[calpaterson]

> 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...

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.

[pixl97]

This 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]

Yes, 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.

[spockz]

I’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.

[eru]

Well, some fruits are cheap. But there's plenty of expensive fruits that people might want to eat, too.

[mrits]

There are plenty of expensive snacks.

[zahlman]

> In the US, bananas average $1.68/kilo:

That's definitely not something I expected to be cheaper in Canada than the US.

[stevenwoo]

Where 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]

Why is fruit the example of a healthy snack? Fruits are full of fructose, which is enemy #1 for weight loss.

[julianz]

Not so much when you consume it along with the fibre which is typically also included in the fruit.

[potamic]

Everything 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.