Today, in an article from the Nov 18th issue of The San Francisco Chronicle, I read that the 5year nationwide campaign  to get Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables has failed.  Miserably.  They gave the effort a D- grade.
 
In fact, during the past 5 years, adult consumption has remained the same but teenagers eat 6% less produce than in 2004.
The actual figures on consumption were staggering:  average intake of vegetables is 1.3 servings a day and for fruit it is .68 servings!  This is a long way from the 7 - 9  servings recommended by USDA.  Many doctors in the field of  Nutrition (Dr David Heber, Director of UCLA School of Human Nutrition, for example) recommend 10 - 12 servings a day.  (that's 5 - 6 cups!)
 
Knowing that Americans just don't eat produce might make the information below seem a bit nuanced....   Americans can't even be convinced to open up a can or pkg of frozen green beans, so why worry if it's fresh or organic?
 
For those who are in the group that tries to eat lots of produce, read on!
 
The link cited below from the Orange County Register, explains why buying local produce is your best bet for health.  We all have heard that we should eat produce in season meaning to buy locally what's grown during that season.  Buying things out of season that have been shipped thousands of miles in planes, freighters, and 18wheelers pretty much guarantees that they've been picked too early and ripen during transit, often with the help of "ripening gasses."  Not so healthy, really.  Much nutrition from produce is lost in transit because the peak nutritional value of any fruit or vegetable is on the very day it is ripe - not 3 weeks early.
 
Now, here's the reason I am so pro-active with people about Juice Plus+:   the produce is harvested on the day it is ripe, is preserved in it's raw state, and is immediately bio-available to our cells, soon after swallowing. And it's been proven in clinical studies to work. It is recommended that we eat about 4 cups of veggies a day and 2 cups of fruit.  When we aren't able to consume that much produce, it's awfully nice to have JuicePlus+ to bridge the gap and round out the colors we need every day. It's great health insurance! You can order from my JP+ website at:   www.maryannesharesjuiceplus.com  or, if you have a child who qualifies for free JuicePlus+, send me an email and I'll explain:  marobins@juno.com
Interestingly, I've read that it isn't even the price of produce that keeps Americans from eating it - it's that old bugaboo time.  It seems fast food is here to stay and Americans health is suffering enormously because of it.
 
Supporting our local produce stands, farmer's markets and organic markets is the best way to guarantee that we will keep getting these foods because we create and sustain the local farmers so they can keep working for us! This article explains the whole story more fully and is worth the read!
 
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/season-276351-vegetables-orange.html