Americans are Eating a lot More Berries

Dec 18, 2014

In case you didn't know this already, but Americans have really been eating a lot more berries than they used to.  According the article linked below, raspberry consumption has increased 475% from 2000 to 2012, and consumption of strawberries is up 60% in the same timeframe.

Interestingly, since volume of fresh fruit consumed per person in the USA is basically flat in this 12 year period at 48 lbs per year, this means that berries are making up a increasing share of the total, with apples (down 9%), oranges (down 9%) and bananas (down 11%) taking the hit. 

The best part of the article is the explanation of why this is happening.  It says it's because berry farmers have figured out how to grow more berries and better berries.

Read the article, it's good:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/upshot/americans-are-eating-a-lot-more-berries-heres-why.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0

 

 


By Mark Bolda
Author - Farm Advisor, Strawberries & Caneberries