In The Long Run
- by Gary Lucier
- 4/1/2008
Availability of U.S. Carrots Hit a High in 1997
Fresh carrots account for nearly three-fourths of all carrots consumed in the United States. Per capita availability of fresh carrots averaged 8.9 pounds during 2000-06—down 13 percent from a decade earlier but 38 percent higher than in 1980-86.
Fresh use of carrots peaked in the mid-1990s as the industry responded to widespread demand for relatively novel fresh-cut products, including packaged baby carrots. By the late 1990s, demand settled into a more stable pattern where it remains today.
Largely because of declining production of frozen carrots over the past several years, per capita availability of processing carrots averaged 3.3 pounds during 2000-06.
