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> fruit is significantly more expensive than snacks This is a commonly repeated claim but it's usually not true. Fruit is, in fact, pretty cheap: In the US,
by calpaterson 9mo ago
> fruit is significantly more expensive than snacks
This is a commonly repeated claim but it's usually not true. Fruit is, in fact, pretty cheap:
In the US, bananas average $1.68/kilo: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_price_rankings?itemId=118 https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_price_rankings...
A kilo is usually ~6 bananas. So a banana costs maybe 28c on average. Find a cost-competitive ultra-processed snack for the calories and satiety that a banana provides. Healthy eating might not is cheap but junk food, specifically, is not usually a cost optimisation.
- eru 9mo agoWell, some fruits are cheap. But there's plenty of expensive fruits that people might want to eat, too.
- mrits 9mo agoThere are plenty of expensive snacks.
- zahlman 9mo ago> In the US, bananas average $1.68/kilo: That's definitely not something I expected to be cheaper in Canada than the US.
- stevenwoo 9mo agoWhere I am in California it’s .99 cents per pound or 2.18 per kilogram at Safeway/Albertsons and slightly less at Trader Joe’s and Target, depending upon size.
- astrange 9mo agoWhy is fruit the example of a healthy snack? Fruits are full of fructose, which is enemy #1 for weight loss.
- julianz 9mo agoNot so much when you consume it along with the fibre which is typically also included in the fruit.
- potamic 9mo agoEverything in moderation. An understated benefit of fruit is their prebiotic nature which promotes a healthy gut. A lot of healthy eating advice is settling down towards one idea. Eat a wide range of raw and fermented plant food.
- pixl97 9mo agoThis leaves out spoilage. Fruit is a pain in the ass to get enough of without running out before the next shopping trip or having it rot. I think a lot of people that say quickly perishable items are cheap shop every few days and buy in small quantities.
- amrocha 9mo agoYes, that’s how you should live if you want to be healthy. If the place where you live doesn’t allow that, then you’re sacrificing your health to live there. That’s your choice at the end of the day, but don’t make excuses for why you choose to eat garbage all day.
- cthalupa 9mo agoBeing able to just up and move to a place that makes it more viable to grocery shop multiple times a week involves a certain level of affluence that a lot of people don't have. It is not a generalizable answer to this problem.
- amrocha 9mo agoReality doesn’t care about whether it’s generalizable or not, it only cares about the truth. And the truth is that your suburbs are killing you.
- cthalupa 9mo agoReality also doesn't care about an answer if it is impractical for a huge number of people. There are a variety of different answers to the problem and you pick the ones that are applicable to you and work from there Telling someone who can't afford to move to the city that they just need to move the city to solve their health problem is a waste of time for you and them.
- amrocha 9mo agoThe answer applicable to individuals is to leave the suburbs and move to a city. The answer applicable to the government is to build better cities. The answer is never stay in the suburbs but take drugs the rest of your life and spend the end of your life miserably unhealthy. You’re free to do that if you want to, you just can’t pretend it’s healthy.
- spockz 9mo agoI’m not in the US but in the Netherlands. Bananas are indeed pretty cheap kilo wise, currently about €2,50. Apples and pears are next at about €3,50. Strawberries in season are about €10/kg. Green kiwi is €5/kg, gold kiwi is €10/kg. Mangos are extremely cheap now at €1,39/piece. Having enough fruit for a family for a week, indeed as a sibling posted, accounting for spoilage or just bad items in the delivery, takes a substantial amount. In volume and in cost. On the other hand, crappy snacks are typically <€1 or <€2 per kg. We make the choice to buy fruit. But also we are well off enough to be able to do so consistently. There are also other costs of having to spend more time getting the fruit, preparing it for the kids to take to school. Not everyone has the time or sees the opportunity to do so. I’m very reluctant to just blame those people and say it is their choice to eat crappy food.