An excellent source of information on fruit, vegetable and grain intake of Americans is USDA’s 1994/96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals conducted by the Food Surveys Research Group, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center. The following information comes from that survey.
About Vegetable Intake
On average, Americans consume 3.3 servings of vegetables a day. However, dark green vegetables and deep yellow vegetables each represent only 0.2 daily servings.
On any given day, about 49% of the population consumes at least the minimum number of servings of vegetables recommended (3 servings per day); 41% consume the number of servings recommended based on caloric intake (3 servings per day for those consuming less than 2200 calories, 4 servings per day for those consuming 2200-2800 calories, 5 servings per day for those consuming 2800 calories or more). About 10% of the population consumes less than one serving of vegetable per day.
About Fruit Intake
On any given day about 29% of the population consumes at least the minimum number of servings of fruit recommended (2 servings per day); 24% consume the number of servings recommended based on caloric intake (2 servings per day for those consuming less than 2200 calories, 3 for those consuming 2800 calories, 4 for those consuming 2800 calories or more). About 48% consume less than one serving of fruit a day.
