Americans Are Urged to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

“Taking a daily pill will not make up for this enormous deficit.” The USDA Dietary Guidelines Committee will release new dietary guidelines next year. “As the guidelines stand now, they do not include fruits and vegetables,” stated Ms. Pivonka. The current “food pyramid,” used by nutritionists and most nutrition education programs is centered around grains, fruits and vegetables are next, then diary and meats, nuts, beans and legumes, and fats and sweets last. Organizations want the guidelines to tell Americans to center their diet around fruits and vegetables. The current guidelines recommend eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. However, Americans are not getting enough, stated Ms. Pivonka. “We are more than twice as likely to start the day with coffee as with fruit juice,” she stated. “We found that only 17 percent of the food we eat at lunch are fruits, vegetables or 100 percent juice.” Colin Campbell, a professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University, said that people can receive all of their nutrients from fruit and vegetables. “There are no essential nutrients in animal-based foods that are not also available, to better advantage, in properly grown plant-based foods.” Mr. Campbell stated. Most organizations also state that there is strong evidence that people can save health care dollars by eating more fruits and vegetables. “The evidence is very strong that those who eat five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily are at a lower risk of cancer,” stated Dr. David Rosenthal, immediate past president of the American Cancer Society. He said that one-third of cancers are related to diet. Dr. Rosenthal feels that revising the guidelines is a first step to helping Americans eat better. (Reuters, February 23, 1999)