How Fall Traditions Can Help Build Lifelong Produce Habits
Originally published in The Produce News, October 5th print edition
As we look for new ways to inspire fruit and vegetable enjoyment, one opportunity may already be hiding in plain sight. Every fall, people naturally seek out the flavors, traditions, and experiences that define the season. From apples and pears to winter squash and cranberries, produce serves as the foundation for many of the foods, gatherings, and rituals that people return to year after year. By connecting fruits and vegetables to enjoyment, nostalgia, and the occasions that bring people together, we can help turn seasonal traditions into lasting produce habits.
For health professionals, the opportunity is to help people recognize and build on the positive associations, traditions, and experiences that already exist in their lives.
People remember moments, flavors, and traditions. Fruits and vegetables have the unique ability to connect all three.
Reframing Seasonality
Seasonality is often synonymous with freshness, flavor, and availability. But people experience it as something else entirely: hot mulled cider while walking through the pumpkin patch, squash in the oven on the first cool evening, the side dish that has to be on the holiday table, or it simply doesn’t feel like home.
People aren’t fondly recalling a serving of fiber. They’re remembering favorite family recipes, holiday traditions, and the people they shared them with.
Research has shown that people are more likely to repeat behaviors that are enjoyable, convenient, meaningful, and connected to the relationships and experiences they value most. This insight can be particularly valuable for health professionals seeking practical ways to help patients build lasting nutrition habits. People don’t seek out apples, squash, cranberries, or sweet potatoes just because they’re in season. They seek out the experiences those foods represent: gathering around the table, recreating family recipes, celebrating traditions and savoring flavors that signal the arrival of a favorite season. Those positive associations can help build lasting produce habits.
Building on What People Already Enjoy
One of the most overlooked opportunities is recognizing that produce is already woven into many of the occasions people look forward to most.
Think about football season. Nobody arrives at a tailgate focused on their fruit and vegetable intake, and that’s perfectly fine. The veggie tray, the fruit salad, the chili loaded with peppers and tomatoes, the slaw shared alongside favorite gameday foods. They’re not there because someone is counting servings of vegetables. They’re there because they belong as part of the gathering.
The same can be said for apple orchard visits, Halloween celebrations, and Thanksgiving gatherings. These occasions are built around connection, tradition, and enjoyment with fruits and vegetables often at the center of them.
For health professionals, these moments can provide useful conversation starters. Asking patients about favorite fall foods, family recipes, holiday dishes, or seasonal traditions may reveal opportunities to connect fruit and vegetable intake to foods and experiences they already enjoy.
When produce becomes part of a meaningful experience, it no longer feels like the healthy choice people “should” make. It becomes part of something they already love.
The Power of Cultural & Family Traditions
Beyond seasonal flavors and holidays, fall is marked by gatherings where food helps tell family and cultural stories.
Across harvest celebrations, family gatherings, game-day spreads, and holiday tables, fruits and vegetables help connect people to their families, cultures, and communities. Recipes are passed down, adapted, and shared from one generation to the next, with fruits and vegetables often serving as both a central ingredient and a symbol of celebration. These traditions remind us that fruits and vegetables are more than sources of nutrients. They help tell stories about who we are, where we come from, and how we gather together.
As health professionals look for ways to help the people they care for build healthier eating patterns, the greatest opportunity may be to remind people of the role fruits and vegetables already play in the flavors, traditions, and celebrations they enjoy most. Rather than focusing solely on what fruits and vegetables provide nutritionally, we can build on the experiences that make people want to come back to them year after year.
