In my long career as a gourmet/nutrition teacher,
I have cooked just about everything that grows, but
I’ve never grown a thing I’ve cooked. So what got me
thinking about the earth-to-table process?
You have to be from another planet not to have
heard that a diet made up of mostly fruits and vege
tables is a first-line defense against so many of the
avoidable chronic diseases of our time, such as obe
sity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some can
cers. I’ve been looking at this issue in our own family since 1975, when the
National Institutes of Health first introduced the “5 A Day” concept—the idea
of consuming five or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day. In fact, I
worked with the institutes to promote this initiative. But curiously, and disap
pointingly, as one set of records shows, the $24 million campaign resulted in an
increase of only half a serving (from 3 to 3.5) among American consumers be
tween 1975 and 2008.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
2001–2006 (compared to NHANES 1988–1994) revealed the following for
consumers aged 40–74: The number of those who even attempt the “5 A Day”
concept has dropped from 42 percent to 26 percent, and at the same time the
obesity rate has risen from 28 percent to 36 percent. Also, the engagement in
exercise (12 times per month was used as the benchmark) has fallen from 53
percent to 43 percent.
Nothing about these numbers is good news for our nation’s future health.
But please notice that the fruit and vegetable decline is way ahead of the rest by
at least 6 percent.
Now that might seem to be a pretty boring statistic, but the way it hit me
was far from boring. Any greater release of energ y, and I would have gone into
orbit.
For my small part in the “5 A Day” program—I had done nearly 500 newscasts
on the subject—I saw consumption go from only 3 servings to 3.5 servings. I took2 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE