I’m a big fan of watermelon for two main reasons: It’s delicious and it’s affordable. While the deliciousness of watermelon is a subjective opinion and can’t be measured, its affordability is something that definitely can be measured.
An article in the Produce Marketing Association’s (PMA) Fresh Magazine shed some light on which fruits and vegetables pack the most punch for your pennies.
According to the article: “In order to provide greater clarity on the true cost per serving for fruits and vegetables, the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) commissioned the Perishables Group to conduct a study using its national supermarket fresh foods database. The goal: determine the lowest average cost at any given time during the year for a consumer to meet dietary recommendations by purchasing nine servings of fresh fruits and vegetables per day.”
And so, the Perishables Group spent weeks upon weeks analyzing mountains of grocery store data. Turns out, watermelon is the least expensive fruit per serving in the produce aisle!
Here’s the kicker: Not only is watermelon the most affordable fruit, it also provides a pretty high yield per fruit. Below is a graphic created by the National Watermelon Promotion Board that shows off just how much deliciousness a single watermelon offers. Pretty impressive, don’t you think?
I totally agree with you. It is delicious and very affordable. Nothing beats watermelon at a family picnic.
When I was 9 months pregnant…30 years ago! My doctor told me to eat watermelon as it was a natural diuretic as I was starting to retain water. While I would not recommend it over drugs prescribed by physicians, it certainly is a natural way to rid your body of heat induced water retention. The value of this fruit is plain unappreciated! I am loving the summer and the stacks of juicy watermelons other market! Thanks for pointing out the value based on servings per melon!
Great tip Debi!