A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reaffirms that adults are more likely to eat fresh fruits and vegetables as their income increases. The data brief comes as Republican cuts to food assistance programs, colloquially called “food stamps”, have led enrollment to “plummet”. Changes to US dietary guidelines, led by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, have also made a government-recommended diet more expensive.
A new “food pyramid” released in January emphasized animal protein, fresh fruit and vegetables, all of which cost more, according to studies. The data brief from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found that more than nine in 10 Americans ate any vegetable on a given day and about 7 in 10 ate any fruit. The data brief covered adults older than 20 from August 2021-2023.
However, the percentage of adults who ate any vegetables, “dark green vegetables, red or orange vegetables, and other vegetable types increased with increasing family income” – with deep divides between the low-income and middle class. For instance, the percentage of adults who ate any fruit on a given day was 56% for people living on less than 130% of the federal poverty level ($20,748 for a single adult). By contrast, 76% of people who earned 350% of FPL ($55,860) ate any fruit.
Similarly, a single person who earned $55,860 was almost twice as likely (38% versus 19.6%) to eat berries, citrus and melons compared to the poorest people included in the study. The same was true of vegetables. Although most Americans ate a vegetable in a day, only 29% of the lowest income Americans in the data brief ate a dark green vegetable, compared to 42% for the highest income.
Years of studies have shown that people with less money and time spend more on energy-dense, shelf-stable packaged foods – foods that fill you up and don’t spoil. The relationship between food and income was known even 91 years ago, when a study of diet and income in the UK found that nearly everyone ate potatoes and bread, but the poorest in society bought far less milk, eggs, vegetables and fruits. Multiple contemporary studies have pointed out the same tension.
A recent study by University of Washington researchers found foods recommended by Kennedy’s health department cost a mean of $15.82 per day. The average Snap household is two people and receives $177 per month, or about $3 per day per person. About 39% of Snap beneficiaries are children.
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