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Our Favorite Vegetables

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Jan 07, 2009 at 16:55:27 PM PST

The USDA measures how much we produce of each food and attempts to capture how much we actually eat (subtracting exports and spoilage, adding imports). I find it very interesting! Follow me below to see which veggies we're eating in this country.

Jill Richardson :: Our Favorite Vegetables

Our Favorite Vegetables (Cups per capita per day in 2006)
1. Potatoes: 0.557 (0.175 is as chips/shoestring potatoes)
2. Lettuce: 0.228
3. Tomatoes: 0.189
4. Onions: 0.077
5. Carrots: 0.062
6. Cabbage: 0.06
7. Sweet corn: 0.057
8. Celery: 0.042
9. Snap beans: 0.042
10. Broccoli: 0.039
11. Cucumbers: 0.036
12. Chile peppers: 0.036
13. Bell Peppers: 0.029
14. Mushrooms: 0.027
15. Pumpkins: 0.021
15. Squash: 0.021

That equals approximately...

A little over one cup potato every 2 days
One cup lettuce every 4 days
One cup tomatoes every 5 days
One cup onions every 13 days
One cup carrots, cabbage, and sweet corn each every 16-17 days
One cup celery, snap beans, and broccoli each every 25 days
One cup of chile peppers every 28 days
One cup of bell peppers and mushrooms each every 34-35 days
One cup of pumpkins and squash each every 50 days

Our Least Favorite (Less than 0.005 Cups Per Capita Per Day in 2006)
1. Lima Beans
2. Kale
3. Brussel Sprouts
4. Artichoke
5. Turnip Greens
6. Radishes
7. Okra
8. Escarole/endive
9. Asparagus
10. Mustard Greens
10. Collard Greens
10. Cauliflower

That equals one cup of each of these veggies every 200 days, or LESS!

Total Vegetable Consumption Over Time
1970: 1.46
1980: 1.44
1990: 1.61
2000: 1.78
2006: 1.74

Note: While it looks great that we're increasing veggie consumption over time, I'm not sure if that's accurate. Several veggies' data were not captured during 1990 and before.

Dark, Leafy Green Consumption Over Time (Cups per Capita per Day)
Escarole, Romaine and leaf lettuce, Escarole, Broccoli, Spinach, Collard greens, Kale, Mustard greens, Turnip greens

2000: 0.135
2001: 0.123
2002: 0.137
2003: 0.155
2004: 0.148
2005: 0.155
2006: 0.183

Deep Yellow Vegetable Consumption Over Time (Cups per Capita per Day)
Carrots, Pumpkin, Sweet Potatoes

2000: 0.105
2001: 0.100
2002: 0.094
2003: 0.096
2004: 0.100
2005: 0.100
2006: 0.101

Other Starchy Vegetable Consumption Over Time (Cups per Capita per Day)
Potatoes, Corn, Peas, Lima beans

1970: 0.067
1980: 0.061
1990: 0.061
2000: 0.065
2006: 0.060

Cruciferous Vegetables (Cups per capita per day)
Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussel sprouts

1970: 0.079
1980: 0.081
1990: 0.095
2000: 0.109
2006: 0.106

About Those Potatoes... (per capita per day in 2006)
0.182 cups - fresh
0.175 cups - chips and shoestring
0.115 cups - frozen
0.081 cups - dehydrated
0.003 cups - canned

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Our Favorite Vegetables | 15 comments

If you notice (4.00 / 3)

over all this time, we aren't even eating 2 servings of veggies a day on average! And of the 1+ servings we DO eat per day, how much of that is french fries and potato chips?

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 00:58:17 AM UTC

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The Top 4 Veggies sounds (4.00 / 3)

Like Big Mac value meal.

Not that there is any value there.

by: Eddie C @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 01:25:23 AM UTC

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And whatever happened to Cucumbers? (4.00 / 3)

I'm thinking that the drop off may be caused by people buying prepared salads in a bag and then smothering it in Marie's Blue Cheese.

When I buy cukes now the huge bins I once rummaged through at the vegetable stores has over time dwindled down to about twelve cucumbers in the corner. Maybe that is why radishes are on the least favorite list. They were always big in the salad fixing department too.

Another salad favorite of mine is not even on the list and rarely in my supermarket, scallions.

by: Eddie C @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 01:37:37 AM UTC

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there's a TON of stuff (4.00 / 3)

i never see anymore....
we used to have different types of cukes...pickling & salad...
4-5 types of squash; red & green cabbage.....

i'm growing my own again.
canning the extras. & hopefully this year we'll get a big chest freezer.

come firefly-dreaming with me....

by: RiaD @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 01:45:16 AM UTC

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i'm insulted by the lack of brussel sprout (4.00 / 3)

eaters in this country. Mmm! Probably my favorite!

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 01:54:01 AM UTC

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I see a definite correlation... (4.00 / 2)

...between the "Our Least Favorite" list, and the "My Personal Favorite" list!

I mean, between like April and early June I'm eating asparagus 3 meals a day!

But seriously...

It seems obvious that the "least favorite" list contains vegetables that are most likely to be grown by local growers and sold at farmers markets during the colder months; while the "favorite" list is topped by, as Eddie C. says above, the type of stuff you're likely to find in a fast food meal.

I also wonder how much of the potatoes are part of 'instant mashed flake mixes', and stuff like that?

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 01:56:41 AM UTC

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re: the potatoes (4.00 / 3)

0.182 cups per day - fresh
0.003 cups per day - canned
0.115 cups per day - frozen
0.081 cups per day - dehydrated
0.175 cups per day - chips and shoestring
(per capita per day in 2006)

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 02:04:28 AM UTC

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So the flakes... (4.00 / 2)

count as 'dehydrated', I guess? That's roughly 3/4 the amount as consumed in the form of frozen french fries, then...

And how do they define 'fresh'?

I'm thinking that probably includes the massive amounts of potato salad that are prepared in central processing facilities and shipped out via reefer trucks to schools, hospitals, cafeterias, grocery store delis, etc... every day?

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 02:11:59 AM UTC

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potatoes bought fresh (4.00 / 2)

then, presumably, cooked.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 02:12:36 AM UTC

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some chips are (4.00 / 3)

dehydrated, as well. that's what they sell at my school.

Vote for yourself at www.ni4d.us!

by: rossl @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 03:00:04 AM UTC

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Would they be in two categories, do you think? (4.00 / 3)

0.081 cups per day - dehydrated
0.175 cups per day - chips and shoestring

Meh, who knows what they're doing in the "food" processing industry these days...

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 03:12:53 AM UTC

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Oh, and... (4.00 / 2)

This post goes well with what I'm going to put up later tonight - I've got another photo diary coming up from my trip to the People's Farmers Market earlier this afternoon...

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 01:59:48 AM UTC

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The increase in veggie consumption (4.00 / 3)

might be related to the overall increase in amount eaten/calories eaten per day since the 1970s, too.

Vote for yourself at www.ni4d.us!

by: rossl @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 03:00:55 AM UTC

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could also be more thrown away (4.00 / 3)

I don't know how they estimate "waste" - this was one step better than the normal "disappearance data" where they tell you how much food there was and you can figure that some was eaten, some was thrown out, and some was fed to pets. In this case they did their best to estimate it all minus the waste, so it should be closer to what we actually ate. But perhaps we threw some out too. Who knows.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 03:49:55 AM UTC

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Food Barbarians!! (4.00 / 3)

Asparagus is on the "least favorite" list?? Meh, what food barbarians we raise in this country!

Re potatoes: are chips and shoestrings, dehydrated, and canned potatoes really food? A la Pollan (In Defense of Food), if you sit them on the counter for several days (or a few weeks), will they start to spoil?

by: DennisP @ Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 03:51:36 AM UTC

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Our Favorite Vegetables | 15 comments