The International Fresh Produce Association has released a list of eight recommendations for a national nutrition strategy to the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.

“IFPA and its board of directors believe our nation’s overweight and obesity epidemic cannot be reversed without a bold, targeted, systemic approach — a ‘fruit and vegetable nutrition moonshot’ by 2030 — to increase Americans’ fruit and vegetable consumption,” said IFPA CEO Cathy Burns.

“Now is the time to prioritize nutrition security for everyone. For fresh produce, there are barriers to that becoming a reality — some visible, some invisible — but overcoming all of them is why IFPA exists.”

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IFPA’s recommendations call for:

▪ Embedding produce prescriptions as a covered benefit within the health system.

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▪ Embedding a dedicated fruit and vegetable benefit within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

▪ Expanding the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to all elementary schools that qualify under the Community Eligibility Provision, and work towards expanding program to all low-income middle and high schools.

▪ Recalibrating and modernizing Agriculture Department purchasing programs to address nutrition insecurity and reach additional communities and nonprofit entities.

▪ Promoting nutrition clarity in food labeling of fruits and vegetables at the Food and Drug Administration.

▪ Financially incentivizing fruit and vegetables for all Americans.

▪ Establishing a cabinet-level national director of food and nutrition to coordinate food and nutrition security research across governmental departments.

▪ Collecting and analyzing purchasing data from all federal feeding and nutrition programs as a mechanism to measure alignment with, and progress towards, achieving nutrition security.