Fruit Is Cheaper than Twinkies — and Better for You, Too!

What if we said you could save more than $500 a year by buying more fresh fruits and veggies? There are all kinds of excuses for not eating healthy, the most common being it’s too expensive. But a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest shows  that belief doesn’t hold water. After reviewing almost 40 different popular snack and side dish items, of which half were fruits and vegetables, CSPI learned that the average price per serving of a fruit or veggie snack was a mere 34 cents, while the less than healthy, processed snack cost 67 cents, almost twice as much. For meal-time side dishes, a similar difference was seen. One serving of a healthy veggie side dish was about 27 cents compared to 31 cents per serving processed side dish. A few cents here and there may not seem like much, but do the math. Say you have a family of four. If everyone swaps out one processed snack and one processed side dish per day for a healthy fruit and/or veggie one, over the course of a year you’ll save a whopping $540! And, of course, it’s healthier, too. For the full story on this topic, visit our sister site, Living on the Cheap.