To many people on HN, "fifty cents" for an apple is not that expensive, neither is $2.50 for some milk...I know I easily spend that on a bottle or two of Bawls or 50x that on a new toy for my laptop, or even 100x that on a single nice anniversary dinner at craftsteak in vegas with my significant other while we were in town for defcon (so, hotel and all was even more money). However, 50 cents for an apple earning a minimum wage paycheck working multiple jobs with your spouse to provide for your children while trying to pay the rent and bills is not an insignificant amount of money.
I still remember the congressional food stamp challenge from a year or two ago where everyone who attempted to live on food stamps for a single week made a real point of saying that while it was simple to buy junk food and things like peanut butter, fresh fruits and vegetables, among other "healthy" items to eat, were nearly impossible to buy. Plus even just buying the cheaper junk food, they found that they didn't have the energy they had and always wanted more food...but of course, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the challenge. (http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/)
So no, fresh fruit and veggies can be pretty expensive and unaffordable.
I still remember the congressional food stamp challenge from a year or two ago where everyone who attempted to live on food stamps for a single week made a real point of saying that while it was simple to buy junk food and things like peanut butter, fresh fruits and vegetables, among other "healthy" items to eat, were nearly impossible to buy. Plus even just buying the cheaper junk food, they found that they didn't have the energy they had and always wanted more food...but of course, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the challenge. (http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/)
So no, fresh fruit and veggies can be pretty expensive and unaffordable.