National Farmers Market Week begins Sunday and D.C. has been awarded the Number 1 spot on the 2020 American Fitness Index rankings list of the nation’s top 100 cities with access to farmer’s markets.
Cities across the U.S. are ranked by 33 factors, including: health behaviors, chronic diseases and community infrastructure indicators, including farmers markets.
The District has 82.6 farmers markets per one million residents; that’s nearly 4.5 times greater than the 18.7 average across all 100 cities, according to the index.
Both Arlington and Richmond, Virginia, also made the list; ranking at Number 5 and Number 6, respectively.
Also in the top 10 for farmers markets per resident are Madison, Wisconsin; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Honolulu, Hawaii; Boston, Massachusetts; Cleveland, Ohio; Anchorage, Alaska; and Portland, Oregon.
“Our research-backed Fitness Index rankings reveal how well communities work to achieve healthier and more physically active populations,” said Fitness Index Advisory Board Member Stella L. Volpe.
When looking at all 100 cities, the list also found that only 33% of adults eat the recommended two servings of fruits each day and only 16% of adults eat three or more servings of vegetables daily.
D.C. came in first place for the city with the most people consuming at least three servings of vegetables a day, with Arlington coming in third place.
Arlington, the only city to rank in the top 10 when looking at vegetable and fruit consumption, as well as access to farmer’s markets, was awarded the title of “America’s Fittest City” for the third consecutive year.
D.C. took the Number 6 spot in the fittest city rankings, which along with the fitness index, are put together by the American College of Sports Medicine and the Anthem Foundation.
