Fresh produce purchasing was common among U.S. households in the FoodAPS survey, but direct-to-consumer shopping was comparatively uncommon. USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) data also show how annual retail-basket quantities differed across fruits and vegetables in 2018, while selected supply-side equivalents were somewhat higher than retail quantities.
Table of contents
- How often households bought fresh produce
- Direct-to-consumer purchasing
- Weekly spending and retail-channel prices
- Annual fresh-fruit quantities
- Annual fresh-vegetable quantities
- Retail quantities and farm-side equivalents
How often households bought fresh produce
FoodAPS was a nationally representative U.S. household survey in which each participating household recorded information during one week between April 2012 and January 2013. Its results distinguish fresh fruits and vegetables from processed fruit and vegetable products, giving meal planners a useful view of purchasing incidence rather than annual volume.
Nearly 74% of households bought fruits and vegetables for at-home consumption during their survey week: 3,558 of 4,826 households. About 68%, or 3,300 households, bought fresh fruits or vegetables specifically. By comparison, about 48%, or 2,312 households, bought processed fruit or vegetable products during the same one-week period. These measures describe whether a household made a purchase during its observed week; they do not establish how often every household shops over a full year.
The difference between the broad fruits-and-vegetables measure and the fresh-only measure matters. A household could purchase fresh items, processed items, or both. The FoodAPS results therefore support a clear statement about observed household participation in fresh-produce purchasing, but they should not be read as a national annual frequency or as a measure of servings consumed.
The source for these survey results is the USDA ERS report The Relationship Between Patronizing Direct-to-Consumer Outlets and a Household’s Demand for Fruits and Vegetables, ERR-242. The survey period was 2012–2013, not a current-year estimate.
Direct-to-consumer purchasing
FoodAPS recorded relatively few households using farmers markets, roadside stands, fruit stands, or other direct-to-consumer outlets during the survey week. Only 231 of the 4,826 households reported buying any food from one of these outlet types. Of those 231 households, 170 bought fruits and vegetables, 169 bought fresh fruit or vegetables, and 10 bought processed fruit or vegetable products.
This pattern places fresh-produce buying at direct-to-consumer outlets in a narrower context. Most surveyed households that bought fresh produce did not report using a direct-to-consumer outlet during that particular week. Direct-to-consumer agricultural sales represented 0.3% of total U.S. agricultural sales in 2012, another measure showing that this channel was a small part of the overall agricultural marketplace at that time.
A separate 2014 interview study of 1,488 consumers at 16 farmers markets in Nevada and Utah found that 73% said buying fresh fruits and vegetables was their primary motivation for visiting the market. This figure describes the motivations of farmers-market consumers interviewed in those locations; it is not a national household shopping rate and is not directly comparable with the FoodAPS household survey.
For planning purposes, the two perspectives answer different questions. FoodAPS shows how many households reported a direct-to-consumer purchase during a one-week observation. The farmers-market interviews show why surveyed visitors said they went to the market. Neither result establishes that shopping at a direct-to-consumer outlet causes higher produce demand. The ERS report describes the direct-to-consumer comparisons as observational rather than causal.
Weekly spending and retail-channel prices
FoodAPS also measured weekly spending among households that purchased fruits and vegetables. Households that bought some fruits and vegetables directly from farmers spent an average of $28.36 per week on total fruits and vegetables. Households that bought fruits and vegetables only from nondirect retail outlets spent an average of $16.53 per week.
The same channel comparison can be separated into fresh and processed products:
| FoodAPS household group | Total fruits and vegetables per week | Fresh products per week | Processed products per week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bought some produce directly from farmers | $28.36 | $23.04 | $5.32 |
| Bought produce only from nondirect retail outlets | $16.53 | $12.00 | $4.53 |
These are observed averages for the 2012–2013 survey week. They are not inflation-adjusted projections, recommended budgets, or evidence that one shopping channel caused a household to spend more. The direct-purchasing group may differ from the nondirect group in ways not captured by the comparison.
The report also provides observed average prices for two fresh items. Apples averaged $1.19 per pound at direct-to-consumer outlets versus $1.58 per pound at other retail food stores. Broccoli averaged $0.60 per pound at direct-to-consumer outlets versus $1.51 per pound at other retail food stores. These item-level prices show that the channel relationship was not uniform across all produce categories, and they should be interpreted as prices observed in the FoodAPS data rather than a current shopping quote.
Annual fresh-fruit quantities
The USDA ERS 2018 retail market basket represents U.S. household fresh-fruit purchases for at-home consumption. It is an annual representative quantity constructed from Consumer Expenditure Survey spending and retail scanner sales. The figures below are not a forecast and do not describe the exact basket of every household.
| Fresh fruit | 2018 annual retail-basket quantity |
|---|---|
| Watermelon | 52.59 lb |
| Apples | 44.77 lb |
| Grapes | 31.18 lb |
| Strawberries | 21.71 lb |
| Oranges | 16.70 lb |
| Cantaloupe | 13.23 lb |
| Blueberries | 6.92 lb |
| Peaches | 6.35 lb |
| Cherries | 5.37 lb |
| Pears | 5.10 lb |
| Grapefruit | 3.47 lb |
| Honeydew melon | 2.10 lb |
| Kiwifruit | 1.12 lb |
The largest listed annual quantities were watermelon, apples, and grapes. The smallest were kiwifruit, honeydew melon, and grapefruit. These values can help frame a meal-planning calendar: a plan built around apples or watermelon would correspond to much larger annual retail-basket quantities than one centered on kiwifruit. That is a comparison of the ERS basket figures, not a recommendation about what an individual household should buy.
The source for the market-basket documentation is USDA ERS Price Spreads from Farm to Consumer—Documentation. The measurement period for these quantities is the 2018 annual basket.
Annual fresh-vegetable quantities
The same 2018 ERS retail basket includes annual quantities for fresh vegetables. Potatoes and tomatoes were among the largest listed quantities, while several specialty or vegetable-category items appeared in much smaller amounts.
| Fresh vegetable | 2018 annual retail-basket quantity |
|---|---|
| Potatoes | 68.51 lb |
| Tomatoes | 30.28 lb |
| Onions | 30.14 lb |
| Bell peppers | 15.65 lb |
| Cucumbers | 12.53 lb |
| Iceberg lettuce | 10.43 lb |
| Sweet potatoes | 9.28 lb |
| Cabbage | 8.65 lb |
| Carrots | 8.24 lb |
| Celery | 7.01 lb |
| Asparagus | 4.74 lb |
| Cauliflower | 4.56 lb |
| Agaricus mushrooms | 3.13 lb |
| Romaine lettuce | 3.16 lb |
| Corn on the cob | 2.25 lb |
| Broccoli | 2.05 lb |
In the listed basket, potatoes were more than twice the annual retail quantity of tomatoes, while tomatoes and onions were nearly level. Bell peppers and cucumbers formed the next tier, followed by iceberg lettuce, sweet potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and celery. The smaller quantities for broccoli, corn on the cob, Agaricus mushrooms, romaine lettuce, cauliflower, and asparagus illustrate how the representative basket spans both high-volume staples and lower-volume items.
These are quantities in pounds, not counts of individual pieces and not servings. A pound of potatoes, for example, does not imply a particular number of meals because household recipes, portion sizes, and preparation methods vary.
Retail quantities and farm-side equivalents
The ERS documentation also provides farm-side quantities corresponding to selected household retail-basket quantities. Farm quantities are supply-side equivalents. They are not additional household purchases and should not be added to the retail quantities as though they represented extra food bought by households.
| Item | 2018 retail-basket quantity | Corresponding farm-side quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Apples | 44.77 lb | 46.63 lb |
| Grapes | 31.18 lb | 34.27 lb |
| Strawberries | 21.71 lb | 23.59 lb |
| Watermelon | 52.59 lb | 58.43 lb |
| Potatoes | 68.51 lb | 71.36 lb |
| Tomatoes | 30.28 lb | 35.63 lb |
For each selected item, the farm-side equivalent was higher than the retail-basket quantity. The difference was 1.86 pounds for apples, 3.09 pounds for grapes, 1.88 pounds for strawberries, 5.84 pounds for watermelon, 2.85 pounds for potatoes, and 5.35 pounds for tomatoes. These differences describe the relationship between supply-side and retail-side quantities in the ERS market-basket framework; they do not measure household waste, and the supplied figures do not provide a basis for assigning a specific cause.
Taken together, the FoodAPS and ERS statistics show two complementary dimensions of fresh-produce purchasing. FoodAPS captures household participation, shopping channels, weekly spending, and selected observed prices during 2012–2013. The ERS market basket supplies annual representative quantities for at-home household purchases in 2018. Keeping those dates, geographies, and measurement concepts separate is essential when using the numbers to plan meals or describe household buying patterns.