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If you ve noticed more carrot-crunching, more orange-peeling, andan abundance of leafy green salads lately, it s probably not acoincidence. As The Washington Post reported last week, Americans eat more fresh foods than they did five years ago . The WaPo story was based on a national phone survey conducted by the Kellogg Foundation , which found that the majority of Americans are trying to eat morefresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, are shopping at farmersmarkets at least on occasion, and say they know a lot or a littleabout where their fresh fruits and vegetables come from. Thesefindings are interesting and they speak to the success of a wholearray of efforts to get more of us cooking, examining what we eat,and honing in on the place where healthy and truly delicious foodsintersect. Less visible in the media landscape is the fact that the KelloggFoundation survey also suggests that all this healthy eating hasAmericans looking outside themselves. For one, they re considering the environment 64 percent say it s very important that produce be grown in an environmentallyfriendly way. And the same number of people say it s veryimportant or somewhat important that produce be organic. And nearly all 93 percent of those surveyed say they think it sat least somewhat important to make sure all Americans haveequal access to fresh fruits and vegetables. And three-quartersof the respondents said they support the idea of a national programthat would double Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps ) benefits at farmers markets. (Ofcourse, this is more than an idea. As Grist reported recently, theU.S. Department of Agriculture is currently expanding the number of farmers markets around the nation that areequipped to accept EBT cards .) Beyond these basic humanitarian instincts and despite the apparentpopularity of Tea Party politics the survey also suggests thatAmericans look to our public institutions to play a part inensuring healthy food access: 81 percent strongly or partly agree that Washington, D.C., needs todo more to increase access to locally produced fresh food incommunities throughout the country. 86 percent strongly or partly agree that state and local officialsshould play a role in ensuring local fresh food is accessible tolocal residents. 89 percent strongly or partly agree that the community should playa role in ensuring local fresh food is accessible to localresidents. 83 percent strongly or partly agree that Washington, D.C., shouldshift its support more toward smaller, local fruit and vegetablefarmers and away from large farm businesses. 83 percent strongly or partly agree that Washington, D.C., shouldprovide more incentives to encourage the creation of new businessesthat sell, process, and distribute locally produced healthy food. It may be too late for this data to influence the current Farm Billprocess which has taxpayers slated to support those large farmbusinesses with tens of billions in subsidies while offering afew million here and there for smaller, local fruit and vegetablefarmers. And that s the best-case scenario put forth by theSenate; the worst case (the House of Representatives version)would also involve tens of billions in cuts to SNAP the veryprogram that is proving crucial to fresh produce access. Either way, it raises the question: Is this data a snapshot of atrend that has peaked and will now begin to reverse? Or are weseeing the early signs of a larger shift toward a saner,and yes a crunchier, leafier food system? As I mentioned last week, we do still have some choice in the matter . Photo: Chiot's Run Originally published on Grist Twilight is the food editor at Grist. Follow her on twitter, @twyspy . I am an expert from wovenwire-mesh.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Spiral Welded Pipe Manufacturer , Screen Metal Mesh, Screen Metal Mesh,and more.
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