Dietary Guidelines
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) – which provide the basis for federal food and nutrition policy and nutrition education initiatives – are updated and published every five years in a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption is a key recommendation of the DGAs as a result of nearly 90 percent of adults having a diet low in fruits and vegetables.
Specifically, the 2020-2025 DGAs recommend Americans include a variety of vegetables from all of the subgroups—dark green, red and orange, starchy, and legumes (beans, peas, and lentils) – and increase consumption of fruits, especially whole fruits (including fresh-cut).
While the 2020-2025 DGAs recommendations for fruits and vegetables are relatively similar to the previous guidelines, the current DGAs include, for the first time:
- Fruit and vegetable exposure and consumption recommendations for children under age 2
- Fruit and vegetable consumption recommendations for pregnant and lactating mothers
Resources
- 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines
- United Fresh Comments on 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines
- 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines Executive Summary in English and Spanish
- 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines Consumer Resources
Nutrition Community
For more information on the DGAs or United Fresh’s nutrition efforts, contact Mollie Van Lieu, Senior Director, Nutrition Policy at 202-303-3403.