Karamot Akinyera: Has Inflation Made Healthy Eating Expensive and Difficult? Here’s What You Can Do

As I think back to my days as a student, I remember standing in the market with a limited budget, trying to decide what I could afford without compromising my health. At the time, as a single person, I thought feeding myself was difficult. Now imagine having to feed a family today.

The reality is that food inflation has changed the way many Nigerians eat. Even middle-income families now think twice before buying meat, fish or eggs. Foods that were once regular items on the shopping list are gradually becoming occasional purchases. I watch mothers in the market trying to reduce the price of tomatoes, pepper and other ingredients by every possible naira.

As a Registered Nutritionist, I understand this reality because I have experienced a part of it myself. Healthy eating has become more difficult than it used to be, and pretending otherwise would only make people feel guilty about circumstances beyond their control.

But while healthy eating has become more challenging, it has not become impossible. The problem is not only the rising cost of food. It is also the belief that healthy eating is only for wealthy families. That belief is where we need to start the conversation.

Healthy Doesn’t Have to Mean Expensive

Unconsciously, many of us began to measure the quality of our meals by how much they cost. We started believing that a healthy plate must contain expensive fish, turkey, imported foods or foods that many families cannot afford. The truth is, nutrition does not work that way. A food is not nutritious because it is expensive. It is nutritious because of the nutrients it contains.

Yes, food inflation is real. Yes, feeding a family today is much harder than it was a few years…