Americans’ diets, particularly those of low-income households, fall short of Government
recommendations in the quantity of fruits and vegetables consumed. Some proposals
suggest that a price subsidy for those products would encourage low-income Americans
to consume more of them. This study estimated that a 10-percent subsidy would
encourage low-income Americans to increase their consumption of fruits by 2.1-5.2
percent and vegetables by 2.1-4.9 percent. The annual cost of such a subsidy for lowincome
Americans would be about $310 million for fruits and $270 million for vegetables.
And most would still not meet Federal dietary recommendations.