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A report in Third Age confirms again that Americans aren't getting enough veggies and fruits.  Five servings a day is the minimum requirement, with nine servings recommended.  Read these statistics from Third Age's article "Veggie Consumption Slumps":

"In a CDC survey reflecting American eating habits between 1990 and 1996, only 23 percent of 32,000 adults in the surveyed group ate five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  Most were white, college-educated, physically active people who didn't smoke, and many were women. Overweight people and African-Americans actually ate fewer veggies than in previous years."

The alarming amount of people I ran into who didn't eat hardly any veggies or fruits at all was one reason I began this website.  I don't understand it.   Veggies can help you keep your weight in check.  They can help stave off heart disease, digestive problems, circulatory difficulties and other uglies.  They taste good if prepared well.  You can sneak them into almost everything.  Their consumption is a BIG factor in avoiding nasty, life-threatening cancers.  So why don't people eat more of them?

I suppose one reason is status.  Meat eating is a privilege.   Many kinds of monkeys will graze on seeds, termites and fruits, being very quiet about it and eating fast when they find a cache of berries or a similar delicacy.  But they feel obligated to call others when they catch something live and prepare to eat meat. A close friend of ours from a third world country told me proudly that in his small town, his whole family was known for having more red meat on the table than anyone else.  Hunters are more prized and respected than gatherers.  So perhaps we instinctively go for more meat.

Another reason is difficulty of preparation.  Meat can be hacked off and slung in a pan or on a grill.  Veggies often must be picked over, scrubbed, trimmed, de-seeded, chopped, sliced, pared, julienned, etc.

Third, veggies and fruits are perishable.  That means some picking, selecting, sorting and planning is required for fresh produce.  Don't agonize over it.  If you are just too short on time, go for frozen.   Frozen fruits and veggies have more or less all the good nutritional qualities of fresh.

A fourth reason seems to be that some people are throwing out the baby with the bathtub, so as to speak.  Since most veggies are served with salad dressing, dips, cheese, oil, butter and the like, and there is such a hysteria about avoiding fats recently, some diners skimp on dressing and then leave the dry veggies on the plate. Others worry about the sugars or carbohydrates in tasty and healthy items like carrots, squash and most fruits.  The fact somehow gets forgotten that the other foods and pseudo-foods they consume in place of these healthy veggies and fruits don't add much of anything positive to their diet.

A final cause of this slump is not learning to like them properly as children.  Maybe they weren't prepared tastily, or not served at all.  Or maybe parents just didn't realize that children have to be educated to like veggies even when they resist, just like they have to be taught to swim, to look before dashing into the street, to ride a bicycle or to do math.   And it's our responsibility as parents to teach them that skill.

Well, if you're in that slump, it's not too late.  Read some tips for adding veggies and fruit back into your diet and that of family members at Ten Sneaky Commandments for More Veggies & Fruits.

Drop us a line by email; how many servings of veggies and fruits do you eat or drink every day?