Summary of Report
Food Consumption, Prices, and Expenditures, 1970-95
SB-939, August 1997
Consistent with dietary and health recommendations, Americans now consume two-fifths more grain products and a fifth more fruits and vegetables per capita than they did in 1970, eat leaner meat, and drink lower fat milk. But contrary to recommendations, they are consuming record-high amounts of caloric sweeteners and some high-fat dairy products and near-record-high amounts of added fats, including salad and cooking oils and baking and frying fats.
This report states that in 1995, compared with 1970, Americans consumed an average of 15 pounds more of total red meat, poultry, and fish (boneless, trimmed equivalent), but 13 gallons less of coffee and 7 gallons less of milk.
Americans consumed per capita 70 pounds more of commercially grown vegetables, 57 pounds more of grain products, 52 pounds more of fruit, 28 pounds more of caloric sweeteners, 16 pounds more of cheese, 11 pounds more of added fats and oils, 3 gallons more of beer, and 74 fewer eggs.
In addition to food consumption data, the report contains information on food prices and expenditures, plus U.S. population and income. Retail food prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), increased 3.3 percent in 1996, slightly above the 2.9-percent increase in the CPI for all goods and services. Americans spent $691 billion for food in 1996 and another $92 billion for alcoholic beverages.
In 1996, 46 percent of U.S. food spending went for away-from-home meals and snacks, up from 34 percent in 1970 and 39 percent in 1980. The percentage of disposable personal income spent on food declined from 13.8 percent in 1970 to 10.9 percent in 1996.
Evidence from various sources suggests that Americans now consume, on average, more total food, more snacks, bigger portions of food, and more calories than they did 25 years ago.
In 1994 (the latest year for which nutrient data are available), total meat, poultry, and fish contributed 30 percent less saturated fat to the per capita food supply than in 1970, and beverage milk contributed 50 percent less saturated fat.
Changes in U.S. food consumption patterns are the result of many factors, including food prices, consumer income, more food assistance for the poor, convenience, new products, more imports, growth in the away-from-home food market, expanded advertising programs, smaller households, more two-earner households, more single-parent households, an aging population, increased ethnic diversity, increases in food enrichment and fortification, an expanded scientific base relating diet and health, new Dietary Guidelines for Americans designed to help people make food choices that promote health and prevent disease, improved nutrition labeling, and a burgeoning interest in nutrition.
ERS food consumption data are based on the amount of food available for consumption each year in the United States. Estimates of food for human consumption are derived by subtracting measurable uses such as exports, industrial uses, farm inputs, and end-of-year stocks from total supply (the sum of domestic production, imports, and beginning stocks). Accordingly, the data are indirect measures of consumption.
Per capita consumption of caloric sweeteners--mainly sucrose (made from sugar cane and sugar beets) and corn sweeteners (such as high-fructose corn syrup)--increased 28 pounds, or 22 percent, from 1970 to 1995.
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Page editor: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
Updated: September 17, 1997
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