We know the age-old sentiment: fruits and vegetables are key to good health. Yet despite this understanding, most consumers still fall short of the recommended intake. The release of the 2025–30 Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourages fruits and vegetables to be eaten throughout the day, shifting focus from one-off goals to everyday habits. This underscores why the message Every Time You Eat, Have A Plant remains both relevant and grounded in science.

From a registered dietitian’s perspective, these guidelines highlight an important opportunity to shape how consumers eat fruits and vegetables. This includes driving behavior change, building culinary confidence and reinforcing sustainable, everyday eating patterns. The work ahead remains focused on making produce the easiest, most appealing choice at every eating occasion.

The spirit of the new guidelines aligns strongly with The Foundation for Fresh Produce’s mission to help change the trajectory of human health. They reinforce the role of fruits and vegetables in delivering fiber and other nutrients many Americans continue to lack, while also strengthening the connection between produce, gut health and overall diet quality. Fruits and vegetables are positioned as core drivers of digestive health, chronic disease risk reduction and long-term well-being — areas of growing interest among consumers.   

For a 2,000-calorie dietary pattern, the guidelines recommend three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit per day. A serving may include: one cup raw or cooked vegetable, two cups of leafy greens, one cup raw fruit or a half cup dried fruit. The guidelines direct individuals to consume a wide variety of colorful vegetables and fruits, encouraging whole form consumption and canned, dried and frozen forms without added sugars. Americans are advised to consume limited portions of 100 percent fruit and vegetable juice and consider diluting with water. This acknowledgement supports innovation across packaging, preservation, affordability and food waste reduction without compromising nutrition. 

That said, the guidelines are not without limitations. Dietary fiber — despite being a nutrient of public health concern — receives less explicit emphasis than in previous editions. Additionally, broad and non-quantifiable language around “real food,” while directionally positive, may limit its ability to drive meaningful change in institutional settings such as school meals or federal procurement. To fully capitalize on this moment, there is an important role to play in advocating for clear, measurable standards that allow these principles to be implemented at scale.

The focus must now shift to operationalizing this guidance — within federally funded nutrition programs, through consistent recommendations from health and medical professionals and by delivering culturally relevant, practical resources that help consumers Have A Plant every time they eat. 

For fruit and veggie inspiration and everything you need to support marketing plans, visit fruitsandveggies.org.