USDA Food Patterns: Food Groups And Subgroups –
Questions And Answers
Nutrients from Fruit: ✔️Ans - contribute folate, vitamin A, vitamin C,
potassium, and fiber.
Key Messages for Fruit: ✔️Ans - Consume in a variety of fruits, and choose
whole or cut-up fruits more often than fruit juice.
Which foods are fruits: ✔️Ans - Apples, apricots, avocados, bananas,
blueberries, cantaloupe, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew, kiwi,
mango, nectarines, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums,
raspberries, strawberries, tangerines, watermelon; dried fruit (dates, figs,
prunes, raisins); 100% fruit juice.
Which Fruits to limit: ✔️Ans - Limit these fruits that contain solid fats
and/or added sugars:
-canned or frozen fruit in syrup, juices, punches, ades, and fruit drinks with
added sugars; fried plantains.
1 cup of fruit =
(equivalents) ✔️Ans - -1 c fresh, frozen, or canned fruit
-1/2 c dried fruit
-1 c 100% fruit juice
Nutrients from vegetables: ✔️Ans - contribute folate, vitamin A, vitamin C,
vitamin K, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, and fiber
Key Messages for vegetables: ✔️Ans - Consume a variety of vegetables
each day, and choose from all five subgroups several times a week.
Which foods are vegetables: ✔️Ans - 1. dark green vegetables: Broccoli
and leafy greens such as arugula, beet greens, bok-choy, collard greens, kale,
mustard greens, romaine lettuce, spinach, turnip greens, watercress
2. red and orange vegetables: Carrots, carrot juice, pumpkin, red bell peppers,
sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomato juice, vegetable juice, winter squash (acorn,
butternut)
, 3. Legumes: Black beans, black-eyed peas, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), kidney
beans, lentils, navy beans, pinto beans, soybeans and soy products such as
tofu, split beans, white beans
4. Starchy vegetables: Cassava, corn, green peas, hominy, lima beans, potatoes
5. Other Vegetables: Artichokes, asparagus, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts,
beets, brussels sprouts, cabbages, cactus, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers,
eggplant, green beans, green bell peppers, iceberg lettuce, mushrooms, okra,
onions, seaweed, snow peas, zucchini.
Vegetables to limit: ✔️Ans - Limit these vegetables that contain solid fats
and/or added sugars:
-Baked beans, candied sweet potatoes, coleslaw, french fries, potato salad,
refried beans, scalloped potatoes, tempura vegetables
1 cup vegetables =
(equivalents) ✔️Ans - -1 c cut-up raw or cooked vegetables
-1 c cooked legumes
-1 c vegetable juice
-2 c raw, leafy greens
Nutrients from Grains ✔️Ans - contribute folate, niacin, riboflavin,
thiamin, iron, magnesium, selenium, and fiber
Key take aways from Grains ✔️Ans - Make most (at least half) of the grain
selections whole grains.
Which foods are grains: ✔️Ans - 1. Whole grains: amaranth, barley, brown
rice, buckwheat, bulgur, cornmeal, millet, oats, quinoa, rye, wheat, wild rice
and while-grain products such as breads, cereals, crackers, and pastas;
popcorn
2. Enriched refined products: bagels, breads, cereals, pastas (couscous,
macaroni, spaghetti), pretzels, white rice, rolls, tortillas
Grains to limit: ✔️Ans - Limit these grains that contain solid fats and/or
added sugars: