Bananas!

When we arrive in a new country, we have several chores to do before we can even get started. Usually this consists of acquiring currency, purchasing a local sim card and getting information for orientation purposes. As soon as we landed in Australia, however, because we were going to be touring in a campervan, we also had to hit the supermarket to buy food that we could cook ourselves. As soon as we arrived in Adelaide, Helen dashed into a store just before closing and grabbed a few essential items of sustenance that would ensure our survival. Among bread, butter, pasta, pasta sauce, cereal and milk, she decided to throw a few bananas in to her basket. Once back at the van, in which I was waiting, we reviewed her purchases using the receipt. Now, we were aware of how expensive Australia had become in recent years, especially against the weaker pound, but what we found had us dumbfounded. The cost of staple items were as we would have expected, but the bananas were in a different league altogether. We discovered, given the current exchange rate of around 1.5 Australian Dollars to the pound (it used to be almost 3), that we had just forked out a whopping 7 pounds for a bunch of bananas that consisted of 4 pieces of fruit. The next time we went in to the same store, a quick check ensured that there was no mistake – the price by weight was, and is currently, 12.98 AUD per kilo – an outrageous price that we found hard to comprehend. My plan to post an accompanying photo of the till receipt to show that I am not yanking your chain was sadly in vain since it has been lost. However, the official store display price will hopefully illustrate how ludicrous it was that we unknowingly shelled out that much. It is, for want of a more appropriate word, bananas.

 

Apparently, Australia has recently and shockingly overtaken America as the leading country in the world in terms of obesity, and it is no wonder considering it costs more to purchase a bunch of bananas than to buy a Dominos pizza. Seriously. In fact, according to the Obesity Policy Coalition here, a massive 75% of Australians will be overweight or obese in 20 years if current trends continue.