Americans Just Don’t Eat Enough Veggies

It isn’t just parents who warn their kids to eat their veggies, government agencies and manufactures are all trying their best to get Americans to eat their vegetables, but to no avail. This article speaks about the many innovative ways devised to make Americans eat more veggies, but each to no avail – while the baby carrot industry tried to tell people that their product was ‘junk food’ to make them like it more, while in well heeled areas of Manhattan, heirloom veggies named Lady Godiva Squash and the like were auctioned.

eat veggiesIn spite of all the health initiatives, government guidelines, increase in farmer’s markets and convenient products such as ‘Salad in a Bag’ Americans are just not eating enough vegetables (that don’t include French fries that is).

Only 26% of Americans eat vegetables three or more times in a day. Most Americans eat less than half the amount of  vegetables that they should be eating and this is a situation that has got no better in the last decade or so.

It has been found that only about 23% of meals include a vegetable and it would seem that there is nothing that can be said or done to make people eat more veggies, fears Harry Balzer, the chief industry analyst for the NPD Group, a market research company. Taste, convenience and low cost tend to win out over health, says Mr. Balzer.