‘Healthy Food Makes Cents’ Teaches Participants How to Cut Grocery Costs — and Save Their Health

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This spring, Food for Life: Healthy Basics classes are being offered for free in partnership with organizations around the world to help fill the gaps between rising costs for insurance, health care, and food, and declining social support programs.

“Healthy Food Makes Cents” classes prioritize underserved and marginalized audiences with a focus on health-promoting dietary strategies that are budget-friendly and accessible. Participants learn about the connection between diet and disease, easy-to-prepare plant-based recipes, and saving money on food. Each class features a cooking demonstration with samples of delicious and health-promoting dishes, along with handouts of easy and affordable recipes to make at home.

Studies have found a plant-based diet can cut food costs. Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine research published in JAMA Network Open in 2024 showed a low-fat vegan diet reduced grocery costs by 19% when compared with a Standard American Diet that included meat, dairy, and other animal products.

Food for Life instructors around the globe are showing their communities how to put the research into practice.

This April and May, Food for Life instructor Elizabeth Garcia will be teaching a series of Feed Your Health, Take Care of Your Pocket Spanish-language courses, which feature classes from the Food for Life Healthy Basics curriculum, at the Yakima Free Clinic-La Clinica Gratuita in Yakima, Wash.

“The entire staff at La Clínica Gratuita generously donates its time to serve the at-risk community, and I feel called to do the same,” Elizabeth says. “It fills my heart to know that I am contributing something meaningful—helping individuals prevent, manage, and even reverse chronic diseases while strengthening the health of our community.”

Lana Nelson, DO, and Susan Sayers, MD, Food for Life instructors and retired physicians in Grand Junction, Colo., will offer Healthy Basics courses at the Community Food Bank of Grand Junction in April and May.

“I hope to show individuals how to stretch their food dollars while making food that is both delicious and supportive of good health,” Dr. Nelson said. “I would like participants to know that healthy, delicious food is attainable from the standpoint of cost, accessibility, and time.”

Designed by physicians, nurses, and dietitians, Food for Life classes promote healthful plant-based eating based on the latest scientific research. Each class includes information about how certain foods and nutrients work to promote or discourage disease, cooking demonstrations of delicious and healthful plant-based recipes, and practical cooking skills and tips for incorporating healthful eating habits into daily life.

Food for Life is a collaborative effort among health experts who have joined together to educate the public about the benefits of a healthful diet for weight management and disease prevention. Based in Washington, D.C., Food for Life is a program of the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.