Canada f/v nation or fast food nation?

For as long as I can remember, Canada's per capita consumption of fruits and vegetable has been unquestionably ensconced in a tier above the U.S. In 2003, The Packer published an article by Jim Offner that put it simply, "Canadians eat more produce than Americans." Jim's lede:

Telling a Canadian to eat his or her fruits and vegetables is like telling a dog to beg at the dinner table.
It's an easy job.
By some counts, Canadians consume 500 pounds of fruits and vegetables per capita each year.


TK: Actually Jim's article quoted some sources that said the statistics of the U.S. and Canada aren't created in the same way. But the well-established notion then and now is that Canadians eat more fruits and vegetables than the U.S.

This study from 2005, "A Bilateral Comparison of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption: United States and Canada"(Timothy J. Richards and Paul M. Patterson), features a closer look at the phenomenon. An excerpt:

Of particular concern is the stark difference in consumption between the United States and its
largest, and most culturally similar neighbor-Canada. Whereas average consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in the United States is approximately 3.6 servings per capita per day, Canadians consume an average of six to seven servings per day (Burfield, 2003).' If accepted, it is curious this difference persists in spite of the fact that Canada's climate does not allow for widespread production of produce year-round, as in the United States, with the notable exception of greenhouse tomatoes.

Later in the study....

Based on the official government data for each country, Canadians consumed 414 pounds of fruits and vegetables per capita on average over the sample period, while Americans consumed only 274 pounds (Statistics Canada, 2001; USDA, 2000a). However, this comparison is misleading due to the differences in how the data are recorded.

TK: The authors still find that Canada consumes more fruits and vegetables, however, using a comparison of retail sales in like stores. From the conclusion:

This research seeks to explain the source of the observed difference in fruit and vegetable consumption between the United States and Canada. Despite their demographic and socioeconomic similarity, Canadians consume far more servings of fruits and vegetables each day compared to their U.S. counterparts-an observation that, although challenged by some, is confirmed using retail-level scanner data on produce sales in each country. Because prices tend to be higher in Canada, and incomes lower, we hypothesize that this difference in consumption levels is due in part to the superior quality of imported Canadian produce. Canadian produce is generally believed to be of higher quality because consumers in import regions tend to substitute toward higher quality products, once transportation charges and other shipping costs, which are invariant to quality, are applied-as predicted by the Alchian-Allen effect. Econometric tests of the Alchian-Allen effect, however, have been rare due to the fact that measures of quality are not generally available.

TK: Now comes this story from Megan Fitzpatrick and CanWest News Service titled "Canada turning into fast food nation." From the story:


Canadians are opting for fast food instead of fruits and vegetables and generally don't have a balanced diet, according to a new study. Statistics Canada released the Canadian Community Health Survey: Nutrition on Thursday, the first national survey of dietary habits since the early 1970s and the largest survey ever conducted of what Canadians are eating.
Not only are Canadians skipping out on fruits and vegetables, they aren't consuming enough milk products, and many are getting more than the recommended share of their calories from fat, the study found.In 2004, 35,000 people were asked what they had eaten in the previous 24 hours, when they ate and where the food was prepared.

Overall, one-quarter of Canadians reported they had eaten something from a fast-food outlet in the last 24 hours. Among teenagers 14 to 18, the proportion was one-third. Men ages 19 to 30 were the most likely to get food on the go; 39 per cent of them had done so on the day they were interviewed.

TK: Tim Horton, you are to blame for this!

To be fair, those who frequented a fast-food outlet could have ordered a cup of coffee or even a salad, but the survey found 40 per cent opted for a pizza, sandwich, hamburger or hot dog and a quarter of the respondents had a regular, not diet, soft drink to wash it down.

Those numbers support the indication that Canadians seem to be ignoring the advice of the Canada Food Guide, which separates food into four groups (fruits and vegetables, milk products, meat and alternatives and grain products) and has an added "other foods" category that covers fats, oils, sugar, snack foods, beverages and condiments.

The Food Guide recommends that "other foods" be consumed in moderation, but the survey found that after grain products, "other foods" ranks second as the top energy provider, supplying 22 per cent of daily calories for both children and adults.

Canadians are supposed to have a minimum of five daily servings of fruits and vegetables according to the Guide but about half of adults are falling short of meeting that target. Only 20 per cent are eating four to five servings and seven out of 10 children aged 4 to 8 are not meeting the five-serving standard.

TK: One story can't erase years of hearing that Canada's f/v consumption far outpaces the U.S., but it certainly appears Canada is falling back from where they have been.