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Original poster

It’s increasingly unaffordable to eat 5 a day

347 replies

HappySnake · 09/05/2025 18:00

Is anyone else struggling with this currently? I know some veg is not too expensive, but I just find with fruit it’s so expensive now. My kids particularly like blueberries and strawberries - I’m spending about a fiver a day. I feel like others who are less well off financially must be finding it even more difficult.

Any tips on affordable fruit etc and how you ensure you get 5 a day would be welcome!

OP posts:
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5
tommyhoundmum · 10/05/2025 19:04

andtheworldrollson · 09/05/2025 18:01

Just because they like them they don’t need to get them regularly

it’s a bad time of year for fruit - tinned and frozen can help

Yes, but tinned in juice not syrup

Ecrire · 10/05/2025 18:58

No we do not spend £35 a week on fruit and veg.

frozen - green beans, sweetcorn, carrots, broccoli, mixed veggies
cheap as chips - Oranges, apples, bananas, mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage
treats every so often: Fresh berries - weekends, picnics, barbecues

Missj25 · 10/05/2025 18:54

HappySnake · 09/05/2025 18:00

Is anyone else struggling with this currently? I know some veg is not too expensive, but I just find with fruit it’s so expensive now. My kids particularly like blueberries and strawberries - I’m spending about a fiver a day. I feel like others who are less well off financially must be finding it even more difficult.

Any tips on affordable fruit etc and how you ensure you get 5 a day would be welcome!

Frozen fruit ?
Do they like smoothies? Have one in the morning or after school ..
Give them Bananna or apple with their school lunch ..

Rhaenys · 10/05/2025 18:41

Frozen veg is just as good as fresh. Hard fruit lasts longer than soft. Most of your 5 a day should be veg anyway.

pollymere · 10/05/2025 18:38

Apples, satsumas, nectarines. Sharing a £1 pineapple...

UpMyself · 10/05/2025 18:32

@Banmooo , could you tell me specifically where in the UK they don't grow? The majority of the UK is not bramble hedges, but the majority of the UK is not any sort of hedged.

XenoBitch · 10/05/2025 18:30

Cyclingmummy1 · 10/05/2025 16:57

Really? Everywhere I've lived had has brambles. The fruit often rot or are eaten by birds; people don't seem to go blackberrying any more.

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My local Wetherspoons pub car park had loads of brambles in it. I pick loads of blackberries every year. Have never seen anyone else do it.

I did have some in my garden. Produced huge and tasty fruit, but it was taking over so I have had it cut back now.

Digdongdoo · 10/05/2025 18:29

Cyclingmummy1 · 10/05/2025 16:57

Really? Everywhere I've lived had has brambles. The fruit often rot or are eaten by birds; people don't seem to go blackberrying any more.

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I suspect some people just can't recognise a wild blackberry bush. They're absolutely everywhere. You'd be hard pressed to be more than 5 minutes from one in most places.

wrinkledstocking · 10/05/2025 18:25

Wonky frozen mixed fruit from sm or Aldi’s mixed summer fruits can be eaten still frozen ….kids may like that and may eat less…or let defrost ..make into icecream with cottage cheese wizz in fp good way of getting many of your five a day ,plus don’t dismiss feozen veg..they are frozen straight after harvesting so keep vitamins better than a lot of ‘fresh’ veg .

Cyclingmummy1 · 10/05/2025 16:57

Banmooo · 10/05/2025 16:13

The vast majority of the UK is not bramble hedges. And again, it's May.

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Really? Everywhere I've lived had has brambles. The fruit often rot or are eaten by birds; people don't seem to go blackberrying any more.

MonsterasEverywhere · 10/05/2025 16:45

Part of it comes down to portion sizes, especially if you are spending that much money on berries. What sort of portion sizes are you giving your children?

It sounds like you need to encourage a better variety of items, including cheaper options, and utilise more veggies which are often cheaper.

Banmooo · 10/05/2025 16:13

UpMyself · 10/05/2025 11:44

Where in the UK do they not grow?

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The vast majority of the UK is not bramble hedges. And again, it's May.

ForRealCat · 10/05/2025 11:56

faerietales · 10/05/2025 09:53

They do, but they're not always safe for consumption. There are loads near us but they're all exactly where everyone walks their dogs so they're all covered in piss.

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Dogs are only so tall. Anything brambles grow huge, anything more than three foot off the ground is fine

ForRealCat · 10/05/2025 11:54

Use more veg, and frozen veg is really cheap. I do frozen Brussels, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and peas for bulk with lunch everyday, anything then with breakfast and dinner is a bonus.

UpMyself · 10/05/2025 11:44

Banmooo · 10/05/2025 10:01

I don't live in the UK, but actually they do not grow everywhere in the UK, at all.

Even if they did, it's early May.

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Where in the UK do they not grow?

BlackeyedSusan · 10/05/2025 11:40

Cut your coat according to your cloth.

Carrots, onions, are cheap. Red lentils don't take too long to cook.

suki1964 · 10/05/2025 11:34

I like to forage as well ( live rural ) and Im lucky to come across alpine strawberries, raspberries , damsons, blackberries and cob nuts.

Not vast amounts ( other then blackberries ) but they make a nice treat when I find them

Some years we get bumper crops of mushrooms in the fields

Goatinthegarden · 10/05/2025 10:14

How many children have you got? I buy blueberries, strawberries and raspberries most weeks in Sainsbo’s, enough for me to have a good, adult sized snack pot every day at work and it costs about £7 a week.

The rest of my plants come from cheaper veg and pulses like (kale, broccoli, carrots) and the occasional apple/banana.

Banmooo · 10/05/2025 10:01

Ginmonkeyagain · 10/05/2025 09:40

I can't believe you live somewhere in the UK with no brambles within a short journey. They literally grow everywhere.

I don't live in the UK, but actually they do not grow everywhere in the UK, at all.

Even if they did, it's early May.

lovegoodlovegood · 10/05/2025 10:00

IberianBlackout · 09/05/2025 22:01

It’s borderline inedible, particularly Aldi. I’ll buy anything there but fruit, unless it’s something like lemons.

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I only shop at Aldi and no issues
currently eating these Scottish strawberries and they’re lovely

It’s increasingly unaffordable to eat 5 a day
faerietales · 10/05/2025 09:53

Ginmonkeyagain · 10/05/2025 09:40

I can't believe you live somewhere in the UK with no brambles within a short journey. They literally grow everywhere.

They do, but they're not always safe for consumption. There are loads near us but they're all exactly where everyone walks their dogs so they're all covered in piss.

Ginmonkeyagain · 10/05/2025 09:40

I can't believe you live somewhere in the UK with no brambles within a short journey. They literally grow everywhere.

LillyPJ · 10/05/2025 09:32

Ginmonkeyagain · 10/05/2025 08:15

I am astonished to read here some people buy blackberries. Blackberries are free!

Yes - I'm always amazed when I see the price of them in supermarkets and can't believe people will buy them. Last year was a bumper year for blackberries around here last year round here. I picked tons of the things and still have a couple of bags left in the freezer.

Banmooo · 10/05/2025 09:10

Ginmonkeyagain · 10/05/2025 08:31

@Banmooo Of course there are. Go to any wood or common area. I live in zone 3 London and there are loads of wild brambles around in woods, parks and cemetaries. We stuff the freezer each Autumn..

Edited

There aren't woods and commons areas full of brambles everywhere. Where I live all the accessible ones have been torn out.

Portakalkedi · 10/05/2025 09:04

5 a day doesn't mean only (expensive and out of season) fruit .... bananas, oranges, apple are relatively cheaper, as is most most veg - cabbage, carrots, leeks