The Cost of Dietary Variety: A Case of Fruit and Vegetables

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and MyPyramid recommend eating a variety of vegetables and fruit; for vegetables, this recommendation is coupled with specific weekly serving recommendations. This study used a linear programming model to show the cost of increasing variety in fruit and vegetable consumption when meeting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans fruit and vegetable consumption recommendations with no within-group variety. Efficacy of efforts to promote increased dietary variety may be limited by economic disincentives associated with purchasing a greater variety of fruit and vegetables.