Why are Fruits and Vegetables so expensive?

Obviously we all know that fruits and vegetables are an extremely valuable part of a healthy diet, especially since this is often times one of the items we fail to get enough of. Considering we should be having 5-9 servings a day, many of us fall short of this recommendation. But it is easy to justify cutting them short when we look at the cost of them. Is that extra cost really worth the added health benefit? At least they seem expensive, but are they as costly as we think? I think many of us have a double standard sometimes when it comes to these food items. While it is hard to drop $1.50 for a red bell pepper, yet $3.00 for a bag of potato chips (that we can sometimes eat in one setting) seems like a bargain. The cost per serving isn’t that much different, and the nutritional value is vastly different. And of course we all know that disease can be very costly, so realize the cost of those veggies is an investment into your healthy future!


Tips for getting produce:

1. Fruits and veggies should take up at least a third of your meal plates. So they need to take up at least a third of your shopping cart, so it is okay if they take up a third of your bill.
2. The more colors of the rainbow in your cart the better selections you have made. The better the variety the better your overall nutrition.
3. Look for produce that is in-season and grown close to home, this helps keep price down. 
4. Think shelf-life. Some produce keeps better than others, so plan your meals accordingly.