Times are tough, and belts are tightening, mostly because food is so expensive nowadays. Inflation isn’t falling, and tariffs are skyrocketing prices. It makes sense that many people are trying to get their food as cheaply as possible, often resorting to dollar store meals for sustenance.
One might naturally assume that belts are tightening because waistlines are expanding from all the dollar store junk people are eating, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, according to science.
A new study out of Tufts University and the USDA’s Economic Research Service tracked nearly 200,000 households over 12 years and found that while dollar store food is, yes, generally less healthy (I find Dollar Tree’s selection of snack cakes particularly irresistible), it hasn’t tanked our national diet quality the way you might think.
In 2008, only 3.4 percent of people’s calories came from dollar stores; by 2020, that figure had climbed to 6.5 percent. That’s a lot of subpar frozen burritos that are molten lava on the outside and Antarctic glaciers in the center. But researchers found only a slight drop in dietary quality between dollar store loyalists and those who avoided them—just a four-point difference on a 100-point healthy eating scale.
The study found that people shopping at dollar stores were living in communities often underserved by traditional grocery stores. Disproportionately, it was low-income people, folks in rural areas, or people of color. And while these outlets still lean heavily into the Cheetos and Mountain Dew portion of the food pyramid, customers seem to be filling in the nutritional gaps elsewhere. It’s like lower-income and disadvantaged grocery shoppers are playing an intricate game with their budgets and diets, eating poorly in some ways but making up for it in others, and it’s all working out better than expected.
That’s not to say dollar stores are off the hook. They still don’t stock much fresh produce, and most of the food on offer is of the dreaded ultra-processed variety that everyone seems to care about suddenly.
The real issue isn’t that dollar store meals are unhealthy; it’s that they’re often the only option. Fortunately, it’s not the apocalyptic health crisis it’s been made out to be. If anything, it’s a sign that American shoppers are cleverer and more resourceful than people give them credit for.
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