HEALTHY PERSPECTIVE: The produce industry's unrealized potential
HEALTHY PERSPECTIVE: The produce industry's unrealized potential
The Produce for Better Health Foundation, the American Heart Association, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other organizations and agencies, including virtually all fruit and vegetable commodity boards, have been working for years to get the word out about the benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables.
Yet in spite of that effort, and despite the fact that most people have at least some realization that fruits and vegetables are good for them, per-capita consumption of fruits and vegetables remains woefully short of PBH's target. It is now less than half of what is considered desirable by many health and nutrition experts.
The math is simple: If per-capita consumption of fruits and vegetables was to double, as by all rights it should, produce sales would also double and production -- or more accurately, the aggregate of domestic production and imports -- would need to double to keep pace.
And yet, consumption of many commodities is stagnant. Production often exceeds demand, leading to low farm-gate prices even as production costs continue to soar. Consequently, some grower groups have resorted to industry-wide acreage cuts in an effort to boost prices and restore profitability for their members.
It is no small irony to hear of acreage reductions in the very products that should be more widely consumed. Clearly, the more desirable scenario would be to find ways to boost demand. How to make that happen is a complex issue and one with which some of the brighter and more creative minds in the country continue to grapple.
But certainly the health message must -- and will -- continue to be a key component of that effort.
The awareness that fruits and vegetables are good for us is nothing new, of course. Our parents and grandparents told us that. But a tremendous amount of scientific and medical research is being done today on the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, and the findings are overwhelmingly positive, confirming the importance of eating several servings a day of an assortment of fruits and vegetables, not only for proper nutrition but to reduce the risk of many different diseases.
Unfortunately, some study results do seem to confuse the issue, and that problem is often exacerbated by sensational media reporting. Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies published in various medical journals have indicated that specific antioxidants and other phytochemicals found in certain fruits, for example, may reduce the risk of specific diseases such as heart disease or certain types of cancer.
But if one study is published in which researchers found the connection inconclusive, you are likely to see newspaper headlines such as, "Antioxidants shown to have no health benefits."
In Houston last October, overlapping with the Produce Marketing Association convention, another produce-related event was held, one that probably went unnoticed by most PMA attendees. It was the second International Symposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits & Vegetables. Hosted by the Vegetable & Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M University, the symposium was a combined effort of the International Society for Horticultural Science, the Global Horticulture Initiative, the Baylor College of Medicine and several other organizations.
Over the five days of the seminar, more than 60 researchers discussed their work on a wide range of topics dealing with the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, while other speakers, most of them scientists or health professionals, looked at the bigger picture.
The following titles are representative of some of the many topics addressed: "Bioactive phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables for cancer prevention," "Targeting inflammation for prevention and treatment of cancer by fruits, vegetables and spices," "The case for regular consumption of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables," "Nutritional interventions against age-related macular degeneration," "Cranberry flavonoids and triterpenoids: In vitro evidence for anti-cancer activity," "Red grapefruit positively influences serum triglyceride level in patients suffering from coronary atherosclerosis;" "Role of fruits, vegetables and nutrition in skeletal health," and "Superfoods and skin health."
This is exciting stuff, and in the aggregate, it gives health professionals and produce marketers powerful tools to help boost fruit and vegetable consumption.
But the research presented at the symposium in Houston is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Dozens of additional studies relating to the health benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption are published in scientific and medical journals every week.
While individual studies are generally of only limited value in isolation, each builds on previous research and adds data to the total body of scientific knowledge. And the picture that is emerging is really quite astounding. A diet that generously incorporates an assortment of fruits and vegetables -- when combined with an all-around healthy lifestyle -- has more health benefits and more disease-preventing and disease-fighting effects than people had imagined only a few years ago.
Now the produce industry has to find more ways to get that message out in a way that will influence behavior and increase consumption.
During the nearly 25 years that I have been writing for The Produce News, and particularly during the last several years as discoveries regarding health benefits of fruits and vegetables have proliferated, I have frequently written on these subjects -- both on the studies themselves and on the nutritional marketing campaigns undertaken by various commodity boards and marketing companies.
Beginning with this inaugural column under the banner, Healthy Perspective, I will be writing on these subjects on a more regular basis. I will mainly be looking at emerging research in the broader context of earlier studies in an effort to demystify some of the technical jargon and give readers actionable information that they can use in marketing messages.
Ronald Reagan once said that America is too great for small ideas. I think the same can be said of the produce industry. Its unrealized potential is enormous. Any incremental increase helps, but this industry really ought to be double its present size.
And the more people understand how important increasing their individual consumption of fruits and vegetables is to their overall health, fitness, well- being, longevity and quality of life, the closer the produce industry will come to realizing its potential.
(Contact Executive Western Editor Rand Green at 559/292-1644 or by e-mail at [email protected].)
Yet in spite of that effort, and despite the fact that most people have at least some realization that fruits and vegetables are good for them, per-capita consumption of fruits and vegetables remains woefully short of PBH's target. It is now less than half of what is considered desirable by many health and nutrition experts.
The math is simple: If per-capita consumption of fruits and vegetables was to double, as by all rights it should, produce sales would also double and production -- or more accurately, the aggregate of domestic production and imports -- would need to double to keep pace.
And yet, consumption of many commodities is stagnant. Production often exceeds demand, leading to low farm-gate prices even as production costs continue to soar. Consequently, some grower groups have resorted to industry-wide acreage cuts in an effort to boost prices and restore profitability for their members.
It is no small irony to hear of acreage reductions in the very products that should be more widely consumed. Clearly, the more desirable scenario would be to find ways to boost demand. How to make that happen is a complex issue and one with which some of the brighter and more creative minds in the country continue to grapple.
But certainly the health message must -- and will -- continue to be a key component of that effort.
The awareness that fruits and vegetables are good for us is nothing new, of course. Our parents and grandparents told us that. But a tremendous amount of scientific and medical research is being done today on the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, and the findings are overwhelmingly positive, confirming the importance of eating several servings a day of an assortment of fruits and vegetables, not only for proper nutrition but to reduce the risk of many different diseases.
Unfortunately, some study results do seem to confuse the issue, and that problem is often exacerbated by sensational media reporting. Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies published in various medical journals have indicated that specific antioxidants and other phytochemicals found in certain fruits, for example, may reduce the risk of specific diseases such as heart disease or certain types of cancer.
But if one study is published in which researchers found the connection inconclusive, you are likely to see newspaper headlines such as, "Antioxidants shown to have no health benefits."
In Houston last October, overlapping with the Produce Marketing Association convention, another produce-related event was held, one that probably went unnoticed by most PMA attendees. It was the second International Symposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits & Vegetables. Hosted by the Vegetable & Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M University, the symposium was a combined effort of the International Society for Horticultural Science, the Global Horticulture Initiative, the Baylor College of Medicine and several other organizations.
Over the five days of the seminar, more than 60 researchers discussed their work on a wide range of topics dealing with the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, while other speakers, most of them scientists or health professionals, looked at the bigger picture.
The following titles are representative of some of the many topics addressed: "Bioactive phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables for cancer prevention," "Targeting inflammation for prevention and treatment of cancer by fruits, vegetables and spices," "The case for regular consumption of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables," "Nutritional interventions against age-related macular degeneration," "Cranberry flavonoids and triterpenoids: In vitro evidence for anti-cancer activity," "Red grapefruit positively influences serum triglyceride level in patients suffering from coronary atherosclerosis;" "Role of fruits, vegetables and nutrition in skeletal health," and "Superfoods and skin health."
This is exciting stuff, and in the aggregate, it gives health professionals and produce marketers powerful tools to help boost fruit and vegetable consumption.
But the research presented at the symposium in Houston is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Dozens of additional studies relating to the health benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption are published in scientific and medical journals every week.
While individual studies are generally of only limited value in isolation, each builds on previous research and adds data to the total body of scientific knowledge. And the picture that is emerging is really quite astounding. A diet that generously incorporates an assortment of fruits and vegetables -- when combined with an all-around healthy lifestyle -- has more health benefits and more disease-preventing and disease-fighting effects than people had imagined only a few years ago.
Now the produce industry has to find more ways to get that message out in a way that will influence behavior and increase consumption.
During the nearly 25 years that I have been writing for The Produce News, and particularly during the last several years as discoveries regarding health benefits of fruits and vegetables have proliferated, I have frequently written on these subjects -- both on the studies themselves and on the nutritional marketing campaigns undertaken by various commodity boards and marketing companies.
Beginning with this inaugural column under the banner, Healthy Perspective, I will be writing on these subjects on a more regular basis. I will mainly be looking at emerging research in the broader context of earlier studies in an effort to demystify some of the technical jargon and give readers actionable information that they can use in marketing messages.
Ronald Reagan once said that America is too great for small ideas. I think the same can be said of the produce industry. Its unrealized potential is enormous. Any incremental increase helps, but this industry really ought to be double its present size.
And the more people understand how important increasing their individual consumption of fruits and vegetables is to their overall health, fitness, well- being, longevity and quality of life, the closer the produce industry will come to realizing its potential.
(Contact Executive Western Editor Rand Green at 559/292-1644 or by e-mail at [email protected].)
