# Americans eat more fruit, fewer vegetables

> A new federal report shows what 5,000 people put on their plates, and where the gaps sit.
- Title: Americans eat more fruit, fewer vegetables · TIME | Shortify
- Summary: A new federal report shows what 5,000 people put on their plates, and where the gaps sit. Most Americans eat some produce daily, but almost nobody hits the…
- Keywords: nutrition, public health, diet, food prices, cdc data, Americans, eat, more, fruit, fewer, vegetables, TIME
- Source: TIME — https://time.com/article/2026/09/15/americans-eating-fruit-vegetables
- Author: Alice Park
- Published: 2026-09-15T20:04:04.754+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: nutrition, public health, diet, food prices, cdc data
## Most eat produce, not all
From 2021 to 2023, about 70% of adults 20 and older ate fruit or drank 100% juice on a given day. 93% ate a vegetable, so roughly 30% had no fruit at all.
## Fruit up, vegetables down
Compared with the 2015 to 2018 survey, fruit ticked up from 67% to 70%. Vegetables slipped from 95% to 93%.
## Women eat more fruit
74% of women ate fruit on a given day versus 66% of men. Vegetable rates matched, but 42% of women ate a dark-green vegetable compared with 34% of men.
## Income shapes the plate
Higher family income tracked with more fruit and vegetable eating. Dark-green vegetables came last in every income group, and they carry vitamins for heart, brain, and bones.
## Still short of the targets
Federal guidelines call for about 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables a day. That is roughly two small apples and five medium carrots, and most people fall below it.
## Juice is not whole fruit
31% of adults counted 100% fruit juice as their fruit. Whole fruit brings fiber that juice does not, and pandemic-era grocery inflation of about 3.5% a year likely nudges choices.
## Key takeaway

Most Americans eat some produce daily, but almost nobody hits the federal targets, and dark-green vegetables are the biggest miss.