Potatoes rank number one among vegetables in terms of consumption, according to Department of Agriculture data.
USDA’s Economic Research Service says that in 2017, 49.2 pounds of fresh and processed potatoes per person were available for Americans to eat after adjusting for losses.
The loss-adjusted food availability data series takes per capita supplies of food available for human consumption and more closely approximates actual consumption by adjusting for some of the spoilage, plate waste, and other losses in restaurants and grocery stores, as well as at home.
Loss-adjusted availability of fresh potatoes was 22.9 pounds per person in 2017, followed by frozen potatoes at 20.5 pounds per person, while canned and dehydrated potatoes, along with potato chips and shoestrings, totaled 5.9 pounds per person in 2017.
Tomatoes came in second. While loss-adjusted canned tomato availability, at 16.1 pounds, leads fresh tomatoes, total tomato loss-adjusted availability, fresh and canned, came in second, at 28.7 pounds per person.
Onions, lettuce, carrots and sweet corn finish the list of America’s top seven vegetable choices.