Consumption & Nutrition

Consumption and nutrition is a multi-faceted issue in the produce industry. It is well known that fruits and vegetables are nutrition powerhouses and are the cornerstone of a healthful diet, offering great benefits to public health and great marketing advantages to produce marketers.

PMA believes that taste, convenience, and nutrition (along with consumer education on food safety) are the cornerstones of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and fighting obesity.

Legislatively, fresh produce has been a key component of proposals such as the farm bill and the child nutrition reauthorization act. Fruits and vegetables have also been incorporated into the Women, Infants, and Children portion of the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Access Program as well as the Dietary Guidelines. PMA actively supports efforts to expand access to fresh fruits and vegetables in both the legislative and regulatory arenas through both grassroots lobbying and comments to federal agencies.

Speaking of access to fresh produce, this issue is a focal point of the Obama Administration’s “Let’s Move” campaign on childhood obesity. Specifically, the Administration seeks to eliminate food deserts (defined as communities where access to affordable, quality, and nutritious foods is limited) and childhood obesity.

Here on the PMA website, we will be highlighting members’ efforts to expand access to fresh produce in the communities in which they live and do business. Do you have a produce access story to share? If so, let us know.

Additional Consumption and Nutrition Resources

• "Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools" Toolkit. PMA offers a turnkey toolkit with all the tools to help you put a salab bar in a school and make the program work to build your business’ community relationships.
• Chart of PMA Members with Consumer Resources. A supplement to our work with Scholastic, PMA offers consumers and educators this chart where they can learn more about fresh produce via product information, recipes, kids’ content, and educational materials. If your organization is not listed, please let us know.
• Consumer Research Online. Need original consumer research on fruit and vegetable consumption trends? Go to Consumer Research Online. All reports are free to PMA member companies and their employees.
• Crunch the Numbers. This award-winning math-based curriculum developed by PMA and Scholastic teaches 3rd and 4th grade students about math, nutrition, and food safety.
• Field to Fork blog. Consumption and nutrition is also a key topic on our blog, which is updated four to five times a week and is free to members.
• Foodservice 2020. On the foodservice front, PMA (along with our partners at the National Restaurant Association and the International Foodservice Distributors Association) seek to double the use of produce in foodservice within 10 years.
• Fruits & Veggies – More Matters program. The industry’s primary promotional effort managed by the Produce for Better Health Foundation. PMA provides significant financial support and leadership to the foundation and has pledged $50,000 a year over the next five years in support.
• Nutrition Labeling. Per the U.S. Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, the 20 most frequently consumed varieties of raw fruits and 20 most frequently consumed raw vegetables are subject to a voluntary program whereby retailers must provide nutrition labeling at the point of purchase. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforces this program with in-store compliance checks. We’ve got resources to help ensure compliance.