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!

Yes but sometimes young children are not very versatile in their veg eating so you stick with the berries as it is better than nothing! No mine are teen to late teen they pretty much eat all vegetables except mushrooms but I think it is harder when they are going and want sweet stuff!

I remember as a child my mum telling me that May was the most expensive month for fresh fruit and vegetables because local or home grown produce wasn't ready.

Apples, bananas and easy peel satsumas are my go to (apples for son as I’m not keen). I like raspberries but can’t buy them as often now. Thankfully veg is still pretty cheap as I’m not a big fruit lover.

Frozen fruit - defrost in the fridge over night. It's always abot squishy and runny especially berries but we add it to plain Greek yogurt top with a bit of granola and a swirl of honey. It goes down very well as a snack or quick breakfast. Or use them to make overnight oats

We don't buy berries. Thankful that other fruit is available, regardless of our preferences. Sticking to veg is fine

I think it is more about weaning off the sweet stuff than a fillet steak, weaning them off the familiar. Like many children my two both loved pasta and would happily eat it every day. My youngest teen now hates it but my eldest still eats tons of the stuff, that has become expensive IMO, so I do think the OP has a point about overall food costs.

Berries are an indulgence unfortunately. Unless you can do pick your own. Aople, cucumber, carrot, gets you a fair way

I spend about £30 a week for one child 🙋

Worth it within our budget as means our fussy eater has a good diet!

Yes, I think this is the reality with young children who are fussy.

Potatoes don’t count towards your 5 a day. And you have to eat a lot of onion for it to count as well!!

That's because pink ladies while definitely the superior apple are more expensive. Personally they are the only ones I buy unless baking with them but there are much cheaper options

Don’t buy them, they will be imported. And I find them disgustingly sweet.

Yes, it’s called the hungry gap. X

I buy a lot of frozen fruit - love a bowl of it straight from the freezer sprinkled with a little sugar as a tv snack. Morrisons do a 2kg bag of ‘wonky’ berries which have really large strawberries in or the blueberries from anywhere are always good and so much sweeter than fresh.

That's excellent advice if you've got the space for them and green fingers.

There are some allotments round the corner from me, and one of them has raspberries for ages. They must have selected a mix of early fruiting, late fruiting and everything in between. I've seen raspberries on some of the canes as late as early December, which seems incredible even here in the south.

Raspberries, strawberries and blueberries are easy to grow.

Have you got any outdoor space or even a windowsill @HappySnake?
You can grow strawberries so easily and one plant will turn into many over the years as it throws out runners. Ours are starting to crop already and, if you count the alpines, won't stop until end of September.
If you have room for a big pot you could grown beans for 5 years for the price of a few seeds ( if you have freecycle where you are just ask and any grower will give you the seeds as we all save a few pods for next year).
If you need to buy, one punnet of plums or a pineapple for £1 will each give you a five a day across 5+days.

I have a big ancient chest freezer in the garage and every autumn go blackberrying and get apples too. I make lots of blackberry and apple and freeze in small containers for the winter. I fill half the freezer with this, and with stewed plums from my sister's garden. Like most other posters I don't buy much soft fruit, I know a couple of walks where I'll be able to forage wild strawberries in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to it.

I only eat fresh blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and kiwis, there’s no way I spend £5 a day on them!
As for frozen berries 🤢🤢🤢 don’t do it!!

This

we have weekly

apples grapes pears
tinned peaches /mandarins
watermelon. Yes it’s £3 but get lots from it

I do buy strawberries and raspberries and blueberries but not every week as are costly

I buy frozen fruits from Sainsburys as there’s often a three for 2 offer. I don’t buy frozen strawberries as I dislike the taste of them.

I tip about some frozen fruit into a tub, often mango, nectarines and peach (I keep raspberries in a separate tub as it can stain other fruits). I then add a tin of mandarins, sometimes a tin of pears or pineapple. So I have a large ready made fruit salad and it tastes as good as fresh.

I buy tinned fruit generally in Aldi as I found it cheaper there.

I keep it in the fridge and it defrosts, I put some in a bowl as I make dinner (sometimes add some fresh grapes or apple, banana etc) and then a good hour later it’s nearer to room temperature which I prefer.

That's so strange @NetZeroZealot and @RampantIvy as we have lots maturing each day currently.
I wonder if climate change has forced lots through early - no hunger gap here in London in my postage stamp sized garden.

I recommend the fruit and veg stalls if you have them near you - when I am headed home from the office, the one near the station cuts its prices and sells large punnets of strawberry for £1. Quality can be hit and miss but usually not awful.

I also think melon is quite good value for what you get.

Frozen fruit, I swear by the frozen pineapple and mango from Tesco. Not the cheapest but you get loads of portions and it tastes the same once defrosted, less waste as you only use what you need.

We buy frozen berries and mango - use them mixed with yoghurt or porridge etc for breakfast. Much cheaper than fresh and no wastage. Fresh fruits, we mainly buy bananas, apples and satsumas which are all fairly cheap. Agree that many fruits are pricey though.