|
Food consumption patterns have changed considerably in
the last three and a half decades. Here, food availability
data is used as a proxy for consumption. In 2005, each
American consumed, on average, 80 pounds more commercially
grown vegetables than in 1970; 56 pounds more grain products;
34 pounds more fruit; 23 pounds more caloric sweeteners;
17 pounds less red meat, 40 pounds more poultry, and 4
pounds more fish (boneless, trimmed equivalent); 20 pounds
more cheese; 31 pounds more added fats and oils; 55 fewer
eggs; 9 gallons less coffee; and 10 gallons less milk.
See Food Availability
(Per Capita) Data System for electronic access to
the latest available data and documentation.
About the Data
ERS annually calculates the amount of food available
for human consumption in the United States by tracking
several hundred agricultural commodities. The food availability
data, also known as food disappearance data, measure the
flow of raw and semiprocessed food commodities through
the U.S. marketing system. The data are not a direct measure
of actual consumption nor the quantity of food actually
ingested. For most commodity categories, the total amount
available for domestic consumption is estimated as the
residual after exports, industrial uses, seed and feed
use, and year-end inventories are subtracted from the
sum of production, beginning inventories, and imports.
The use of conversion factors allows for some subsequent
processing, trimming, spoilage, and shrinkage in the distribution
system. However, the estimates also include residual uses
for which data are not available (such as miscellaneous
nonfood uses and changes in retail and consumer stocks).
With data back to 1909 for most commodities, the food
availability data show trends over time. The data are
most commonly used to do the following:
- Serve as a proxy for the average level of annual
U.S. food consumption and the consumption of specific
commodities.
- Show year-to-year changes in the availability of major
foods.
- Calculate the approximate nutrient content of the food supply.
- Estimate long-term consumption trends.
- Permit statistical analyses of effects of prices and income
on food consumption.
Per capita consumption is calculated by dividing the
available food supply by an estimate of the total U.S.
population on July 1 of a given year. Because the measure
of the available food supply includes spoilage and waste
accumulated through the marketing system and in the home,
the per capita data typically overstate actual consumption.
An ERS study, Estimating
and Addressing America's Food Losses, suggests that
the losses might exceed 25 percent of the edible food
supply.
Food availability data reflect the amount of major food
commodities entering the market, regardless of their final
use. Final product forms and consumption locations are
not usually known, and little or no data exist on supplies
of products further processed. In short, relatively good
information exists for many food ingredients but not for
foods as actually eaten. For example, the food availability
data provide a good estimate of the annual per capita
consumption of kidney beans but provide no information
on how the beans were processed for consumption (canned
or dried), where the beans were marketed (supermarket,
hospital, school, restaurant, or food manufacturer), how
they were consumed (in burritos, chili, or salad), how
they were prepared (cooked from scratch or reheated from
canned), or the socioeconomic characteristics of those
who ultimately ate the food.
The food availability data are collected directly from
producers and distributors using techniques that vary
by commodity. The data are not collected from individual
consumers and thus provide a basis for examining food
consumption changes without the problems implicit in
consumer
survey data. If waste and other losses in the system
are relatively constant over time, these data provide
a measure
of changes in food consumption patterns that is independent
of and complements survey data. ERS provides a second
data series on the loss-adjusted food availability data
which more fully accounts for plate waste, spoilage,
and
other food losses throughout the food marketing and consumption
chain (See the loss-adjusted
food availability spreadsheets and documentation).
ERS also provides a third data series on the amounts
per capita per day of food energy and 27 nutrients and
food components in the U.S. food supply. The nutrient
availability data also provide information about nutrient
contributions from the major food groups. This series
is constructed by the Centers for Nutrition Policy and
Promotion using the ERS food availability data and data
on the nutrient composition of foods. (See nutrient
availability spreadsheets and documentation).
|
