From Hockessin headquarters, nutrition foundation reaches millions

“Eat your vegetables” has long been the mantra of countless mothers trying to persuade their finicky children to fork down something green and leafy.

But it’s also the message being spread by the Produce for Better Health Foundation, a nationwide nutrition education organization with its home base on Lancaster Pike in Hockessin.

Founded nearly 20 years ago, the nonprofit has ramped up its healthy eating message for National Nutrition Month, celebrated every March, and is raising awareness of its slogan, “fruits and veggies more matters.”

“Basically, it’s just a gentle way to remind people something they already know they should be doing,” said Elizabeth Pivonka, president and CEO of the foundation.

And while it’s doubtful most Americans know about the foundation, it’s likely almost everyone has heard the message, spread for years through the ubiquitous “five-a-day” slogan.

But the foundation dropped that slogan three years ago, Pivonka said, because new dietary guidelines recommend up to 13 servings of fruits and veggies each day for some people. Some people were scared off by the number five, so the foundation nixed the numbers and focused on the core message, she said.

Produce for Better Health spreads its message primarily through supermarkets that display its logo or share its information on packaging and through the 100,000 health educators who receive the group’s research reports, Pivonka said.

The research has shown that people know fruits and veggies are important, she said, but they just don’t eat enough of them. Many people need to double or triple their consumption to meet federal nutrition guidelines.

“Fruits and vegetables are so important in weight control and preventing chronic diseases,” she said.

Over the past 20 years, consumption of fruits and veggies has remained fairly flat, she said, and many people claim time, convenience and cost as the three major impediments to eating healthier foods.

But it’s easier to eat healthfully on a budget than people think, she said. Buying canned or frozen fruits and veggies is economical, especially when they are on sale, and fresh produce is always cheaper when it’s in season, she said.

As far as time and convenience go, it’s pretty easy to add fruits and vegetables to foods you already eat, like stacking some lettuce and tomato on a sandwich, or keeping produce within arm's reach by having a well-stocked fruit bowl or container of dried fruit trail mix on the counter, she said.

“Whatever way you want to eat them, within reason, is going to help you meet your nutrition goals,” she said.

Through the foundation’s website, fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org, they share a variety of quick and easy recipes that will help even novice cooks enjoy fruits and veggies, Pivonka said.

The foundation’s message is pretty simple, she said, but there are challenges to spreading it.

“The bottom line is that there just aren’t a lot of marketing dollars for fruits and vegetables,” she said.

TV commercials focus on processed foods, like potato chips and breakfast cereal, because they have marketing dollars built into their prices, she said.

Supermarkets tend to negotiate the lowest possible price for produce, she said, leaving the industry with little money for marketing.

And the foundation is planning to conduct a study in advance of the 2012 Farm Bill to show the disconnect between the federal government’s message and its funding, she said.

Federal dietary guidelines recommend fruits and vegetables as half of what people eat, Pivonka said, yet many times subsidies are awarded to sugar and grain farmers over fruit and vegetable growers.

But despite the challenges, Pivonka is hopeful that Americans will start eating more fruits and veggies. The childhood obesity epidemic has raised awareness of how important healthy eating is, she said, and the rising cost of health care has given nutrition even more emphasis.

The message circulating from the foundation’s small office on Lancaster Pike is of national importance, she said, and it’s more vital today than it has ever been.