Capacity for National and Regional Self-Reliance in Fruit and Vegetable Production in the United States

Authors: MCCARTHY, ASHLEY - University Of Vermont; SRINIVASAN, SUMEETA - Tufts University; GRIFFIN, TIMOTHY - Tufts University; Peters, Christian

Submitted to: Agronomy Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/23/2023
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Increased fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption would have important health benefits for Americans, but from where would these foods be supplied? Currently, the U.S. is a net importer of F&V, but pressure globally to feed more people with fewer resources means that imports may become less reliable in the future. Therefore the U.S. may need to increase domestic F&V production and be more self-reliant to ensure a stable supply of healthy foods. To this end, we estimated the extent to which the U.S. could meet current and recommended F&V consumption through domestic production alone at the national and regional levels. Our results indicate that the U.S. could meet both current and recommended F&V needs of Americans and that each region could meet regional F&V consumption. However, while self-reliance is possible, it would require substantial changes in dietary patterns and land use.

Technical Abstract: Increased fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption would have important health benefits but would also have significant impacts on the U.S. agricultural system. The U.S. is currently a net importer of these foods, but global agricultural systems face growing pressure to feed more people with fewer resources while also adapting to climate change. Thus, increasing self-reliance may become a key strategy to ensuring a stable supply of nutrient-dense foods in the U.S. However, the capacity to increase the production of specific foods to accommodate shifts towards healthier dietary patterns or increase self-reliance is not well documented. We estimated the extent to which the U.S. could meet current and recommended F&V consumption through domestic production based on biophysical capacity at the national and regional levels. Land suitability maps from a previous study were combined with state-level yield data to estimate biophysical capacity and food availability data were used to estimate F&V consumption. A net-balance analysis was conducted to compare production capacity to food consumption under both diet scenarios. Our results indicate that the U.S. could meet current and recommended F&V needs of Americans through domestic production and that each region could meet regional F&V consumption. However, while self-reliance is biophysically possible, it would require substantial changes in dietary patterns and land use. These findings provide insight into the feasibility and agricultural implications of self-reliance at the national and regional levels.