Growing at the Speed of Life - A Year in the Life of My First Kitchen Garden

Nudge-Nudge: The Law of

Intended Consequences

I’ve now lived long enough to have seen politicians manipulate the nutritional sci­

ences by only gradually ratcheting up their recommendations for how many serv­

ings of fruits and vegetables we should consume each day. Exactly what is one

serving is known by only less than 1 percent of the population, so either you are

part of that small group or you will increase its membership by reading the fol­

lowing explanation:

1 serving = 100 grams

Scientists speak in grams because metric measurements are much less likely

to cause error or misunderstanding. The cup measure can change in multiple

ways, resulting in substantial changes in taste, texture, and nutrition. Sometime

in the future, the United States may go metric; but in the meantime, let me trans­

late those 100 grams into a measure that most readers will understand.

Try to get 100 grams (3.5 ounces) into a cup measure and it almost fills a half

cup (usually 4 ounces). So, you see, consumers already have to make some adjust­

ments to line up with the scientists—and those small adjustments can add up

over time.

This is how most readers will understand a single serving size:

Diced hard fruits and vegetables ½ cup



Leafy greens (pressed down) 1 cup



100% fruit or vegetable juice (6 fluid ounces) ⅔ cup



Whole fruit (1 medium piece) 4 ounces



Dried fruit ¼ cup

Let’s see how this might work over a typical day of your life, adding up to 10–12

servings a day.

10 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE