U.S. Food Consumption Data Is Now More Accurate Part 1

G. Douglas Andersen, DC, DACBSP, CCN

When I last wrote about food consumption in the United States (see U.S. Food Consumption and Obesity, Parts I-IV)1,2,3,4 in 2003, the most up-to-date statistics I could find were 6 years old and based on disappearance data. The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Economic Research Service, (ERS) web site is where I found this information.5 They have made a few changes in their presentation, the biggest of which is an estimate of the amount of food we do not eat.

Disappearance Data
Estimating food consumption by food disappearance statistics is accomplished as follows: Total production is added to the beginning food stocks and total imports. Farm use, industrial use, exports, and ending stocks are then subtracted. Thus the disappearance data is the amount of food that disappears. This is greater than the amount of food actually consumed.

Per Capita Consumption
There is now a rough estimation on the amount of food lost from the farm to the mouth. Losses occur at every step of production beginning with growing, processing, transporting, packaging, retail, restaurant, cooking, spillage, spoilage and plate waste. The USDA's ERS calculates that the above losses account for 25% of the disappearance data. Therefore, the numbers in the tables below are much more accurate than my previous 4 part series. This month we will look at the data 1970-1995.

U.S. Food Supply Per Capita Calories
Year Calories Per Person Per Day
1970 2234
1975 2206
1980 2270
1985 2431
1990 2500
1995 2599


Per Capita Consumption Data - Food 1970-1995
Pounds per person per year
adjusted for losses)
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995
Red Meat (beef, veal, pork & lamb) 80.2 76.9 76.5 75.8 67.9 68.6
Poultry (chicken & turkey) 19.3 18.8 23.4 26.1 32.4 35.7
Fish (fresh, frozen, canned & cured) 8.4 8.6 8.8 10.5 10.5 10.3
Nuts 1.5 1.6 1.5 2.1 2.0 1.6
Sugar 84.8 81.1 85.6 89.8 94.3 102.6
High Fructose Corn Syrup 0.4 3.5 13.5 32.2 35.3 41.0
Grain 94.5 97.0 101.0 109.3 126.0 131.6
Total Vegetables 133.0 132.7 134.9 142.8 153.0 161.2
Cheese 8.8 11.0 13.3 17.0 18.2 19.6
Total Fats (oils, added fats, butter, cream, etc.) 43.5 44.2 47.5 53.5 53.3 55.1
Fresh Fruit 41.8 43.5 44.6 46.5 49.7 51.6


Per Capita Consumption Data - Beverages 1970-1995
Gallons per person per year (adjusted for loss) 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995
Milk 31.3 29.5 27.6 26.7 26.8 25.7
Juice 4.8 5.7 6.1 6.2 6.2 6.5
Bottled Water N/A 1.2* 2.4 4.5 8.0 12.1
Soft Drinks: diet 2.1 3.2 5.1 7.1 10.7 10.9
Soft Drinks: regular 22.2 25.0 29.9 28.7 35.6 36.5
Alcohol 21.6 25.0 28.3 28.0 27.5 24.7
*Statistics started in 1976

Like my U.S. Food Consumption and Obesity series based on straight disappearance data, these new statistics adjusted for loses still yield the same conclusion which was, blaming obesity on one food group is simply incorrect. Next month we will look at the years 1999-2003.

 

References
1Andersen, G. Douglas. U.S. Food Consumption and Obesity, Part I in Dynamic Chiropractic, March 24, 2003; 21(7): 50. 2Andersen, G. Douglas. U.S. Food Consumption and Obesity, Part II in Dynamic Chiropractic, April 21, 2003; 21(9): 40. 3Andersen, G. Douglas. U.S. Food Consumption and Obesity, Part III in Dynamic Chiropractic, May 19, 2003; 21(11): 58. 4Andersen, G. Douglas. U.S. Food Consumption and Obesity, Part IV in Dynamic Chiropractic, June 16, 2003; 21(13): 22. 5www.ers.usda.gov

 



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