’m not surprised that a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) revealed that Americans are not meeting their goals for fruit and vegetable consumption. Specifically, the study found that only about 27% of Americans ate three or more servings of vegetables a day and 32.6% ate fruit two or more times a day. We weren’t eating enough produce when the goal was five fruits and vegetables a day, so the newer goal of nine a day just put that goal even further out of our reach. Though I wholeheartedly support the new goal, I know that it may have been an unrealistic target to set without concurrently offering people ideas and tools for eating more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff. In fact, most of the 347,278 adults who were interviewed for the study commented that they knew they needed to eat more produce, but they didn’t really know how to work more of it into their daily diets. It seems that what we really need to help us meet our goals are ideas, strategies and information for weaving more fruit and – especially – vegetables into our meals.

I will share all of my best ideas with you in a moment, but in case you’re not already convinced that produce should be your foremost eating priority, let me first expound on its benefits. One of the few things that we’re sure about is that fruits and vegetables are good for you. A diet that meets your produce goals can help lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels and weight. Eating more produce is also associated with lower risks for stroke, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, certain cancers, age-related macular degeneration and osteoporosis. Fruit and vegetables are low in calories, high in nutrients, and relatively filling due to their fiber content, so eating more of them should help you reach a healthy weight since they will displace other foods in your diet that are more caloric and less nutritious. Interestingly, the study found that the participants who ate the most servings of fruit and vegetables also weighed the least, while those who ate the fewest servings weighed the most.

So how can we go about actually achieving these goals of at least four servings of fruit and at least five servings of vegetables each day? Here are some of my suggestions:

• My newest favorite strategy is so simple that you could use it as your only strategy and improve your diet quality. At lunch and dinner, fill half of your plate with vegetables, a quarter of your plate with lean protein (from animal or plant sources) and the other quarter with whole grains.

• Every time you eat a meal or a snack, make a deal with yourself that it has to contain at least one serving of a produce item. For example, use fresh blueberries on your cereal, vegetables on your sandwich, and cherry tomatoes with hummus for your snack.

• When you eat out, switch out your side dishes for vegetables. For example, if your fish dinner comes with mashed potatoes and rice, substitute two different vegetables from the daily specials, like sautéed broccoli or baked butternut squash.

• Carve out 90 minutes at home each week to make a big pot of a vegetable-based soup. You can eat the soup throughout the week or freeze it in small containers and defrost it as needed.

• Making time for vegetable prep isn’t always easy -- it does take longer to cut up a bunch of different vegetables than it does to zap a microwaveable meal – but the benefits are worth it. You can buy many pre-cut fresh fruits and vegetables and bagged salads (though all need to be washed before cooking), as well as frozen produce that can be cooked in the bag, steamed, added to soups and stews or stir-fried. If you have children, recruit them to help in the kitchen to make your work go faster and to help familiarize them with veggies so they’ll be more likely to eat them.

• If time and ease of preparation are factors in your cooking, try to make one-pot main dishes such as turkey chili with beans and lots of vegetables, chunky vegetable chicken soup, vegetable omelets and vegetarian lentil stew.

• Try to eat a salad as your main course for lunch or dinner. No wimpy side salads -- I mean a big colorful salad, brimming with dark lettuces, carrots, tomatoes, corn, peas, beets, peppers, cauliflower, beans, chicken or tuna, and some nuts. Make a trip to Gelson’s salad bar to create your own unique and healthy combination of satisfying ingredients.

• If you’re going to eat salads, be mindful of the dressing you choose; it may be very high in fat and calories and may contain unhealthy trans fats and saturated fats. My little trick is to use about a tablespoon of your favorite dressing and dilute it with red wine and/or balsamic vinegars. Shake it all up in a little cup and notice how much less you need to dress your veggies once it’s thinned out, while still getting the flavor of your favorite dressing.

• Remember the color rule -- different colors mean different nutrients, which in turn mean different health benefits. Try to eat a variety of colorful produce each day, specifically at least one serving of orange-red vegetables and one serving of dark green vegetables (see chart) plus a rainbow of other fruit and vegetables.

• Eat fruit for dessert or as a snack. Fruit is nature’s fast food—it’s easy to carry a couple of whole pieces with you and eat them throughout the day. Fruit for your morning and afternoon snacks rack up two servings of fruit. If you eat two small pieces of fruit or one large one, such as a large apple, then that counts as two servings in one sitting. Don’t forget to eat a variety, not just apples and bananas. Branch out to kiwis, tangerines, and berries.

• Keep in mind that a serving of vegetables is 1/2 cup and a serving of raw lettuce or leafy greens is one cup; a serving of fruit is 1/2 cup of cut fruit or a piece of fruit the size of a tennis ball. Fruit or vegetable juice does count in your servings, but for calorie- and blood sugar-control purposes, I prefer that you eat the whole fruit rather than drink the juice. A serving of juice is 6 ounces or 3/4 cup.

• If your repertoire is limited, then make a pact with yourself and your family to try one new produce item a week. It’s a great way increase the variety in your diet and familiarize yourself with new and nutritious foods.

• My healthy recipes emphasize vegetables, fruit, and other plant foods. Try some of my monthly recipes to help increase the variety and frequency of your produce consumption. If you don’t cook, head for our service deli and pick up some of my healthy salads, like Spinach and Grape Salad, Sesame Edamame Salad and Super Antioxidant Chopped Salad.

Now that nine is the new five, we all have room for improvement in our diets. Remember that nine is not an upper limit but a minimum goal to achieve for a 2,000 calorie diet, so feel free to eat more fruits and vegetables if you’re so inclined, especially if you’re active and require more than 2,000 calories (in which case you need more like ten to 11 servings). I hope that I have given you some ideas for including more healthful servings of produce in your diet. It really is possible to meet your goals for eating fruits and vegetables -- all it takes is planning, awareness and a little bit of adventurousness on your part if you want to reap all of the health benefits that produce has to offer.

Dark Green Vegetables:

• Spinach
• Swiss chard
• Beet and turnip greens
• Kale
• Lettuces
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Baby bok choy
• Parsley
• Cabbage
• Avocado

Orange-Red Vegetables and Fruits:

• Carrots
• Sweet potatoes
• Pumpkin
• Butternut squash
• Tomatoes
• Red and orange bell peppers
• Mango
• Cantaloupe
• Apricots
• Grapefruit
• Papaya