Fruits and Veggies - You Know You Need Them But...

Are you eating enough fruit and vegetable servings on average in your day?

Most college students do not eat the recommended amount of fruit and vegetable daily but the good news is that a larger number of people in the U.S., including college students, are aware that they need to eat more fruit and vegetable everyday. Awareness is a great first step.

The picture at right is the Produce Patch (or fresh veggie/fruit area) of the Village Place & Market. Look at all that yummy produce!

What are you looking for when you are trying to increase your fruit and veggie intake?

• select fruits and veggies that you like - that way you'll be more inclined to actually eat them!
• but don't be afraid to try new things, of course - you never know what you might enjoy. What's my current veggie obsession? It's hearts of palm, which I honestly only eat at restaurants...but I love them nonetheless.
• choose organic when you can (lots of choices in Dining Services restaurants and Markets are organic - feel free to ask the chef or manager on duty for that info). Check out the "dirty dozen" from the EWG to know which fruits/veggies are more important to buy organic: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/ On the flip side, maybe don't stress about the Clean 15 - those would be less important to purchase organic since they tend to have the lowest pesticide residue according to the EWG.
• choose many different colors of fruits and veggies - basically the different hue coordinate with different nutrients. Choosing different colors helps you to get in a variety of nutrients.
• incorporate fruits and veggies into your meals to help you bump up your daily servings - for examples, slice a banana onto your toast and peanut butter in the morning or add steamed broccoli to that formerly boring bowl of dinnertime pasta.

And a final thought on fruits and veggies: although we learn new things everyday about nutrition, nutrients in our foods, the impact of farming practices and environmental changes on our food supply and more, NO ONE has ever said, "eat fewer fruits and veggies to be healthier" - that would just be crazy! So, it's an extremely consistent message: fresh produce and lightly cooked produce - GOOD FOR YOU.