eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and quality meat is expensive

[zippitippitoes]

..however many government initiatives there are for low income families those foods are expensive

most people shop in supermarkets and they sell these things at high prices

and in the wrong quantities

with too much packaging

why does organic produce in supermarkets have more oackaging?

fruit and veg isn't expensive if you buy in season.

quality meat is, but you don't have to eat that everyday.

and last time I was in a UK supermarket you could just weigh your own for most of the veg (some things were boxed up though).

...but, I agree, the advice to eat more veg isn't hugely helpful on its own.

shall I post some of my super cheap recipes?

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I think it sometimes costs more to buy crap.

Don't get me started on packaging! The reason organic stuff has so mauch packaging in supermarkets apparantly is to keep it seperate from non-organic and so that the certification can be shown.

What I do in order to spread my money further is be selective. Studies have found the most pesticide residues to be on apples, carrots, celery, lettuce, pears and strawberries, so I'd only buy these things organic and all other fruit and veg non organic. Buying stuff in season from markets also works out cheaper. Meat is expensive though soI don't buy it much, and when I do I bulk it out with lots of veg, lentils etc. Can't afford organic meat and chicken though.

Buy from greengrocers (cheap)

or a box scheme (still cheaper than supermarket organic veg)

both have very little packaging and what there is can be recycled

also I think we just expect food to be cheap these days and spend a lot less on it than we used to. It's a bad mentality to have, as a nation (I am not talking about people who can barely subsist btw)

If avoid buying from supermarkets go to you local greengrocer or market and you can buy only what you need, you will also get a better idea of what is in season and local produce so it will be cheaper.

Butchers meat will be better quality than supemarket and again you can buy only the quantity you need without all the unnecessary packaging.

Pulses, lentils and beans contain almost as much protein weight for weight as meat too, and they are dead cheap! And have lots of other health benefits too.

The WHO advised people to limit red meat consumption to a couple of times a month anyway, so don't feel bad about not eating it often!

Agree with mateychops too about crap also being expensive.

I agree with you zippi, but supermarkets are the most expensive place to shop. If there's a farmer's market nearby, that helps a lot with the cost, or the veg box scheme.

For me, to cut down on cost, but eat really well, I went to the library and looked at vegan recipe books. I'm not vegan, but they are the best foods for using low cost nutritious things like grains and pulses to give loads of vitamins and fibre and especially protein to replace meat. It also makes a nice change to eat a new recipe anyway.

We still eat meat, but only as the evening meal, and not every night. In the day we eat fruit for snacks to get our 5-a-day.

I think its really annoying that supermarkets put organic veg/fruit in packaging. It should be sold loose. I suppose if I had the time, I would complain. I guess we all should really.

I am talking about people on low incomes as that is the group who really matter in this and the group the government are addressing

it does work out more expensive because when you increase your fruit and veg consumption it is often additional to the meal you eat

eg chicken and rice might have a pepper and onion in

or chicken rice pepper onion tomatoes spinach mushrooms garlic herbs

I have nothing against more fruit and veg but I think people on low incomes find it hard and an acknowledgement that it costs more never seems to be made

There is a government scheme that makes fruit and veg accessible for low incomes called Healthy Start. I know the place I get my veg box from does the vouchers. I compared the price of what I get in my veg box with Tesco online and the veg box was a bit cheaper. The stuff also keeps better.

and why are pears and apples so expensive?

supermarkets are also pushing greengrocers out of the picture especially if there fruit and veg isn't muvh cop like here so choice diminishes

supermarkets keep going for premium imported products and package them to justify rices

even though they don't pas it on to suppliers by all accounts

farmes market is once a month so not great scop there

it's apity there arn't more good veg stores but here rents are too high

I just checked and it only amounts to £2.80 per week if you have a child over 1. That won't buy much.

I see where you're coming from zippi. My way round that (because I would never serve just chicken and rice) would be to reduce the quantity of chicken. Well, no actually, I would use the same quantity of chicken but expect it to last us two meals. Now I know that not everyone is in that mindset.

There is also the whole organic issue. Becuase if you eat small quantities of quality meat and don't do organic veg it is not that expensive. I have decided that organic chicken is more important to me than organic veg.

For some reason Asda sell Jonogold apples really cheaply (48p/kg). Now they are quite large so not really that great for the kids but I buy a kilo and stew them, and then the DC think they are getting a "pudding".

I'm just thinking this because dd and ds are back at the weekend and providing 4 adults who are all at home all day with lots of fresh fruit and veg especially when they are coming in and out at diffeent itmes is a realy expensive challenge as well as all the other time consuming things

I know it is hellishly bexpensive and of course people still want stuff that they can eat quickly too I dread it tbh

so I do sympathise with people who say it's difficult

I did nwonder with a different demographic asda was better for fruit and veg than tesco

I thinkwe live in an area where supermarkets believe they have the upmarket customers and stock accordingly

it does take a lot of time to shop daily for fresh fruit and veg and the veg boxes I've looked at have been both eccentric, expensive and not good quality..I am loathe to spend on stuff which i wouldn't pick up if it was on a stand in front of me

there isn't an ordinary market here any nore

We are not in an ideal place either zippi. We aren't covered by Abel & Cole, Riverford etc. No greengrocers in the village. There is a local farm which I am keen to investigate but I haven't managed to get there yet - it has v. limited opening hours but apparently delivers.

I don't buy organic fruit/veg though which makes a huge difference to my budget. I do buy fairtrade bananas.

Your point about the eccentric contents of veg boxes is good. I would see it (I think) as a challenge and try to work with it - but I am the sort of person who enjoys trying out new recipes and gets bored with cooking the same thing week in, week out. But for someone who is not a good cook or is scared of trying that would not be so good. Also an issue with fussy children - mine are fairly OK.

I find what happens is we shop at tescos..ok not ideal but we do

if we try and increase fruit and veg then the costs double and we find we still only have enough to last a few days at the higher rate of consumption!

we do use lentils and other pulses but they are not very popular I must say

we don't spend much on food by mn standards and don't eat ready meals...but it is expensive going effectively upmarket which eating more fruit and veg is

I agree that everybody should priorotise food

but also food is the easiest thing to spend less on on a weekly basis and a meal with few fruit and veg is less than one with a lovely plateful of them

and salad is extortionate

I spend between £50 and £60/week at Asda online for two adults, a 6yo on a growth spurt and a 2yo. I keep promising myself that I will look at a veg box - but for me it is the local thing rather than the organic. But I know it will cost more because I don't buy organic now, if I spend less than £50 at Asda I will have to pay for delivery (I normally manage to find a free delivery voucher online), and I will still need to substitute what is in the box with fruit that the DC will actually eat and specific items for recipes.

No-one's mentioned cheap cuts of meat yet (I think) - scrag end of neck from a good butcher is still only around a pound a pound and works better in some recipes than expensive cuts.

But you won't get it in a supermarket and not everyone has a butcher, and you need to slow cook it so if you're worried about fuel bills you wouldn't want to do that kind of thing.

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we use frozen veg as well..for the same reasons

it is dull though

if you make a fresh fruit salad it costs the earth

I bought celeriac for the first time a fortnight ago and I was rather disappointed!

I agree with franny too in some respects about things being too cheap

I guess I wihs I had more money!

It needn't cost more. Local fruit & veg shops, farmers' markets etc often cost less, and you can buy it unpackaged and just the quantities you need.

As for the meat, well we only eat organic or from our local farm shop, but we only eat meat once or twice a week so it all evens out. If people base their meals around veggies more, rather than the veg being an afterthought, it can be very good value.
And I get huge value from meat - a chicken lasts 5 of us 3-5 meals!

Cooking from scratch using good wholesome ingredients needn't be expensive, in fact it can be cheaper because you're not buying processed stuff.

Perhaps the key is not just to tell people to eat more fruit and veg but to actually help show how this can be achieved without blowing the budget.

oh FGS! And how expensive to sup endlessly on coke or buyready-meals?!! Some people are bloody lazy, others are ignorant, only a relative few IMO aregenuinely unable to afford healthy food or are unable to access it due to shops being too far away etc etc.
It makes me mad what a fat, overfed, badly nourished nation we are!