What percentage of your shop is fresh fruit and veg?

[bignoseswan]

Mine is quite high, its nearly all fresh fruit and veg so about 80% along with some pulses and milk eggs etc. We are a vegetarian household so it makes sense that we do buy more veg and as vegetarian ready meals and convenience foods typically suck we make our own food from scratch daily to ensure we have something tasty.

Met a colleague in the supermarket today who commented on the "crazy" amounts of fresh veg we had (which will only do us 3 days until our delivery comes). Her trolley has some potatoes and an onion in and everything else was in a packet or box. I previously hadn't noticed how much fresh produce we had compared to other shoppers but as I went to the till it did look like most people had very little veg in their shopping (the produce section is at the entrance and most people would pass through that section first).

However the produce section is well stocked and has all sorts in cavolo nero, celeriac, fresh herbs, ginger, aubergines so people are buying it.

So I am just curious how much of your trolley is fresh fruit and veg?

Ours is very similar to yours. Mainly fruit & veg, pulses, fresh fish and one chicken a week. We do buy rice and pasta and thins but very little processed food.

like you, a large proportion of it but then I tend to do big bulk shops of cupboard staples and then most of my weekly shop is just fresh stuff for that week so fruit, veg and meat or fish. I typically eat 8-10 portions of fruit and veg a day.

Most of my trolley is fruit and veg - vegetarians too. Also avoid upfs and dairy for the most part, though not completely.

Almost none. We grow our own and eat seasonal or stored fruit and vegetables. So unless a crop fails, we don't need to buy any in.
Is my virtue signal the winner?

@bignoseswan did it occur to you that your colleague may get her fresh produce from a greengrocer, a market, or a veg box delivery service.

Keep your sticky beak out of it.

Mine is full of chocolate, cakes, biscuits, red meat loads of it, and the odd lettuce leaf !

Does ground coffee count?

To be fair she was the one commenting on my shop first, and she made it quite clear she thought my shop was "crazy" so stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

We don't have a garden but are on the waitlist for an allotment.

@Chitterchatterer Did you read the OP? It was OPs colleague that commented so if anyone’s sticky beak was an issue, it was OPs colleague. 🙄

I eat a lot of fruit and veg, mostly cook from scratch. A lot of people eat very little fruit and veg daily. It's bizarre to me but at least I don't have to eat like that.

🏅

We would love to do this! We grow our own potatoes, carrots and strawberries but not in big enough quantities yet

Probably about 40% of our weekly shop is fruit and veg. I think that’s about what’s recommended.

About 10% but we eat a lot of frozen vegetables (more so than fresh as our kitchen is tiny and we just don't have the storage space).

I'll raise you a couple of bottles of wine....😁

Governmdnt guidelines:

Split into 5 segments to represent the 5 food groups as follows:

• potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrate foods: 38 %
• fruit and vegetables: 40 %
• dairy and alternatives: 8%
• beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other protein: 12 %
• oils and spreads: 1%

We have a mix of vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters in our household but all of our diets are similar to this.

High percentage of wine and chocolate in my trolley.

I am conscious how much of our food is fresh - meat & dairy products as well as fruit & veg - and how much of a shock it would be if our circumstances were to change and us need to rely on a food bank where so much is pre-packed and longer life products.

Thanks I appreciate that, I felt I was due some kind of award 😂

For a typical week we will get through
Roast dinner veg: parsnips, potatoes, green beans, carrots
And then: a broccoli, a cauliflower, half a bag of frozen peas, a bag of apples, a bunch of bananas, 4 or 5 satsumas, a punnet of strawberries, punnet of blueberries, probably something in addition like kiwi or corn on the cob but that’s mixed up every week

Thats a family of 4, the children are 4 and 10 months.

It probably makes up half of our shop. Meat is typically a chicken, salmon half, and one red meat like pork belly. Then pasta, rice, lentils, bread, milk, butter, cheese, yoghurts for DD, some baby crackers for DS, nappies, one or two cleaning items, and topping up tea/coffee, a few tins of soup/tuna/baked beans.

@CitySkyAintTheSameBlack Government guidelines tend to lag behind the science. Most of the cumulative research is showing higher consumption of fruit and veg is better so 10 different types of fruit and veg a day, I think any portion of pulses can could for one but potatoes don't count at all although I'm not adverse to a potato myself.

I don't understand the question. Do you mean by cost? Or space taken up in trolley? Or source of calories?

If cost or calories then on both counts my percent from fruit and veg would be pretty low I'd have thought. Volume would be much higher since a pack of kale for example is quite big but wouldn't even feed us one meal by itself.

We have about 60% fruit and veg, along with sea bass, salmon, chicken, steak, sausages (from the butchers)

Every morning I make smoothies for 6 people so go through a punnet of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberry’s 6 bananas, 6 apples, spinach, kale, celery, ginger and lemons.

We then eat veg and salad with every meal. Plus fruit everyday.

If you saw my big shop, there would be a lot of fruit and veg. It's coming in well over £100 each time now. However if you saw me popping in for a few items, it might not have much or any fruit or veg, maybe some cupboard staples or some specific thing for a recipe.

The UK eats about 50%+ ultra processed food (kids over 60%) apparently, so that tells you quite a lot about people's shopping habits.