America’s Top Fruits & Vegetables: It’s National Fruits & Veggies Month!

September is National Fruits & Veggies Month, a holiday established by the USDA to bring greater attention to the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.

The message is not only to “make the most of summer produce while it’s still available,” but to integrate more fruits and vegetables into your daily meals. It’s pretty easy: Here’s how.

So who’s tops in produce?
 
 
WHAT AMERICANS ARE BUYING

The Fresh Produce Association shared these results from a trade industry survey, The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2022. The study reflected consumer behavior in 2021.

More specifically, it surveyed consumers on their most-purchased fruits and vegetables.

Most consumers (82%) said they had bought packaged produce (e.g. not loose pieces but sliced or otherwise prepared for efficiency) in 2021.

Of online shoppers, 47% have discontinued online shopping. The ability to touch and smell the produce was their number-one reason.

 
 
CHANGES FROM LAST YEAR

The chart below lists the most frequently-purchased fruits and vegetables in 2021 in the U.S. What’s new?

In vegetables, bell peppers, broccoli, and cucumbers all moved up on the list.

In fruits, mangoes made the list at No. 19, after not being on the list the previous year.

 
O.K., maybe that’s not so exciting unless you’re a grocery store produce manager. But take a look:

Where do your favorites rank on the list?

 

[1] What are America’a Top 20 fruits and veggies? Apples are the #4 fruit (photo © Envy Apples | Facebook).

[2] Broccoli is #6 on the vegetables list (photo © Burpee).

Source