to think fruit and veg should be cheaper?!

[ButteryBiscuitBase]

This has probably been said before but why is fruit and vegetables so flipping expensive?!

Surely it would be in the governments interest to make it cheaper or not add VAT on it? I find it hard to afford enough fruit and veg to make sure we eat 5 a day everyday and sure others do too. I know some families get healthy vouchers but there must be a lot of families on low incomes who can't afford it.

Yes it is very expensive compared to junk food. In our co op 30p for 1 orange, £4 for a small punet of cherries, could get a macdonalds for that price

Thats because it's completely the wrong season for cherries.

If you haven't got a car - get a hiking backpack to go shopping with. You can get heavy tins/storecupboard stuff delivered then walk to your local lidl/aldi whatever.

I do all mine on foot but have got a pushchair as well to load stuff on - plus my nearest lidl is only a 45 min walk away (takes a bit longer on the walk back ).

I have a couple of friends who do similar. Saves a fortune as you also become more discriminating on how much you actually need when you carry it.

I'd love an aldi as well - hopefully they will be building one soon (behind the lidl!).

Frozen fruit & veg is often cheaper but nutritionally better as is frozen very quickly after harvesting so is fresher. Also learn to prepare cheaper fruit/veg in a more interesting way.

I think it's dear too.
I've recently got a car, so can now go to Aldi and Lidl and it's a revelation.
So much cheaper and far more choice. I never have to quibble over the grapes!
Tinned and frozen can be good too though, so long as it has no added sugar/salt.
Also, look at pulses, not fruit and veg as such, but will bulk up your 5 a day.

We do have a Greengrocer here, I love shopping there, his produce is great, he always chats, and gives DD something to munch on, but it's not cheaper than the Supermarkets.

Farmfoods do basic fruit and veg, there's a tiny one here and they have onions, potatoes, apples and bananas, bigger branches might do more, always worth checking.

Even in season they are still blooming dear, melons are and raspberries, does not seem right

We have a cherry tree, so our cherries are free ..in Tesco they sell cherries for about £16 a kg or something out of season!

Yay I knew this was around somewhere seasonal chart but couldn't remember which site it was. I have this printed out in my kitchen

Sounds crazy but I am considering moving to an area with more walkable access to markets greengrocers etc!

I adore cherries but even I wouldn't buy them now. I think you have to shift your mind set a bit. Regular basic day to day fruit and veg doesn't cost much. Cherries, even in season, are pricey. M&S used to sell a bag of them for £6. But that is the price of a box of Celebrations chocolate. M&S cherries are a treat. The rest of the year we eat apples and oranges.

We finished the pears we got from foraging last winter, last week. Wrapped them in paper and kept them in the dark in the garage. I'm lucky, I'm rural, but we manage apples, pears, damsons, plums, figs and cherries for free. We also know where the wild garlic grows. Most of these, and as said before, nuts can be found in big parks or on commons. I use my garden for onions, beans potatoes and I have an apple and a cherry tree.

just
how
are
these
things
expensive?

soft fruit that is labour intensive with high wastage such as raspberries, strawberries cherries - even if it can be grown in this country in greenhouses - is always going to be expensive.

I wish we had a greengrocers on our high street :( Maybe I should go the distance and try and find one somewhere else.

We currently get Abel & Cole's medium veg box every week, and top it up with anything a particular recipe requires. Sometimes it's a challenge figuring out what something is and how to use it

My mum used to grow pumpkins, radishes, marrows, tomatoes and herbs in the garden. It was the best childhood picking food to eat yourself. My mum used to always send me out to get the herbs from the garden.

Having been at the other end and selling meat/eggs/veg then I actually think in some cases, food should be more expensive. We're very used to artificially low prices, particularly for processed foods. And I say that as someone on a very low income.
I know there are people going hungry but they're (thankfully) in the minority - most people buy far too much, expect an unsustainable range at unsustainable prices and then throw much of it away.

That melon Sootie mentioned - 74p to grow, ship and sell? Even the supermarket can't be getting very fat on that, heaven knows what the grower gets.

Even Waitrose sell cheap stuff - offer on apples so 25p each. Not as cheap as you can get in other places but I still think that's cheap!

I think you are looking at the wrong things - if you buy out of season things are always more expensive. And if you buy anything exotic (like dragonfruit!) you will pay through the nose

If you have too much and it is starting to go off then cook it up and freeze it. My kids love fruit purees and they like them partially defrosted so they are like a mr slushy!

No, you've lost me OP. I find fruit and veg a great way to feed/snack/eak out my meals.

A bag pf 5 apples for a £1, a bbag of carrots for 50p etc we eat tons of fruit and veg here, it goes very quickly!

I do have a car but I plan where I am going after school runs etc and use my ds's pushchair as a shopping trolley we are big walkers so a 40 min walk is very do-able for us. I think it is what you do with it really.

For example when I make a chilli I reduce the amount of mince I use as I use onion, red, green and yellow pepper, celery, chopped carrot etc to bulk the meal up. Adds to our 5 a day and is cheaper. Planning meals is essential so knowing what I will use the rest of the veg in so nothing is wasted. Whatever fruit is starting to go off will all get added into a cake in a loaf tin, great treat for the dc and often freezer friendly.

Sainsbury's used to have the 'feed your faanily for a fiver' and I would think that's two meals at least!! A paqck of nice quality sausages, onion, celery, coupld of peppers, tin of toms, herbs and some pasta make scrummy, healthy and filling cheap dinner for about 3 quid for everyone.

You really can make your money go further with veg for exampke make a shep's pie but just use two potatoes, add suede and parsnips to the mash and add green beans, peas and sweetcorn to the carrot onion and meat.

I do like Aldi for their offers, my dc love their chocolate pennies and for 99p a bag if they have 2 or 3 for a treat it is far cheaper and better for them than a bar of choc/penguin bar sort of thing.

Planning and getting creative with your cooking will show you how thrifty you can be!!

Our local market is great, 18 bananas £1, 9 red apples £1, 2 cauli's,4 red peppers or 2 brocoli= £1 and it seems to last loads longer than from the supermarket as they get it from the suppliers most mornings, the one week I couldnt get to market I got it from a supermarket my food shopping bill was a lot higher.

Aldi is excellent and Morrissons. I stock up on fresh fruit for first half of the week and tinned for second (sometimes go to greengrocers in between too). Tinned value carrots are fine and about 20p! Boxes of raisins also and big jars of peaches in juice etc. Frozen veg also very handy to keep in, Iceland do some good deals.

chilli - I reduce the amount of mince I use as I use onion, red, green and yellow pepper, celery, chopped carrot etc to bulk the meal up

If you buy enough for a chilli you have to buy a stalk of celery or a whole pepper. So onions cheap 10p, red, green and yellow peppers £1.60 celery 60p carrot 20p. That's £3 extra.

I know you would have a bit of celery or half a pepper over but as it's just me and the boy I might have no need for 8 more stalks of celery.

Er not actually £3 sorry can't add up but it's still £2.50 not including a tin of tomatoes for vegie chilli. A pack of mince is £1.30.

you do have to stand and look at what's cheap and in season/British rather than going in thinking, this week I need strawberries, a melon and watercress.

And early spring is the hardest time for vegetables, pretty well cabbage, root vegetables and last autumn's apples are about it. In winter, bulk up your chilli with root veg and lentils, the peppers and celery will be cheaper in summer.

So use a third of ypur mince and use half of each pepper and put opther half in the fridge for tomorrow as yill have planned your meals to use the rest of it?? I should prob add that am a SW convert it's not a diet it's how we cook and eat) so also think about the extra fruit and veg verses the meat for my health/waistline not just for the cost

I think nice tasting fruit is expensive. I hate fruit which tastes of nothing. I don't go in for UK bashing, but am envious of places with tasty, varied fruit!
People working f/t struggle more to get to greengrocers rather than supermarkets.