To be horrified at the price of food

[Thorts]

Single pepper, now 60p - everywhere.
Apple juice - 99p everywhere for the cheap stuff

How are people supposed to eat fresh fruit and veg daily (and the right amount) with these prices?

If you were to look at processed food however; pack of ham 20p, custard creams 20p, garlic bread 35p.

You could get two of all the processed items mentioned for less price than one pepper and one carton of 1L value Apple juice.

Surely something needs to be done?

I don't think the peasants are buying raspberries and avocados

@kitsuneghost if that's what I choose to spend my money on, that's my choice. They're healthy foods and should be cheaper.

@BMW6 Very easy if you buy expensive fruit like berries. I have porridge in the morning. If you see people on MN talking about porridge they nearly always add berries or other nice but expensive fruit.

But that’s a choice, grated apple is good in porridge, so is banana or pears, hardly a peasant diet to not buy strawberries in March. The OP was asking how people can afford to get sufficient fruit and veg in their diet, when peppers cost 60p. Not buying expensive fruit and veg out of season is entirely possible without feeling deprived.

People have preferences. They should be able to afford those preferences. Especially when their preference is fruit and vegetable

Yes, they should be subsidised by a tax on the processed food industry. Currently we are subsidising that industry through the NHS and welfare system which must support people with health problems caused by eating shit processed food.

I've been poor for a number of years with a child. I work full time for just above minimum wage now. What would you buy for a day for £1? UPFs just makes me feel tired and generally crap and still hungry. They are not a solution.

Of course you can spend your NMW on whatever you choose.

But to moan about the cost of expensive imported fruits and veg is, frankly, laughable - no, Shameful

You are foolish at best. But your argument is totally nonsensical.

@Kalevala when they're your only choice, what else can you do? You can sit there and be all high and mighty and judge people, but when it's their only choice it's all they have.

People don't have to be upf foods. I wish they wouldn't as it's just making them unhealthy and ill.
How much would they spend on a weeks worth of shopping? Could they really not eat healthier on the same budget?
Being healthy is probably the most important thing to prioritise.

@AstralSpace again, you're not getting it because you have the room to prioritise that.

If you have £10 for food for the week, you're going to reach for the cheap UPFs because it's something to get you through. You're not going to grab a pack of mince and a couple bits of veg, because it won't be enough!

You can buy cheap bread for 40p which is a week of toast and sandwiches. Cheap crisps and maybe an apple or a cheap chocolate bar is lunch. Cheap pizza with some cheap chips for dinner. If you have the room in your budget to make those choices, you're incredibly privileged

Of course it does
Fruit juice is one of your five a day and value Apple juice is still... fruit juice

If it's their only choice then it's their only choice. I feel for those stuck in temporary accommodation without cooking facilities to cook something like porridge or soup. That isn't all poor people though. If you have an oven for UPF oven food then you would have a stove top.

@Kalevala that's not the only factor and you're being incredibly ignorant to pretend it is.

What about people who are working 12+ hours who need something easy? Those who don't have the room in their budget to cook on the stove top for 25 minutes while also running the oven? Those who don't have the time because of their kids?

Having spent time in the US 15 years ago, I was horrified by the price of their supermarkets. It was cheaper to eat out (NJ/NY).

I do think that as more people switch away from UPF, the basic fruit and veg that we could get cheap as chips pre-covid is now rocketing in price.

Only thing I think we can do is to start growing our own fruit and veg for certain parts of the year, in our windows, balconies or gardens.

My neighbours have chickens too for their eggs.

Eh?? Yes they are healthy. Yes you can buy them. I encourage you to buy them. I buy them too.
Not quite getting why that statement is directed to me though.

I'm a lone parent. I've worked long days. I cooked on other days and reheated. I rarely used to put the oven on because I was scared to as it costs so much more than the stove top.

@Kalevala and yet you're still here judging other people for their actions?

I'm not a high earner but I don't think food is particularly expensive.

It's all relative. If your local charges £6.50 for a pint of lager, you can make that stretch to a couple of meals at least.

No. I judge posters who insist that all poor people eat UPFs and if you do cook things like porridge and soup then you must not be genuinely poor enough.

People have preferences. They should be able to afford those preferences. Especially when their preference is fruit and vegetable

Of course people have preferences, I’d eat steak 3 times a week but my budget won’t accommodate that. I could complain or I could find another equally good source of protein.

People should be able to buy fruit and vegetables, that doesn’t mean avocado and strawberries.

I buy a lot at market. Pound a bowl today was a HUGE washing up bowl of small tomatoes, 5 avocado, blueberries in bulk, 8 conference pears, 3 aubergines and about a kg of grapes. Then at tesco 15p each bag of brown onions, white cabbage, bag of carrots. Two bundles of asparagus for £2.20.
I have found by fitting what I eat around availablity and working backwards food is stil cheap. You just have to adjust expectations that this is what you are eating

Thankfully, I can make choices but like everyone else, I'm feeling it too.
A few yrs ago, we went through some tough times where dh was out of work for a year. I found buying upf food to be more expensive than buying chicken, mince, veg, pasta and rice for meals if I was looking at budget across the week for our family.
We had bread of course as that was pretty cheap but meals were cheaper made from scratch.
How much upf food do people buy for a week? Chips? Pizza? Chicken nuggets? How much is being spent on this and can you spend the equivalent on healthier food?
Of course, I believe healthier food should be affordable for everyone but if people need to make choices then, as I said before, nothing is more important that your health.

It is not "incredibly privileged" to have more than £10 a week for food, stop setting the bar so low. I'm a lone parent and know what it's like to be poor, lived solely on benefits for 3 years and was able to feed my child veg daily.

@BMW6 I literally listed my weekly shop a few posts ago that cost me £50. For one person. Unless you're denying yourself any joy and only buying the cheapest vegetables, it's expensive.

Thats not a huge amount for meals for the week, I spend around £100 for three of us and we eat well. There are a good few economies you could make if you don’t have £50 - it’s a choice to spend more to suit your preferences.

Absolutely shocking how many of you seem to