Dive Brief:
- Americans are making much wiser food choices, according to the latest Eating Patterns in America report from the NPD group.
- Fruit is now the second-most popular food, rising from fifth place a decade ago. Veggies are not quite as popular, largely because of convenience. "We've been told to eat more fruit and vegetables, but we're not eating more vegetables," an NPD spokesperson told USAToday. "We're eating more fruit because it's easy to consume.It generally requires very little preparation."
- Fruit consumption is rising at about the same rate that juice drinking is declining.
Dive Insight:
We're thrilled by the news in this report. But we're a little wary as well. NPD's Eating Patterns in America is now in its 28th year. No doubt these folks know what they're doing. But the report is based on food diaries kept by 5,000 people over a 14-day period. And we worry that the urge by those 5,000 people to look good may cause them to say that they eat just a wee bit better than they actually do.
But we don't want to be too cynical here. We'll take good news about American's diet whenever, wherever and however we can find it.
