Welcome 2026!
If you’re like many people, you’ve decided to start the New Year off with a commitment to better health, so you’re going to exercise more and start eating better. Like most Americans, your diet likely contains too many carbohydrates and processed foods, too much fat, and too few fruits and vegetables. This could make your goal of eating better a bit of a challenge, but have no fear - your salvation is as close as your local produce department! With a selection of great-tasting produce to get you started, you can have a flavorful and varied diet that is high in fresh fruits and vegetables and all the many proven health benefits that go along with it. These include cancer-fighting, immune-building, and cholesterol-lowering properties - not to mention the benefits that come when you take the time to make a connection with fresh food: the simple pleasures of slowing down enough to truly enjoy a perfectly ripe Melissa’s organic Bosc pear or a meal of Melissa’s organic seasonal roasted root vegetables and potatoes. Changing your relationship with food from simply satisfying hunger to finding joy in eating fresher and healthier can pay dividends far beyond a New Year's resolution. So where do you begin?
It can start with your local organic produce department and Melissa’s organic produce.
Ask for samples. Try before you buy. This will connect you to what you like and what’s in season. Get to know your produce person. Ask lots of questions. Then take steps to change your shopping patterns to make sure you are getting enough produce to keep you satisfied and healthy. One good place to start is with a 5-a-day program model.
The American Heart Association recommends:
Fruits - 2 cups per day
- One Medium Fruit = about the size of your fist
- Fresh, Frozen, or Canned Fruit = 1 CUP
- Dried = 1/2 CUP
- 100% Fruit Juice =1/2 CUP
Vegetables - 2 1/2 cups per day
- Raw Leafy Vegetable = 2 CUPS
- Fresh, Frozen, or Canned Vegetable = 1 CUP
- 100% Vegetable Juice = 1 CUP
So, I'm thinking a 5-a-day program is a great place to start! We are all well aware of the benefits of a program like this, but can we actually make it a reality on a daily basis? One simple way to make eating 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day easier is to understand how to incorporate this into your normal shopping routine.
Eileen Faughey, a registered dietitian in Boulder, CO, and Amanda Archibald, RD - the founder of The Genomic Kitchen - came up with a program called Maximizing Your Market Basket many years ago that I think is a good way to help you accomplish this goal. It starts by going over what a shopping list might look like if you want to eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Here’s how it works: suppose there are four people in your family, and you are shopping for five days. Assuming five fruits/vegetables per day per person; this equals 20 servings per day.
20 servings for five days means you need 100 servings total. Next, let’s say you want everyone to eat two servings of fruit and three of vegetables - we can break that 100 servings down further to get our shopping list. Two servings of fruit per day for four people equals 40 servings; three servings/day of vegetables for four equals 60 servings in five days.
Now, using the serving sizes from the AHA guide I shared above, your list might look something like the following:
Fruit
4 bananas
4 oranges
4 apples
2 grapefruit
4 tangerines
1 melon
1 cup of dried fruit
2 quarts of fruit juice
Vegetables
1 head of lettuce
1 head of broccoli
8 carrots
4 tomatoes
4 bell peppers
1lb green beans
2 onions
4 zucchini
When you break it down this way, it’s easier to see how simple it can be to reach your weekly goals. If you can start with this as a foundation and build upon it until it becomes second nature, you’ll soon forget all about numbers and equations and look forward to shopping each week - and enjoy the act of eating and feeling healthier each day.
One last tip to help you be even more successful is to think about what you are going to buy and pencil out some meals for the week. Melissa’s website has a load of recipes that can get you started!
