If you haven’t heard – September is National Fruit and Vegetable month.  Yes, it is time to celebrate the only food group health experts and nutritionists agree we should all eat more of every day for better health and a longer life.

While decades of studies have shown the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables are overwhelming and significant, the safety of both organic and conventional produce is also impressive.  Government sampling data shows an over 99% compliance rate among farmers with the laws and regulations required for pesticide applications on organic and conventional fruit and vegetable crops.  This led the United States Department of Agriculture to state that: “The U.S. food supply is among the safest in the world.”

Many health organizations are promoting National Fruit and Vegetable month to remind consumers about the importance of increasing consumption – only one in 10 of us eat enough of these nutrient-packed foods each day.

However, studies show a growing barrier to consumption is fear-based messaging which inaccurately calls into question the safety of the more affordable and accessible fruits and veggies.  This messaging is predominantly carried by the same activist groups year after year despite studies which show that “prescriptions” for fruits and veggies could reduce health care costs by $40 billion annually.  Or that 20,000 cancer cases could be prevented each year if half of Americans increased their consumption of fruits and veggies by a single serving. And, consuming seven-plus servings of produce a day reduces your risk of premature death by 42%.

In light of consumption stagnation and the wide-ranging studies showing the benefits of a plant-rich diet, we renew our call during National Fruit and Vegetable Month for activist groups to move away from disparaging healthy and safe produce and toward encouraging consumption of organic and conventional fruits and veggies. With their multi-million dollar budgets and access to celebrities, joining health officials in a pro-consumption message may help us move the consumption needle.  Not to mention the benefits when they stop scaring consumers away from healthy eating with their fear-based messaging – that would be quite helpful too!

Read, learn, choose but eat more organic and conventional produce every day for better health and a longer life.

Photo credit: 135 Degrees