I am the 2024 Joyce Lindower Wolitzer ’76 and Steven Wolitzer Seminar speaker and will be at Cornell for events connected with it. My Wolitzer talk, “Food Politics 2024: An Agenda for Action” is at 4:45 p.m. in 700 Clark Hall, followed by a book signing. No registration necessary, just come!
by Marion Nestle
Dec
12
2012
We eat what we buy. Both need improvement, says USDA.
USDA’s Economic Research Service has just issued a report, Assessing the Healthfulness of Consumers’ Grocery Purchases.
The bottom line? Americans buy fewer fruits and vegetables than recommended but far more refined grains, sugars, and meat.
Here’s the summary diagram:
These results should not come as a surprise. According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, the leading sources of calories in U.S. diets are:
- Grain-based desserts
- Breads
- Chicken and chicken dishes
- Sodas and other sugary beverages
- Pizza
- Alcoholic beverages
- Pasta and pasta dishes
- Tortillas, burritos, tacos
- Beef and beef dishes
- Dairy desserts
We eat what we buy (or are given).
That’s why congressional pressure to increase grains and meat in school lunches (see yesterday’s post) is questionable from a public health standpoint.