New Publication Reveals Income's Impact on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

A new publication by the USDA's Economic Research Service reports the findings of a study on how a household's income impacts what they eat. Are Lower Income Households Willing and Able To Budget for Fruits and Vegetables? (PDF/290 KB), reports that for six out of seven selected types of food, households with an income below 130 percent of the poverty line spend less money than higher income households. However, these households, when given a small increase in income, will allocate more money to only two out of the seven products, beef and frozen prepared foods. These foods may be priorities for reasons of taste and convenience. For additional money to be allocated to fruits and vegetables, a household’s income needs to be slightly greater than 130 percent of the poverty line.