A Bilateral Comparison of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption: United States and Canada

Abstract

Many public programs promote diets rich in fruits and vegetables based on evidence of the derived health benefits. Still, produce consumption in the United States lags behind other nations, even its most culturally similar neighbor--Canada. This study uses a structural latent variable model to test the role played by quality and health information in explaining observed differences in produce consumption. The Alchian-Allen effect predicts that higher quality, higher absolute margin produce will be exported, suggesting quality may be an important demand factor in importing nations such as Canada. The results show that dietary health information is significant in expanding demands. Quality also promotes fruit consumption in Canada.

Keywords

• alchian-allen effect
• fruit and vegetable trade
• health information
• latent variable
• mimic model
• produce quality