CDC reports US adults' produce consumption rises with income

SNAP enrollment fell 13% as Republican cuts reshape food aid

The data brief from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics covered adults older than 20 from August 2021 to August 2023. More than nine in 10 Americans ate any vegetable on a given day, and about seven in 10 ate any fruit. The percentage of adults eating these foods rose with family income, with the brief documenting “deep divides between the low-income and middle class” that widened for berries, citrus, and melons.

For fruit, 56% of adults living below 130% of the federal poverty level — $20,748 for a single adult — ate any fruit on a given day, compared with 76% of adults whose family income reached 350% of the poverty level, or $55,860. The gap widened for berries, citrus, and melons: 19.6% of the lowest-income adults ate those foods on a given day, versus 38% of those at 350% of FPL — nearly twice the rate.

Vegetable consumption followed a similar pattern. While most Americans ate some vegetable daily, only 29% of the lowest-income adults ate a dark green vegetable on a given day, compared with 42% of those at the highest income level in the brief. The same gradient held for red and orange vegetables and other vegetable categories.

“Particularly for people with lower incomes this is really infeasible, especially when millions of people — and what will be probably millions of children — are going to lose access to a really critical benefit that keeps people food secure,” said Priya Fielding-Singh, director of policy and programs at the George Washington University Global Food Institute.

The income gradient in American diets is not new. Years of studies have shown that people with less money and time spend more on energy-dense, shelf-stable packaged foods — foods that fill you up and don’t spoil. The relationship between food and income was known even 91 years ago, when a study of diet and income in the UK found that nearly everyone ate potatoes and bread, while the poorest bought far less milk, eggs, vegetables, and fruit.

“A review of the state of health of the people of the different groups suggests that, as income increases, disease and death-rate decrease, children grow more quickly, adult stature is greater and general health and physique improve,” Sir John Boyd Orr wrote.

A University of Washington study found that foods recommended by the Kennedy-led Health and Human Services Department cost a mean of $15.82 per day. The average SNAP household consists of two people and receives $177 per month — about $3 per day per person. About 39% of SNAP beneficiaries are children.

A “food pyramid” released in January as part of changes to US dietary guidelines led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emphasized animal protein, fresh fruit, and vegetables, all of which cost more, according to studies.

Republican cuts to food assistance programs in the “Big Beautiful Bill” mean that fewer Americans are getting these benefits. The legislation required states for the first time to share the cost of food benefits, barred certain legal immigrants — including people in the US on asylum and certain trafficking survivors — from food assistance, and raised the age at which older adults must document 20 hours of weekly work from 54 to 64. The state cost-share requirement could result in hundreds of millions of dollars of new costs in some states, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

Food assistance enrollment fell 13% nationally between May 2025 and May 2026, according to an Associated Press analysis. In Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Nevada, declines were steeper. In Arizona, new documentation requirements paired with severe staff shortages contributed to a 47% reduction in enrollees, according to analysts.

Proponents of welfare cuts have argued that the decline reflects higher earnings making fewer people eligible. Pamela Lachman, chief strategy officer for the Center for Employment Opportunities, which works with people recently released from jail and prison, said administrative burdens do not match the realities of low-wage work.

“They have requirements to do their parole supervision, they’re trying to find a place to live — all of those things mean your work might be inconsistent,” Lachman said. “If you immediately need to start proving you’re working 20 hours a week, if not more, that’s very challenging to do.”

Even as fewer Americans access food benefits, it is likely the government will have less insight into food insecurity. In September 2025, the US Department of Agriculture announced it would no longer sponsor the Food Security Supplement in the US Census Bureau’s annual survey, ending data collection that had occurred annually since 1995.