Posts Tagged “fresh produce consumption”
Washington, DC — Consumers are thinking about what’s healthy for both people and the planet— with fresh fruits and vegetables top of mind. But despite the best of intentions, new research from the International Food Information Council (IFIC) reveals significant barriers to produce consumption.
“Spring is the time when people are planning gardens and planting seeds; it is also typically a time when lists of which fruits and veggies are safer for you to eat start to circulate on newsfeeds,” Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, IFIC President & CEO, said.
“Our consumer research shows Americans consider how their food was grown when making food decisions, yet at the same time, Americans have never been more removed from the farm. It is our mission to help bridge that gap with consumer insights and science communications.”
According to the 2024 IFIC Spotlight Survey: Public Perceptions Of Pesticides & Produce Consumption, the majority of Americans (91%) consider how their food is grown when making food and beverage decisions; less than one in ten (8%) never consider how it travels from farm to fork.
Keeping food safe (70%) and the use of pesticides (60%) are top concerns when considering how food is grown. Nutritional content, use of agricultural technology, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and farm workers welfare were other listed concerns consumers factor into their purchase decisions.C
Pesticides are commonly utilized by farmers for pest control as a tool to protect public health by ensuring safe and sufficient food production. Pesticides are regulated by several government agencies worldwide. Yet it is clear consumers remain confused regarding the methods, reasons, and situations where pesticides are used.
Many Americans (47%) believe that “organic agriculture does not use pesticides to grow food,” despite the fact that both organic and conventional produce are grown with the use of pesticides.
Nearly 60% of Americans who are concerned with pesticide use believe consuming foods grown with pesticides are bad for their health, 36% believe that pesticides used today are “more toxic than they have ever been,” and 35% believe pesticides are bad for the environment.
Of the Americans who are not concerned about pesticide use, 35% cited they rinse their fresh produce, and 29% “trust farmers to use pesticides responsibly.”
“The pesticide residue found on both conventional and organic produce has time and time again been found to be present in minute amounts. Multiple government agencies confirm that these low residue levels do not pose a health or safety risk, yet consumers are still clearly concerned,” explained Tamika Sims, PhD, IFIC Senior Director of Agriculture Technology Communications. “I would simply recommend that consumers wash their fresh produce with cold water prior to consuming, to remove any remaining residues.”B
According to the data, when a consumer is concerned about pesticide use, the majority simply avoid purchasing or consuming vegetables (71%) and fruits (59%) altogether.
“Low intake of fruits and vegetables by Americans is not a new phenomenon—it’s been chronically low for decades,” explained Reinhardt Kapsak. “This research highlights gaps in not only consumer understanding of pesticides, but also how harmful misinformation can further widen the fruit and vegetable consumption gap in the U.S. and around the world. Our aim is always to empower consumers with evidence-based, truthful information. We must reassure Americans that consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables—in all forms and from all production methods—is safe, nutritious, and important for their health and well-being.”
Research Methodology
The International Food Information Council (IFIC) commissioned an online research survey with consumers based in the US to measure knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about pesticides and their application in food production. One thousand adults aged 18+ years completed the survey from February 9-13, 2024, and responses were weighted to ensure proportional results. The Bayesian confidence?level for 1,000 interviews is 3.5, which?is?roughly equivalent to a margin of error of ±3.1 at the?95%?confidence level.
The International Food Information Council (IFIC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization with a mission to effectively communicate science-based information about food safety, nutrition, and sustainable food systems, serving the public good. To fulfill this mission and demonstrate its thought leadership in action, IFIC:?1) delivers best-in-class research and consumer?insights to inform food, nutrition, and health stakeholders; 2) promotes science communications to positively impact consumer behavior and?public health; and 3) convenes critical thought leaders?to advance the food systems dialogue and science-based decision-making. For more information, visit https://ific.org and our resource hub http://foodinsight.org; Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and X
Americans are far short of where health officials and the produce industry would like them to be when it comes to eating fresh fruits and vegetables.
A new method of estimating how much fresh produce consumption by Americans should provide more accurate data, but the disappointing bottom line still comes up.
A report, Adults Meeting Fruit and Vegetable Intake Recommendation – United States, 2013, from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention estimates 91% of Americans failed to eat enough vegetables and 87% failed to eat enough fruit in 2013, based on government guidelines.
“Substantial new efforts are needed to build consumer demand for fruits and vegetables through competitive pricing, placement and promotion in child care settings, schools, grocery stores, communities and worksites,” according to the CDC’s July 10 report.
Neither the statistics nor the recommendations surprised Elizabeth Pivonka, president and CEO of the Produce for Better Health Foundation, Hockessin, Del. She said the state-by-state breakdown in the report confirms previous research, showing that residents of Southern states have the lowest consumption of produce, which the CDC says leads to higher rates of stroke, heart disease and cancer.
“This is the first year they are asking about the frequency at which people are eating fruits and vegetables,” Pivonka said. “That means we can’t really compare this survey to previous years, but it gives us a new baseline that is probably a better way to measure what people are doing.”
The survey for 2013 asked respondents how many times per day, week or month they consumed 100% fruit juice, whole fruit, dried beans, dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, and other vegetables over the previous month as part of the rotating core questionnaire administered every other year. The survey specifically excluded fried potatoes.
If fried potatoes are included, estimates for vegetable consumption are 30% to 44% higher, according to the report. If non-100% juice beverages are included, fruit consumption is 4% to 6% higher.
Highlights from the report include:
- During 2007-2010, half of the total U.S. population consumed less than 1 cup of fruit and less than 1.5 cups of vegetables daily;
- Median frequency of reported fruit intake across all respondents for 2013 was once per day, ranging from 0.9 in Arkansas to 1.3 times per day in California; and
- Median frequency of reported vegetable intake for 2013 was 1.7 times per day, ranging from lows of 1.4 times a day in Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Dakota to 1.9 times per day in California and Oregon.
The survey logged responses from 373,580 respondents. Another 118,193 took the survey, but they were not included in the results for various reasons, including non-resident status, failure to answer all questions or providing “implausible reports” of eating fruit more than 16 times a day and eating vegetables more than 23 times a day.