I shop at Whole Foods because I’m buying produce for just myself. So what if the stuff there is more expensive than less prestigious(?) grocery chains? I alone can’t possible eat enough food for the extra cost at Whole Food to add up significantly. Besides, as an Amazon Prime member with an Amazon Prime Chase Visa card, I get 5 percent cash back. (Spend money to make money, am I right?)
If I were grocery shopping for a family, that changes everything. No more organic eggs from free-range chickens. No more organic milk from grass-fed cows. Paying for pre-cut fruits would be an insult to the ancestors. Food for the family will be purchased as cheaply per weight as possible.
I recently noticed how vastly more expensive beef and fish is compared to chicken and pork. Pork chops are something like three times less expensive per pound compared to the cheapest cut of steaks. As a frequent lifter of weights, I need to eat a lot of protein. Because I only shop for me - and lucky enough to make decent money - I have no qualms springing for the more pricey steaks and salmon. If this were me 10 years ago (read: much poorer), it would be chicken and pig meats only. Cows are a delicacy.
Same is true if I had a family to feed: fish and cows are very occasional treats only!
While I do lament not starting weightlifting in my twenties, at least in my thirties I don’t have to resort to chicken and rice for my staple nutrition. A gram of protein is a gram of protein for sure, but I much rather eat salmon sashimi than pan-fried chicken thighs (bone out, of course).
Make a hope.