Healthy Shopping List Breakdown
Spending more of your food dollars on healthy ‘eat more’ food can save you money at the checkout and last longer. To make the most of your food budget, check out the simple guide to spending on the food groups
Choosing a range of products from each of the food groups (grains and cereals; vegetables; fruit; milk, yoghurt, cheese or alternatives; lean meat, poultry and fish), is the best way to get all the nutrients our bodies need.
The 'Eat most' foods
Avocado
Beans
Capsicum
Carrot
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Fruit
Snow Peas
Lentils
Lettuce
Mountain Bread
Mushroooms
Onions
Pasta
Pumpkin
Rice
Wholemeal Bread
These are just some examples of the Eat Most foods. They include breads, grains and cereals, fruit and vegetables, legumes and beans. Aim for wholemeal and wholegrain varieties.
60% of your food budget
If you started with $100, around $60 dollars should be spent in this section
The 'Eat some' foods
Cheese
Chicken
Egg
Meat
Milk
Nuts
Tuna
Yoghurt
'Eat Some' foods include lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds. As well as dairy products such as milk yoghurt, cheese and/or alternatives. Aim for low fat dairy products without added sugars and lean meats.
30% of your food budget
If you started with $100, around $30 dollars should be spent in this section
The 'Eat least' foods
These foods tend to be high in fat, salt or sugar or a combination of each. They will cost more, be less healthy and be less filling than products in the other sections.
If you plan to buy ‘eat least’ food, try to limit spending to 10% of your budget.
If you started with $100, this would mean only around $10 should be spent on ‘eat least’ food.
Tips to help you remember
- A simple way to remember which food groups belong where is that eat most foods tend to come from plants, eat some generally from animals, and eat least from the factories.
- The Healthy Eating Shopping Trolley is another way to see how much we should spend on 'eat most', 'eat some' and 'eat least' foods to make the most of our money.