Many Americans do not consume the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. Almost half of Americans think eating more fruits and vegetables would make their diets healthier, so why don’t they? One argument is that fruits and vegetables are expensive, especially when purchased fresh. But according to a USDA Economic Research Services study, consumers can eat three servings of fruit and four servings of vegetables for 64 cents a day.

ERS researchers used 1999 household purchase data from all types of retail outlets to estimate an annual, national retail price per pound for 69 fresh and processed fruits, and 85 fresh and processed vegetables. Since the purchase weight of many fruits and vegetables include rinds, seeds, and other non-edible parts, researchers also estimated the number of edible servings per pound. More than half of the fruits and vegetables were estimated to cost 25 cents or less per serving in 1999. (Since the study uses 1999 prices, prices today would be about 10 percent higher on average.)

Eighty-six percent of the vegetables and 78 percent of the fruit cost less than 50 cents a serving — that’s 127 different ways to eat a serving of fruits and vegetables for less than the price of a three-ounce candy bar.

On a per serving basis, almost two-thirds of all fruit and more than half of all vegetables were less expensive in their fresh form than in their processed form. Even so, the difference in price per serving between the least and most expensive versions for many fruits and vegetables was often less than 25 cents. For some consumers, this additional amount may be a small price to pay for the longer shelf life, ease of preparation, and greater availability associated with processed forms. Expectations that fresh produce will go bad and be thrown out may fuel consumers’ perception that fresh produce is more expensive than processed.

Consumers need to be savvy and consider not only the price per pound but the number of servings obtainable from a pound, which varies considerably among different fruits and vegetables. Some consumers may balk at paying $2.53 for a pound of dried apricots when the per-pound cost for either fresh or canned apricots is a dollar less. What they may not realize is that a pound of dried apricots contains 11 servings, while a pound of fresh apricots provides six servings, and a pound of canned apricots provides only four servings, making dried apricots cheaper than either fresh or canned on a per serving basis.

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