Incentivizing Fruits and Vegetables in the Farm Bill

Abstract

Almost all US adults fail to consume the 5 servings of fruit and vegetables recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, with those living near or below the poverty line consuming even less. Fruit and vegetable producers, and consumers participating in nutrition assistance programs are supported in the 2018 Farm Bill. We discuss current and potential strategies that reduce barriers for both consumers and producers in the Farm Bill. We argue that future Farm Bills should further incentivize the production and consumption of fruits and vegetables by increasing (1) support for nutrition assistance programs, (2) funding research that focuses on specialty crops, and (3) specialty crop insurance.

U.S. food policy to address diet-related chronic disease

“…According to a 2019 national population-based CDC survey, approximately 90% of all Americans do not consume the recommended amounts of F/V (31,32). Common U.S. barriers to purchasing, preparing and consuming F/V are more pervasive in low resource communities with lower food security and are high priority areas for benefit design prioritization (33). Food insecurity is linked to additional healthcare from skipping and delaying medications and healthcare visits, further perpetuating the problem of poor health (34).…”