, number 2 you are not tipping a server, and number 3 you are not paying additional costs a restaurant marks up for their food/service. Fast food and restaurants have to make a profit so they will end up being more expensive. The myth of cooking your own meals as being more costly is just silly when you look at the actual prices.
I really like Carly's comment about buying items in bulk. That is a great way to save money and freezing meals can be very convenient for a busy individual or family.
I think it’s really important to show them that preparing meals at home can be easy and that it isn’t necessary to eat away from home. Preparing meals ahead of time on a day that they may not be as busy and then using this for a few days is a good way to avoid having to eat away from home. If they’re eating out for lunch, they can make extra dinner and take the leftovers for lunch the next day. If they’re eating out for dinners because they’re very busy, they can either prepare the food ahead of time or we can show them some meals that don’t take a lot of effort but can still be healthy. I agree with Carly that cost is a huge factor too and showing them how much money they’ll be saving as well will be an influence as well.
We could do a cost comparison with them to show them specific meals that would be cheaper to make at home, compared to specific meals they would get away from home. It would be good to show them at least a few different meals that are easy, healthy tasty, and cheap.
When it’s appropriate, I think we should try to shift their focus more toward the health benefits of eating at home, rather than the cost benefits, if we can. This is not a strategy I would take with those on the tightest budgets, but I do think the best results will come when we can get someone to value the health benefits themselves, over the cost-savings.
Eating out on a regular basis gets really expensive really fast. I also would show a cost analysis comparison and show just how much cheaper healthy recipes can really be. This is especially the case if we are educating a family, as a family can easily spend 50-60 dollars at a restaurant. I would also really focus on not just the up-front monetary cost, but the potential health costs that are associated with eating out on a consistent basis. I understand wanting to go out to eat on occasion, but cooking healthy recipies at home is much cheaper in the long run. I like to make a crockpot chicken quinoa chili recipe every other weekend or so. Because I buy in bulk I'm able to make that for about $1.25 a serving and it's absolutely fantastic. Crock pot recipes like that should be emphasized, not only beacuse they are cost effective but also because they are extremely easy and require little work. Additionally, many crockpot recipes create leftovers for days on end.
Brady, I really like what you pointed out about shifting the focus onto the health related benefits moreso than the up-front, immediate, cost of eating out more. It's important to educate clients about cooking healthy meals not only because it's cheaper in the short term, but also because this type of lifestyle can also help to protect our health, which is much more important than money.
Anna J. said:
Most people make changes when they are ready. I would try to gauge how ready the patient/client I was educating was to make changes and try to match them where they were at. If they weren't very ready to make changes I might just listen to them talk a little bit about their nutrition and food choices and I might say “You know we all have to find what works for us, is what your doing working? How is it working and how is it not working?” If they believe eating out is cheaper and easier but are open to making changes, I might start presenting a little bit of information about health (maybe asking if they had any family members that had nutrition-related health concerns) and trying to gauge their cooking ability.
Although it may feel easier and cheaper at the time, the cost of eating out definitely adds up. A cost comparison of some meals is an easy way to show the difference, especially if your client is buying food for a family. Family restaurant dinners can be more costly than buying cheap items for meals like casseroles. I would educate on buying in season, buying in bulk, and buying frozen items to make cheaper family meals. Educating on planning meals ahead of time also makes cooking at home easier instead of resorting to the drive-thru. I agree with Carly that utilizing the crock pot is an easy way to make inexpensive home cooked meals fast!
Anna J. said:
Jessica I like your idea to show recipes that is great and might really help bridge the gap between being told what to do versus been shown how to make a change. I also agree that money can be saved in the long run by staying healthy.
I believe that as a Dietitian, we will have to assess how much cooking skill these family even have to begin with. If it's limited, it's important to start with showing them that cooking can be easy, healthy, and not insanely high in cost. It's hard to get people to think of something in the long term but if we can just explain to them that it can also benefit them short term, it may be worth their while. Parents always say that time is a factor but sitting down at a restaurant can take a lot of time too. I would explain that by cooking at home, they can make it a family activity which would mean being able to spend time with their family while preparing meals that are good for them too.
I like Carly's idea of batch cooking and using a crockpot to make meals so that it saves time and is convenient for the families. I also like Haley's idea of explaining that you pay so much more at restaurants simply to be in that environment, which hopefully makes the families reconsider.
Sarah S said...
I would do a comparison of the cost of different recipes versus typical meals at restaurants. I would also highlight the different seasons for produce in an effort to show that healthy foods can be affordable options. I would have easy, quick recipes ready to share with them and would remind them that eating at home as a family has a great value (as discussed in the previous question).
Sarah S said...
I also agree with Carly that buying in bulk and making and storing meals in the freezer is a good idea. It hits both the healthy and convenient ideas at once.
If I had a client who was convinced that eating out is cheaper than making food at home, I would encourage them to keep a diary of the money that they spend eating out versus buying food to cook at home. As long as they are not letting a lot of food go to waste and make smart menu-planning decisions, they will probably be surprised by how affordable eating at home can be.
I really like how Haley brought up the added costs that show up on your bill when you eat out. Little things like labor costs, food mark-ups, and tips end up being the majority of the cost of your meal while eating out, and you can eliminate all of these things by eating at home. Ultimately, they will need help understanding how to plan meals and what foods they should feel comfortable spending a little more money on when shopping.
First I would agree that sometimes when I get home from a long day, the last thing I want to do is cook and then clean up! I would provide them with recipes that include the cost and nutrient make up of each meal. Then I would provide information comparing that dish to a similar one that could be ordered in a restaurant. I would also suggest a food preparation day. Even children can get involved in this. This could be a small change, such as planning all the meals for the week and buying groceries for those meals, or a big change such as pre-chooping vegetables or cooking meats, pastas or rice that will go into dishes later in the week.
I would tell individuals that you can make healthy meals at home for much cheaper than buying fast food. You can get a bag of frozen vegetables for about $1.00, which could feed a family of four, where as a McDonald’s dollar menu item of French fries would only feed one person. The vegetable side dish will be much more nutritious and less expensive. The fiber in the vegetables will also fill you up longer than many fast food items that are full of simple carbohydrates, which will leave you hungry again a few hours later and searching for something more to eat. So eating a well-balanced, home-cooked meal could actually keep you from snacking later in the night, which would also mean less money going toward buying snack foods. As for addressing the “easier” aspect, yes, eating healthy and cooking meals does require some time and planning, but you can cook up inexpensive items like frozen chicken and a big batch of brown rice on the weekend to have throughout the week, so all you have to do is quickly reheat it. Like many people have mentioned, appliances like crockpots or rice cookers are great tools to make easy and healthy meals. All you have to do is place the food in them and let the appliance do all the work.
I would ask them to share with me some of the specific reasons why they think that it is challenging and expensive to eat at home and then discuss ways in which they can overcome those obstacles. Several topics and ideas include: pulling out a calculator and crunching numbers with a client; identifying smart shopping strategies including a weekly meal prep list, writing a grocery list, planning use for leftovers, discussing storage options, and making the most of coupons and special sales; and talking about basic meal prep techniques for those who have little experience in the kitchen. I will venture to say that lack of knowledge, limited experience, and laziness are the root reasons why people avoid eating at home.
A grocery store tour would be a great way to emphasis the frugality in eating in the home as opposed to in restaurants. For some people, with the price of fast food the way it is it may actually be cheaper for them to eat out. At that point I think it would be more important to teach them how to eat out in a more healthful way.
I like Courtney's idea of getting children involved in meal planning so they have more of a say in what their diet contains.
Sarah's suggestion to buy produce in season would also be beneficial. That is something hard for me so I'm sure others struggle with that as well.
I liked Susan's idea of having the client record their eating out expenses versus grocery costs in a diary. When you put things on paper it can appear very differently. I believe the whole planning aspect is left out when people try and feed a family. It's all about the planning and making a grocery list.
I think you could have a lot of fun with this. I think the shock factor would be a great addition. I think I would show them just how much I could buy with the amount they spend in one day eating out. Once they are on board we can then discuss recipes, ways to shop, and how to utilize left overs.
I think Kaitlin's idea of going on a grocery store tour would be very beneficial. There is a chance that the client has not ever really looked at prices of items, and instead just assumes eating out is cheaper.
Providing simple, nutritious recipes is a great way to show how easy eating at home can be. Meal costing may be beneficial to show clients how much a recipe is per serving in comparison with a meal eating out. Fast food can get dangerous with the value menus as far as cost goes but the nutritional value tends to really drop with the drop in cost.
Showing families they can increase the nutrition without increasing the cost and time is key when trying to encourage families to eat more meals in the home.
Kaitlin has a great idea of taking clients through grocery store tours. She also pointed out for many individuals, eating out can be cheaper because of the items they are ordering. It is important to focus on healthy choices eating out and healthy choices eating in.
I like Caroline's idea about comparing the McDonalds dollar menu. Personally I am always left dissatisfied and still hungry after a McChicken! I agree with Kaitlin that grocery store tours can help people tremendouslly. I gave a few of them in a rotation and was always pleased with how much people seemed to learna and ask questiosn.
I think you have to determine exactly what the barrier is that you are addressing. It doesn’t do any good to show that it is really cheaper to cook at home if they are lacking the confidence to be responsible for meals. Nor does it help if they are comfortable cooking, but they don’t have good transportation options to reach a store where they can purchase the ingredients.
I also like what Jessica said about the recipes. But you may have to actually walk through a recipe with them to prove that it really is not that difficult.
Doing a cost analysis might help the client see that it actually may be more expensive for them to eat out frequently than to cook from home. It is easy to prep meals that are $3 or less per serving, whereas going to a restaurant you might pay anywhere from $5-$15 for a meal. It also takes time to go to the restaurant, wait for a table, then wait for your food, moreso than it would take to make a meal at home. It can be fun to prepare meals together and to sit in a place that isn't noisy so everyone can chat about their day instead of a restaurant. I would also emphasize the healthier habits that family meals build for children, such as healthier weight when they are adults & a sense of well-being. It is important to provide resources such as quick & easy recipes, or instructions on how to cook multiple freezer meals at a time so meals are ready to go.
Tina- I'm with you on the fact that we have to try to take their cooking abilities into account. That lets you know right off the bat what obstacles there might be. Which begs the question: if we see they have very little cooking abilities and confidence in the kitchen, what are our most effective options for helping them work through that?
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