Grabbing an apple may not be harder than grabbing a bag of chips, but in a time when obesity is becoming the norm, it sure seems like it.
To force young people to pay attention to portion control, experts created a tech-savvy spot that makes it easier for young adults to up the ante on how many servings of veggies they eat and pay attention to where that produce is grown.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have launched a new website, Fruits and Veggies Matter, aimed at educating the public about the proper servings of fruits and vegetables they need per day.  A drop-down menu on the right side of the website’s home page allows users to enter their age, sex and level of physical activity per day. After entering this information, the website gives users their recommended daily serving size of fruits and vegetables. The average serving size is five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
Many people do not actually know what a serving size is, University Health Center dietitian Jessica Wilson said.
“A lot of people are intimidated by five to nine servings, but it’s relatively easy,” she said.
Wilson said one cup of spinach or lettuce equals one serving of vegetables.
She also said the color of a fruit or vegetable lets people know what nutritional value it has. For example, red produce are loaded with vitamin A, orange produce have vitamin C, while blue, purple and green produce are filled with antioxidants.
“Darker-colored produce usually has a better value for antioxidants,” Ruth Preston, farmer at organically-certified Valley in the Clouds
Farm said.
There are slight differences between conventionally-grown and organically-grown produce. The nutritional value of conventionally-grown produce is declining, according to an article from Prevention Magazine. This is due to the farming
practices of conventional farmers, who use methods like selective breeding and synthetic fertilizers, which decrease the ability of fruits and vegetables to contain nutrients or absorb them from soil.
Conventionally-grown produce is sold in grocery stores and is less expensive than organically-grown vegetables sold in grocery stores and at farmers markets. The cost has to do with the farming practices of conventional and organic growers.
Certified organic farmers at the Lane County Farmers Market in Eugene think organic produce is worth the extra price. These farmers use natural insecticide and pesticide sprays made from pyrethrin, an organic insecticide spray made from chrysanthemums. Hayhurst Valley Farm, a certified organic farm, sells its produce at the Lane County Farmers Market in downtown Eugene.
“The lack of synthetic pesticides and herbicides is critical,” Hayhurst Valley farmer Richard Wilen said.”These are unnatural pesticides your body and nature can’t break down.”
College students might not be able to afford just organic produce for their diet. Some might be concerned that if they buy produce, it will go bad before they get the chance to eat it.
“I wouldn’t want to deter people from eating conventionally-grown veggies if that’s all they can afford,” Wilson said.
Cost wasn’t an issue with University junior Preston Orr. He buys produce at Fred Meyer’s and Market of Choice. He said he
always buys organic Oregon strawberries and organic bell peppers because of the flavor.
“If organic cost the same as conventional, I’d always buy organic,” Orr said.
There is an option available for college students living on a budget. Frozen produce is frozen on site at the packaging center, and this freezing process locks in nutrients. Frozen produce can sometimes have a higher nutrient content than non-frozen produce, Wilson said.
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