March is National Nutrition Month. This year it is doubly special as we also recognize the UN International Year of Fruit and Vegetables.
A lot of great nutritional research has been published recently. Scientists are still homing in on the key health-promoting and aging-defying features of the Mediterranean diet, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. Researchers also discovered new roles for vitamin A (which gives orange fruits and vegetables their color) in promoting cognition and stimulating brain functions, and even moderating some of the negative effects of high-fat diets.
The most effective scientific conversations, however, are taking place at the nexus of nutrition, environmental sustainability and social justice.
Since lockdowns began last March, while many re-discovered a relationship with food through home cooking, baking and fermenting, a lot of families found themselves in situations of food insecurity. U.S. Department of Agriculture data for 2020 is alarming: almost 20% of American children did not have enough to eat, compared to 7.7% who were food insecure at some point in 2018.
USDA tracking of the Healthy Eating Index-2010 components indicates that the biggest disparity between food secure and food insecure households was in the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. It is not surprising, therefore, that a 2021 meta-analysis of international studies of urban poor revealed that food insecurity correlated most closely not with underweight, but with obesity.
Therefore, the cheapest calories are not the answer to solving this problem.
Food assistance programs are prominently featured in President Biden’s COVID-19 Relief Plan, currently in front of the Congress. The cost of the solution cannot be the epidemic of obesity, coronary heart disease and diabetes 5-15 years down the road. When we commit to fighting food insecurity, we need to focus on food insecurity.
The data from programs like the USDA Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (including Produce Prescription) and partnerships like Brighter Bites clearly indicate health benefits of investment into incentives to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. To scale up these efforts is to efficiently combat nutritional insecurity, support producers, and capitalize on the efficiency of the existing routes of trade.
Food choices we make fundamentally affect the society and the planet. A 2019 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides evidence that foods that promote positive health outcomes (reduced mortality, coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer, diabetes and stroke) also scored higher on the measures of relative environmental impact. With fruits and vegetables earning the highest marks in this study, it will be important to continue to engage with the Biden administration on navigating the president’s climate and nutrition policy agendas.
Clearly, these two agendas are interconnected. Making it easy to grow, harvest, distribute and sell foods that are the healthiest for people and for the planet should a bipartisan priority.
Max Teplitski is chief science officer for the Produce Marketing Association.
More from Max Teplitski:
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