5-Fruit+Veg

echelon101

Just read this really good article on PTS (playthesystem.co.uk) Daily although it does miss out on vegetables and only focuses on fruit but still a good read.

Fruit is well known to good for you. 5 portions of fruit or veg a day are recommended for your physical and mental health. So what is a fruit portion considered to be?

1 apple, banana, pear, orange or other similar sized fruit
2 plums, satsumas, kiwi fruit or other similar sized fruit
1⁄2 a grapefruit
1 large slice of melon or fresh pineapple
1 heaped tablespoon of raisins or sultanas
3 dried apricots
1 cupful of grapes, cherries or berries
1 small glass (150ml) of pure fruit juice

So what we're interested in is how these measure up price wise against one another. Checking at Tesco (so that they are compared at the same consistent pricing 'level') - here's how they look (note there will be seasonal variations):

Apple: Golden Delicious: 16p (other apples more)
Banana: 14p
Orange: 23p
2 plums: 40p
2 kiwis: 40p
1/2 a grapefruit: 10p
Large slice of Melon: Honeydew: 25p (others more)
Large slice of Pineapple: 35p
1 heaped spoonful of raisins: 8p
3 dried apricots: 6p
1 cup full of grapes: 40p
1 cup full of strawberries: 50p
1 cup full of raspberries: 60p
1 small glass 150ml pure squeezed organge juice: 20p

So, a daily 5-portion fruit diet of orange juice, grapefruit, Golden Delicious, dried apricots and a banana would come in at 66p. Meanwhile, a 5-a-day comprising orange juice, grapes, plums, strawberries and kiwis would come in at £1.90 - 3 times the cost. Over a year, the first diet would work out at £241, whilst the second would be £694 - a massive saving of £453 per person just through careful fruit selection. As a rule of thumb when shopping, look for fruit portions that work out at 30p or less: eat healthily for less.

However if you factor in Frozen Vegetables which cost about £1/kg so about 10p per portion and Class II carrots (~80p for 1.5kg) then the price will probably be about 55-60p. Pretty good!

PS Anyone used Getpoundsback? They seem to have a much better cashback than Quidco.