Recent News Stories Use ERS
Data and Analysis
Grilling Season Won’t Come Cheap This Summer
Waterloo-Cedar Falls (IA) Courier – May 23, 2010
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service and Iowa State University Extension tracks meat prices from the farm to table. USDA figures show wholesale pork jumped from $1.19 per pound, on average, in April 2008 to $1.45 last month. Retail prices haven't seen as dramatic of an increase, going from $2.86 to $2.92 per pound….
Small Farms May Not Be Spreading After All
The Atlantic – May 22, 2010
According to the authors of that [ERS] report, defining a small farm is not so easy to do. As they explain: USDA defines a small farm as an operation with gross cash farm income under $250,000. Within that group are commercial and noncommercial farms. The number of small commercial farms—with sales of $10,000 to $250,000—actually fell between 2002 and 2007....
Former Soviet Union Region To Play Larger Role in Meeting World Wheat Needs
SmallGrains.org – May 20, 2010
USDA projects that wheat exports by Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan will increase by 50 percent by 2019, and the region could lead the world in wheat exports by the end of the decade. [Article based on feature in ERS’s Amber Waves magazine]
Meatless Mondays, a Movement That Has Legs
Washington Post – May 19, 2010
Per-capita meat consumption in the United States has increased by 8 percent since 1970. Even health crises, such as the mad-cow scare, hardly affected U.S. consumption: In 1997, the year after the disease erupted in Britain, U.S. beef consumption fell about 2 percent. The next year, consumption returned to its previous level. [ERS data]
Which Cities Spend the Most on Food?
Austin American-Statesman, MSN Money – May 17, 19, 2010
People making $40,000 to $50,000 spent $5,560 on food in 2009. People making more than $125,000 spent $12,655….Did they buy twice as much food? Not likely, says Hayden Stewart, an economist at the US Department of Agriculture [ERS]: they buy more expensive food. “Better cuts of meat, more organic foods, more gourmet or prepared foods…”
Higher Meat Prices Expected As Demand, Not Supply, Rises
Tampa Tribune – May 14, 2010
In the case of beef and pork, lower production in the United States, combined with reduced imports from abroad and increased consumer demand, is expected to drive up prices, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture [ERS outlook] report released last month.
Food 101: Seeking Clues in the Kitchen
CNN Living. New York News Today – May 10, 2010
Nearly half of spending on food in the American family went to "food away from home" in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. In 1970, about 30 percent of food dollars were spent away from home.
U.S. Farm Managers Buoyed by Baby Boom, Land Values
Reuters, May 4, 2010
According to the U.S. Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service, assets used in U.S. farming totaled $1.944 trillion in 2009 -- with land accounting for $1.634 trillion….
Distributors Slow To Embrace Local Food Movement
National Public Radio – May 3, 2010
Definitions of "local food" vary widely. Some refer to the distance food travels from source to consumer. (It can range from 25 to 400 miles.) Other definitions qualify locally grown food according to the sustainability and quality of its production, according to a survey by the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.
Food Safety’s New Regulatory Reality: Are You Prepared?
Food Safety Magazine – April/May 2010 (Cover story)
In recent years, consumers have increased their consumption of raw foods—which, obviously, are not typically exposed to heat or other decontamination processing. For example, from 1992 to 2005, fresh spinach consumption grew 180%. [1] [Citation and link to ERS’s Amber Waves magazine]
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