21 Tips to Help Get You and Your Family to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

How to get you and your family to eat more fruits and vegetables.

The USDA recently made some updates to the recommended dietary guidelines for Americans. One of those updates is the recommendation to make half of your plate filled with fruits and vegetables. Getting family members to comply with these recommendations can be tricky.

21 Tips to help get you and your family to eat more fruits and vegetables.

1. Be the role model for everybody else. If they see you eating and enjoying fruits and vegetables, they are more likely to comply.

2.When you grocery shop, gather the fruits and vegetables first. You will be more likely to remember to get them and to devote cart space to them.

3.When you get home from the store, wash and prepare your fruits and vegetables and then store them.

4. When you store your fruits and vegetables, make them a convenient quick snag. Have individual sized bags filled with carrots and celery, washed apples sitting in front of the other food and bananas sitting in a bowl on the counter.

5.When you sit down to eat, start with your fruits and vegetables. Others will take note.

6. Be sure to serve fruits and vegetables to others and include them in packed lunches.

7. According to the USDA, any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice counts as a member of the Vegetable Group.

8. Vegetables may be presented as raw,cooked,whole, cut-up, mashed, fresh, frozen, canned, dried or dehydrated. Try and use a variety of methods to keep yourself and others interested.

9.Vegetables are organized into 5 subgroups, based on their nutrient content. You can go here to find out more about the groups.

10. Fruit group members include individual fruits or 100% fruit juice.

11. As with vegetables, there are a variety of ways to eat fruit. Fresh, canned, frozen, or dried, whole, cut-up, or pureed.

12. Save money and get the best quality of fruits and vegetables by buying them in season.

13. If convenience is important, consider buying prepared bags of salad greens, baby carrots or apple slices.

14. Vegetables with more potassium include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, spinach, lentils, and kidney beans. Fruits that are high in potassium include bananas, prunes and prune juice, dried peaches and apricots, and orange juice. Potassium is needed for the proper functioning of the heart, kidneys, muscles, nerves, and digestive system.

15. If purchasing canned items, read the label and be aware of what is added. Specifically, look for the amount of sodium and sugar.

16. Learn how to use more recipes that feature a vegetable as a main dish

17. Something we do in our house, is include a green salad with our dinner every day.

18. 'Sneak' shredded veggies, such as zucchini and carrots into other recipes such as meatloaf.

19. Add vegetables to your grilling menu.

20. A good way to get people interested in raw vegetables is to have a dip available.

21. Consider purchasing individual packages of dried fruit. They make for handy snacks at work, school or even the theater.

Once you get started with a kitchen more devoted to fruits and vegetables, it will seem easy to find ways to enjoy them.