Map Enthusiasts @sopuli.xyz garfaagel @sh.itjust.works 8 mo. ago

Vegetable consumption per capita in Europe (North America inside post)

Vegetable consumption per capita in North America (different color scale)

Source:

https://landgeist.com/2021/10/15/vegetable-consumption-in-europe/

https://landgeist.com/2023/10/31/vegetable-consumption-in-north-america/

35 comments

Shouldn't have adjusted the scale for the North American graphic.
- Yeah, that's pretty egregious. It looks like North America is no better than Poland in the first graphic.
Worth noting that potatoes are not included.
- What the fuck
- Crazy. I figured the reason Belgians are an outlier from their neighbours is due to their fried potato addiction. So it's not that. Crazy
- I bet, ajvar is included though
Is it still healthy when you cook the vegetables in bacon fat, cover them in cheese, deep fry them, then cover them in cheese and bacon again?

Now that I've read the article... Um... There is a great lack of source data which leads me to believe they've basically added up how many kilos of vegetables a country produces/imports and divided by estimate populous. In other words, with no evidence to the contrary, they're including vegetables used in manufacturing/production of non food goods. Think of all the corn "consumed" by making biodiesel.

Sure they take the time to include a broken link where they define vegetable, but they need to also define consume. (See the biodiesel example)
Damn, us norwegians didn't eat our veggies growing up
- Norway imports a lot of tomatoes
Very interesting, but I really struggle to believe that the diets of Germany and the Netherlands are that different, having lived in both of them.
- That's how I see it too, I can't believe that Germans eat so few veggies, all Germans I know are vegetarians or just really fans of the veggie beside the meat. Peculiar.
- You think so? My impression of the Netherlands is that the staple food is fries with mayonnaise, maybe with some broodje kroket in between. In general the diet consists of a lot of butter, white bread and sugar. To me it does not seemt surprising at all that they eat least vegetables in Europe.
  
  This is far from the truth.
  
  Breakfast and lunch usually consist of whole grain bread with cheese or meats. The most common dinner is AVG (boiled potatoes with vegetables and meat), a pasta or a dish with rice.
  
  Sure, fries are the most common street food, but it sure isn't as bad as you seem to think.
  
  Yeah the diet isn't great, but it's just extremely similar to Germany in my experience
Named Turkey. Eats veggies. Hmmm...
Is this the one where Croatia's numbers ended up including French fries?
In Turkey, tobacco counts as a vegetable.
Serbia's meat culture vs the more veggie-leaning ones around it lol
I'd love to see the overall food consumption in comparison lol. And also vegetable production.
I’m from California and was shocked at how little vegetables there were available at restaurants in Spain
- Half of Europe's vegetable supply comes from southern Spain you plonker
  
  Where were you looking, the fuckin butcher's? 😂
  
  Edit - OP edited his comment to add "in restaurants" without marking it as such
  
  Perhaps he was on the east coast where every restaurant's biggest seller is the Full English Breakfast. We'll never know
Don't know about the methodology, but this interestingly contradicts what "health food" culture would have you believe, esp. USA vs. Western Europe, and the relative place of countries like France.

In general, poorer and less connected to global economy means more vegetables? More affluent people people can't help the convenience of other foods? The other variable would be agriculture, and depth of living in capitalist economy including the older generations (which excludes Eastern Europe). I suspect in some places relatively "silent" and unpublicized demographics, like older people in the east, can skew the stats. I wonder who eats vegetables in the US (disclaimer, never been there) and what comes to mind is poor people outside metropolitan areas.
- This shows what you get when you summarize data incorrectly. It's pretty close to meaningless.
  
  All that this shows is the differences in water content of the preferred fruits and veggies consumed in the country.
  
  For example in turkey they eat a lot of watermelons and cucumbers.
  
  Northern counties eat vegetables like carrots and cabbage which has a lower water content.
  
  In order to more accurately understand vegetable consumption you must first convert to dry matter of vegetables consumed and then compare.
- this interestingly contradicts what “health food” culture would have you believe
  
  How?
  
  That Europeans, specifically those around the Mediterranean Sea, are healthier than Americans because of a greater degree of vegetal nutrition. Like any complex system, there are more factors involved, I’d wager.
Who’s healthy now Europeans?
- probably the population with reliable access to affordable health care solutions.
  
  Just because y’all have medicine, active lifestyles, balanced diets, less workplace stress, and reasonable portion sizes doesn’t mean anything in the face of our diet that contains enough corn and tomato to put us at eating slightly more vegetables than many of you.
- I would guess Europeans on average are healthier but dunno

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