Callani I agree with this- saving on food is one of the only areas you can really cut costs- if I did my old shop at Sainsbury's it would regularly come in at £130 a week, I can get down to £60 or even less using Lidl.
However, I am not deluded into thinking it will go down to £30 a week still eating lots of fruit and veg like some are claiming on here. When I was recently hard up, I cut down on pretty much anything non essential and that included fruit and veg and it was much cheaper- porridge for brekky, pasta for lunch or tea and a toast-based meal (cheese on toast, beans, spaghetti hoops) for tea. 20 p pack of biscuits as a snack for the kids for the whole week. Nutritionally not balanced and likely to produce weight gain if kept up for the long term. Now I am back on trying to include more fruit and veg - and you know what, my food bill is higher again.
People always compare bananas as its the only fruit that actually fills you up if you eat one. If you eat a small tangarine when you get in from school you are probably very hungry by tea time.
One poster above tried to convince me it is cheap and doable even if you work 40/60 hours a week- then detailed visiting three different supermarkets (one twice at 7.30pm in the evening) plus a trip to another store to buy some seeds. Really- you think I should go out four times a week with my children, driving to these stores (as none in walking distance) near their bedtime searching for cheap fruit and veg? I don't think this person can have been on their own, as it is just not feasible or realistic for a person doing sole childcare and working f/t to do that much food shopping a week nor do I think it a productive way to spend family time- a trip to one supermarket is an hour at least!
On these threads- everyone blames the individual families- they are too lazy to shop (see above), lack knowledge of nutritious food blah blah, but the manufacturers which produce poor quality food that deteriorates within a couple of days are very much to blame- the stuff rots, you throw it away, you buy more. From their perspective, what's not to like? I have seen a vast change since my childhood in the quality of food, not just in fruit and veg but in meat that seeps water and tastes odd.We used to buy a sack of potatoes for the whole winter as a child- my potatoes from Lidl have gone green and mushy 10 days later. There's stacks of evidence that what we have now is more food, of a far poorer quality.
There is some individual responsibility to be had- I have it and do go out of my way to feed my children and us fruit and veg. I don't understand why better off people continuously stigmatize those who can't or won't spend time sourcing this stuff or pouring scorn on those who don't live near a supermarket and don't spend all weekend in their pursuit of five a day.
As for other nationalities- we work the longest hours in Europe, this definitely impacts on your ability to nip out at lunchtime and source daily fresh veg. In countries with similar or even fewer hours working patterns- such as France, obesity rates are still pretty high. It is fairly obvious that the days of the housewife with her basket picking out the day's fruit and veg bargains are over for most two-income households.
I still do it, buy lots of fruit and veg when I can- I would feel guilty if I didn't. The lack of insight into why others behave differently though is sometimes staggering.