Data from the USDA Economic Research Service shows that the variety of vegetables available in the United States falls short of what dietary guidelines recommend, according to a post on NPR's The Salt. Nearly 50% of vegetables and legumes available in the U.S. in 2013 were either tomatoes or potatoes, with lettuce being the next-most-available vegetable.
Although USDA dietary guidelines recommend that adults consume 2.5 to 3 cups of vegetables a day, only 1.7 cups per person are actually available. Whether this is an issue of supply or demand is a question, with some studies suggesting that the U.S. vegetable supply would have to increase substantially to provide the recommended diet, and other experts advising that changing consumer demand for vegetable variety is key to developing greater supplies.
