Vegetable and Fruit Research

From the earliest times, people relied on plants for food and also to help prevent or cure diseases. As medical technology advanced, drugs were developed and surgical procedures perfected. The medical community shifted its emphasis from preventing to curing diseases. And people's lifestyles became more hectic, meaning they consumed more quick or processed foods and fewer fresh fruits and vegetables.

As a result, the incidence of diet-related diseases has sky-rocketed. In 2000, the American Cancer Society estimated that 552,000 Americans would die of cancer - more than 1,500 a day. Scientific evidence suggests that one-third of the cancer deaths are diet related. The National Cancer Institute estimated 8.2 million people would be diagnosed with cancer in 1998. Cancer is a high cost illness. This disease affects millions of other people each year, causing economic loss due to lost productivity and related medical costs. The cost for cancer treatment alone ranges from $29,000 to $64,000 per patient and does not include any related medical costs.

In response, medical technology has recently refocused much of its efforts back to the concept of preventing diseases through diet rather than curing diseases with drugs and surgery. These specialists suggest that people can reduce their risks of these diseases by modifying their dietary habits, mainly by reducing their daily intake of total and saturated fat and by increasing their consumption of fruits and vegetables.

But it is hard to change people's eating habits. Many people fall short of consuming the USDA's recommended 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day. The technology exists, however, for improving fruits and vegetables so that they taste better, look better, and contain higher levels of natural disease-preventing compounds.

One of the nation's leaders in this effort is the Texas A&M Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, a component of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Researchers from the center, as well as scientists from the the state's top medical centers, have devised a research and education plan that will not only make fruits and vegetables more healthful for people to eat but also economically strengthen and diversify the state's produce industry