It’s increasingly unaffordable to eat 5 a day

[HappySnake]

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Cut your coat according to your cloth.

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

Where in the UK do they not grow?

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

@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.

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

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

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

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

Yes, but tinned in juice not syrup

Frozen veg is cheap and baked beans also counts!

Both Lidl and Aldi have special offers each week on fruit. Buy what’s in season. Plant some fruit trees.

I cannot recall seeing them in the highlands of Scotland during my many past hiking trips up there. They can be a nuisance here in SE England when landowners don't maintain the footpaths and they are allowed to grow rampant (along with nettles).

In any case, blackberries are only in season for a period in the autumn, so forraging for them is not going to make a significant difference to anyone's annual food expenditure.