Encouraging Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables
has been a central theme of Federal dietary guidance for more than
a decade. A recent Food Marketing Institute survey found that almost
70 percent of American shoppers believe their diets would be healthier
if they ate more fruits and vegetables. At the same time, the growth
of international trade has enabled supermarkets to keep their aisles
stocked with a wide range of fresh produce on a year-round basis.
In addition, a bounty of time-saving products, such as bagged, pre-washed
spinach and salads or “snack-pack” baby carrots and
celery sticks, now provide consumers with convenient preparations
and takeout options. Still, despite conditions that would appear
to favor higher U.S. consumption of fruits and vegetables, Americans
are eating far fewer servings than recommended.
USDA food supply data indicate that Americans consume
1.4 servings of fruit daily, less than half the 4 servings or 2
cups recommended in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for adults
eating 2,000 calories per day. Vegetable consumption is higher,
at 3.7 servings per day, but is still below the recommended 5 servings
or 2½ cups per day. In addition, even when U.S. consumers
heed the advice to eat their vegetables, their choices do not match
dietary recommendations. Consumption of dark-green and orange vegetables,
two categories emphasized by dietary experts for their nutritional
value, is less than half of recommended amounts.
U.S.
fruit and vegetable consumption falls short of recommendations
Groups
2003
food supply 1
Recommended
2
Servings
per capita per day
Total
vegetable
3.7
5.0
Dark-green
3
0.2
0.9
(6 servings/week)
Orange
(carrots, sweet potatoes, and others)
0.2
0.6
(4 servings/week)
Legumes
0.2
0.9
(6 servings/week)
Potatoes,
corn, peas, and other starchy vegetables
1.3
0.9
(6 servings/week)
Tomatoes
and others 4
1.8
1.9
(13 servings per week)
Total
fruit
1.4
4.0
Citrus,
melon, berries
0.5
*
No subgroup recommendation
Other
fruit
0.9
*
No subgroup recommendation
1 ERS estimates annual
amounts of food available for human consumption in the United
States. These figures exclude inedible portions and are adjusted
for spoilage and waste. 2 Based on USDA proposed
daily food intake patterns at intake level of 2,000 calories
per day. Accessed at: www.usda.gov/cnpp/pyramid-update/FGP%20docs/TABLE%201.pdf
on November 15, 2004. 3 Includes broccoli, spinach,
romaine, escarole, and leaf lettuce. 4 Other vegetables include
iceberg lettuce, onions, cabbage, bell peppers, celery, and
cucumbers.
Fruits and vegetables are vigorously promoted because
they offer a wide array of health benefits. They are leading sources
of several essential nutrients, such as vitamins A and C and folate.
In addition, diets rich in fruits and vegetables are associated
with a decreased risk of several chronic diseases, including cardiovascular
disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers.
Most fruits and vegetables are also naturally low in
calories, although their value in weight-control efforts may depend
on how these foods are prepared. Using national food consumption
data collected by USDA in 1994-96, researchers found eating more
fruit to be associated with a lower body mass index (BMI), a measure
used by health experts to assess body weight in relationship to
height. For example, both obese women and overweight school-age
girls ate 1.3 servings of fruit per day, significantly lower than
the 1.5 daily servings consumed by healthy weight women and girls.
Higher vegetable intake, however, was not consistently related to
healthy weight status. The researchers speculate that many people
are not eating vegetables in their natural low-fat, low-calorie
form, as they would eat fruit. In fact, the most popular vegetable
choice of most Americans is fried potatoes.
Marketers and nutritionists alike have puzzled over
the reasons for Americans’ fruit and vegetable shortfalls.
Are fruits and vegetables too expensive? Are they incompatible with
personal and household tastes or the modern trend to more eating
out? Do their nutrition benefits matter to knowledgeable consumers?
To shed light on the persistent difficulty in increasing U.S. produce
consumption, ERS researchers have examined how economic, social,
and behavioral factors influence consumers’ fruit and vegetable
choices.
Cost Is Not the Only Factor
The cost of fruits and vegetables is a commonly cited
reason why consumers don’t eat more of these healthy foods.
This is somewhat surprising, since rising incomes and low food prices
mean that Americans now spend less of their income on food than
ever before—10.1 percent of disposable personal income in
2002 versus 20.5 percent in 1950. ERS researchers using 1999 at-home
food purchase data found numerous options among both fresh and processed
fruits and vegetables whereby consumers could meet Food Guide Pyramid
recommendations for less than $1 per day.
Nevertheless, income-constrained consumers may not make
purchasing fruits and vegetables a high priority. Other ERS researchers
examining the at-home fruit and vegetable purchases by households
over a 2-week period in 2000 found that low-income households spent
$3.59 per person per week on fruits and vegetables. Nineteen percent
of poor households purchased no fruits and vegetables at all. By
contrast, higher income households spent $5.02 per person per week
on produce, with only about 9 percent of households buying no fruits
and vegetables. Moreover, small increases in income were likely
to induce greater fruit and vegetable spending among higher income
households, but had no impact on spending by low-income households.
Among all income levels, education had a much greater impact on
household produce purchases than did income. Controlling for income,
college-educated households had the highest level of per capita
fruit and vegetable expenditures ($5.99 per person per week versus
$4.25 for households headed by a high-school-only graduate).
A person’s knowledge of nutrition also influences
his or her choice of what foods go on the plate. Using data from
the 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals and
its companion Diet and Health Knowledge Survey, ERS researchers
found that consumers with more nutrition knowledge not only ate
more vegetables, they also chose a more healthful mix of vegetables
than other consumers. These findings provide evidence of the value
of nutrition knowledge, but other personal and lifestyle characteristics
help determine food choice, and their influences may enhance or
negate the effectiveness of information.
Household Composition, Cultural Background Also
Play a Role
Federal dietary guidance emphasizes that consumers should
choose a varied mix of vegetables to get a wide range of essential
nutrients. In particular, USDA has urged Americans to increase their
consumption of nutrient-rich deep-green and orange vegetables, such
as broccoli, spinach, carrots, and winter squash. Examining 1999
at-home food purchase data, ERS researchers hypothesized that the
number of different types of vegetables purchased over a year would
vary by household composition, with larger households purchasing
a more varied mix. Larger households are thought to cook more meals
from scratch, with vegetables commonly used in preparing such meals.
Up to a point, this turned out to be true. Households with four
members bought 16 of 24 different popular vegetable types, compared
with just 10 types for single-person households. But when household
size reached five or more members, variety in vegetable purchases
began to decline, with households of six members buying 14 types
of vegetables. A possible explanation may be that in larger households,
it can be difficult to prepare meals that please all members. Meal
planners in such households may tend to compromise by repeatedly
choosing the subset of vegetables that everyone likes.
The kinds of individuals in a household also influence
food purchases. More educated households bought a slightly more
varied mix of vegetables. By contrast, the presence of children
exerted a negative influence on the variety of purchases—reducing
the number of different vegetables bought by one. This effect demonstrates
the veto power children can have over vegetables they dislike.
In addition, a household’s ethnic background plays
a role. Traditional Asian and Hispanic foods incorporate a wider
variety of vegetables than some other cuisines. All else equal,
Asian households tend to buy one to two more types of vegetables,
and Hispanic households about one more, than White, non-Hispanic
households.
More Eating Out = Less Fruit and Vegetables
The most important food-related lifestyle change of
the past two decades is probably the increase in consumption of
food prepared away from home, whether eaten in restaurants, as takeout,
or as home-delivered meals. Data from USDA’s Continuing Survey
of Food Intakes by Individuals, collected in 1994-96 and 1998, indicate
that Americans consume about a third of calories from food prepared
away from home, up from less than a fifth in 1977-78.
But when Americans order their restaurant or takeout
meals, fruits and most vegetables seldom make the list. Away-from-home
food accounts for less than half a serving of fruit, and one and
a quarter servings of vegetables. Moreover, vegetable choices while
dining out are less likely to match USDA guidance—fried potatoes
make up approximately 35 percent of vegetables eaten away from home,
compared with 10 percent of at-home vegetable consumption.
Factors Predicting Change in Fruit and Vegetable
Consumption
Looking ahead to 2020, demographic and socioeconomic
factors are expected to influence fruit and vegetable consumption.
The aging of the U.S. population will likely favor fruit consumption
and consumption of most vegetables except fried potatoes. Rising
incomes and education levels should produce similar trends. The
increase in the Hispanic population is expected to favor consumption
of tomatoes, which feature prominently in Hispanic dishes. These
trends are projected to increase per capita fruit consumption between
5 and 8 percent, and increase per capita consumption of most vegetables.
Potatoes are the major exception, with per capita intake of fries
and chips projected to drop by almost 9 percent; other forms of
potatoes may drop by 3 percent.
The influence of income on projected demand for fruits
and vegetables is complex. People with higher incomes generally
have more years of schooling and greater nutrition knowledge, but
they also tend to eat out more frequently. These factors have powerful
but contradictory effects. Equipped with higher education and greater
nutrition knowledge, consumers choose more fruits and vegetables,
except fried potatoes and chips. But, when eating out, choices often
include less fruit, and more potatoes and lettuce.
Opportunities and Challenges for Promoting Produce
These findings should give nutritionists, marketers,
and others seeking to promote fruit and vegetable consumption a
sense of both opportunities and challenges. Overall, the findings
indicate that information does matter—better educated consumers
with more nutrition knowledge consume more fruits and vegetables
and make more nutritious choices within the category. This should
be encouraging to campaigns that focus on increasing consumer awareness
of the health benefits of these foods.
Information is not, however, the only factor guiding
consumer choice, and promotional advice that provides flexible strategies
for accommodating a range of preferences and lifestyles may be more
effective than nutrition information alone. Householders with large
families or picky children may benefit from practical advice on
how to accommodate the varied preferences of household members.
Promotional efforts also need to consider cultural preferences.
For fruit and vegetable promotions to be effective in a diverse
society, it is important to examine how variety can be promoted
within the context of specific cultures and cuisines.
The trend to eat more and more meals outside the home
is probably the biggest challenge to those seeking to promote fruit
and vegetable consumption, given the very small amounts of fruit
and most vegetables consumed away from home. While increasing nutrition
knowledge is expected to raise fruit and vegetable consumption,
increased eating away from home could negate these gains. Recently,
restaurants and fast food establishments have expanded their menus
to include more healthful options, such as salads and fresh-cut
fruit.
As these ERS research findings demonstrate, many behavioral
and economic factors influence the consumer's decision to eat fruits
and vegetables. Understanding these factors will help the food industry
develop and market fruit and vegetable products that offer consumers
convenience, flexibility, and options when eating out. But in the
end, consumer preference drives the marketplace. If educational
and promotional strategies succeed in getting consumers to reach
for fruits and vegetables more often, the market will respond, making
it ever-easier for consumers to eat the varied, abundant mix of
fruits and vegetables experts recommend.