Mathematics: Discussion 1 Week 2, Coursework Example

After reading this project, my first reaction is that I should try to compare fresh and processed food that are somewhat similar. For example, I do not think it would do to compare the price per pound of a pineapple to the price per pound of a box of cereals. So I went to the local grocery to look for comparable items. For fresh fruits, I picked cherries (1.70 per pound), strawberries (1.47 per pound), peaches (0.97 per pound), and pineapple (1.43 per pound). Then, I went to the aisle of canned goods and obtained the processed equivalent of the fruits that I selected. I found canned cherries (1.3 for 8 ounces), canned strawberries (1.20 for 8 ounces), canned pineapple (0.80 for 10 ounces), and canned peaches (0.75 for 5 ounces).

The average costs are computed as follows.

Fresh Fruit

(1.70+1.47+0.97+1.43)/4 = 1.3925 per pound

Canned fruit

(1.3+1.2+0.8+0.75)/(8+8+10+5) = 0.13 per ounce

Conversion

0.13 per ounce x (16 ounces per pound) = 2.08 per pound

As can be seen from the results, canned fruit definitely costs more than fresh fruit. I was not very surprised since canned fruit, having been processed, is likely to cost more than fresh fruit since there is a cost for processing and packaging canned fruit that is absent in fresh fruit. The difference in their prices may reflect the differences in the cost of preparing processed food.