Dietary Assessment of Major Trends in U.S. Food Consumption, 1970-2005

A new USDA ERS report is worth looking at, as it updates the progress (or lack thereof) Americans are making in consuming recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. We already know we should be doing better. Also covers other food group....


From the 27 page pdf report, called "Dietary Assessment of Major Trends in U.S. Food Consumption, 1970-2005":

In general, Americans have been consuming more fruits and vegetables over the last three decades, according to food availability data. In 2005, per capita total fruit and vegetable availability (fresh and processed, fresh weight equivalent, unadjusted for waste and spoilage) reached 687 pounds, up 110 pounds, or 19 percent, since 1970. This 19-percent increase was not distributed equally among the 134 fruits and vegetables covered in the ERS data. Much of the rise within fruits was contributed by the noncitrus group, particularly apples, bananas, and grapes (table 3). Among the vegetable group, tomatoes, onions, and leafy lettuces contributed to the increase (table 4).
Despite our estimate that Americans are consuming more fruits and vegetables than they did in 1970, they are still not meeting the Dietary Guidelines’ recommendations. According to the loss-adjusted food availability data, Americans on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet consumed 0.9 cup of fresh and processed fruits per person per day in 2005, less than half the Guidelines’ recommendation of 2 cups. We also estimated that each American ate 1.7 cups of fresh and processed vegetables per day in 2005, about 45 percent below the recommended amount of 2.5 cups in the Dietary Guidelines. The Guidelines also recommend choosing a variety of types of fruits and vegetables because some fruits and vegetables are higher in certain vitamins and minerals than others. In particular, the Guidelines encourage Americans to select from all five vegetable subgroups several times a week because each subgroup provides a somewhat different array of nutrients. For example, the recommended weekly intake of vegetables for persons on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet consists of dark-green vegetables (3 cups), orange vegetables (2 cups), legumes (i.e., dry beans, peas, and lentils) (3 cups), starchy vegetables (3 cups), and other vegetables (6.5 cups). Of the five vegetable subgroups, starchy vegetables, particularly potatoes, dominated vegetable consumption, accounting for approximately a third of the total and slightly above the recommended level (fig. 3). Legumes had the lowest estimated consumption level. Overall, Americans consumed a limited variety of vegetables. Like vegetable consumption, the bulk of fruit consumption came from a limited variety of fresh and processed fruits. For example, 5 out of the 62 items covered in the loss-adjusted food availability data accounted for more than half (54 percent) of daily fruit intake in 2005—orange juice (20 percent), fresh apples (13 percent), bananas (9 percent), apple juice
(8 percent), and fresh grapes (5 percent).