1 in 10 people don’t know how to recognize this vegetable, and you?

A survey conducted by Harris Interactive on the eating behaviors of the French shows significant gaps in knowledge of fruits and vegetables. Especially among the youngest. Carried out in February 2024 on a sample of 1058 people representative of the French population, aged 15 and over, it attests that young people have difficulty maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. So alone 66% of 15-24 year olds surveyed say eat fruits and vegetables several times a week compared to 81% of the general population. They eat fewer fresh fruits and vegetables than the population average but more starchy foods (89%), preserves (40%) and processed dishes (44%). Another bad eating habit, more than half of them (59%) eat at least once a month in fast foodcompared to 37% for the rest of the French population.

Often confused with cucumber…

Proof that they do not often buy and eat vegetables, one in 5 young people aged between 15 and 24 was unable to recognize one of the most consumed vegetables in France in a photo. Even worse, 18% mistook it for a cucumber and 2% with a eggplant. This vegetable? The courgette. The numbers are a little better in the rest of the general population but 1 French out of 10 was unable to identify it either (10% also confused it with a cucumber and 1% with eggplant). Another test of the investigation, the recognition of grapefruit and cauliflower. There, young people like the rest of the population were better since 87% recognized the citrus fruit (the others confused it with the blood orange) and 96% the cauliflower.

Why don’t young people eat enough vegetables?

Not eating enough fruits or vegetables is not entirely a choice for young people: 92% want to eat and cook more fresh vegetables every day but several reasons prevent them from doing so. They cite for example:

► the lack of familiarity and experience with cooking fresh produce (only 31% young people declare cook every day or almost, compared to 46% in the rest of the general population surveyed)

► the prices of vegetables and fruits is also a determining criterion because young people think that a healthy diet is more expensive to maintain. Conversely, 7 out of 10 French people believe that it is cheaper to eat with fresh produce or raw than buying processed dishes in supermarkets.

To improve their consumption habits, a large majority of French people (88%) think it would be useful to develop information and education on food products and how to use them. cooking from primary schoolan opinion also shared by the youngest.