Latin American reality of 2020 vegetable production and consumption, in COVID-19 times

Vegetable consumption has become relevant in the present global socio-economical and sanitary context Consequently, the need to have a dynamic diagnosis in Latin American countries arises in order to guide actions of spreading vegetable and fruit production and consumption Therefore, a survey was carried out in 12 Latin American countries with 518 respondents This survey was driven by the Horticulture teams of the Latin American universities: Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNCPBA), Argentina, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP), Mexico, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL) and Universidad Nacional de San Luis (UNSL) Argentina, within the framework of their projects and interinstitutional bonds The survey aimed at having an updated panorama about the reality of vegetable production and consumption, preferences, habits of consumption and changes produced in the Latin American population's diet due to the COVID-19 global pandemics The results obtained show the existence of differences between perception and the reality of the population's consumption generating the need to drive actions to produce coincidence of what the population believes it consumes with what it actually does, so as to have a diet rich in quantity, quality and diversity of vegetables that benefits its health and life quality and reduces the risk of developing potential illnesses