<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Washington, DC-</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">12.19.12</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>The USDA has been tracking changes in fruit consumption and pricing since 1970. Eating patterns shift over time due to changes in food prices and income levels, availability of food through domestic production and trade, product convenience, exposure to new cuisines, and evolving dietary guidelines, according to the report.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">ERS’s Food Availability data series reports that the total amount of fruits, which encompasses fresh and processed in fresh-weight equivalent, available for consumption in the U.S. have increased 9 percent, from 237.5 pounds per person in 1970 to 258.3 pounds per person in 2010. An increase of 9 percent was due mainly to a rise in the noncitrus group in the fresh and juice segments.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The growth in fresh noncitrus was mainly contributed by bananas, strawberries, grapes, pineapples, cantaloupes, and avocados. This accounted for growth from 71.7 pounds per person in 1970 to 106.4 pounds in 2010. Apples, cranberries, peaches, and plums faced a decline. Banana per-capita availability rose 47%, from 17.4 pounds to 25.6 pounds and strawberry per capita availability rose 320% from 1.7 pounds in 1970 to 7.3 pounds in 2010.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/usdabody1.jpg" alt="Images 121912" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Similarly, the per capita availability of noncitrus juices rose 152 percent during this period, from 14.4 pounds in 1970 to 36.2 pounds in 2010. Apple juice particularly quadrupled since 1970. Grape and cranberry juice also rose during this period, while pineapple and prune juice decreased 20 percent and 75 percent, according to the report.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Loss-adjusted per-capita consumption of 0.8 cups of fruits per day is 23% above the 1970 level of 0.6 cup. It is still far below the dietary guideline recommendation of two cups per person. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
