CHAPTER 2

Profiling Food Consumptionin America

14 | Agriculture Fact Book | Chapter 2
Americans at the beginning of the 21st
century are consuming more food andseveral hundred more calories per person per day than did their counterpartsin the late 1950s (when per capita calorie
consumption was at the lowest level inthe last century), or even in the 1970s.
The aggregate food supply in 2000 provided 3,800 calories per person per day,
500 calories above the 1970 level and 800
calories above the record low in 1957
and 1958 (fig. 2-1).

American consumers today havecome to expect a great deal more of
the food system…. There is no doubtthat it delivers—more nutritious foodwith wider variety; improved safety,
with less environmental impacts; andgreater convenience than at any timein the Nation’s history.

Of that 3,800 calories, USDA’s Economic
Research Service (ERS) estimates thatroughly 1,100 calories were lost to
spoilage, plate waste, and cooking andother losses, putting dietary intake ofcalories in 2000 at just under 2,700 calories per person per day. ERS data suggestthat average daily calorie intake increased by 24.5 percent, or about 530
calories, between 1970 and 2000. Of that24.5-percent increase, grains (mainly refined grain products) contributed 9.5
percentage points; added fats and oils,
9.0 percentage points; added sugars, 4.7
percentage points; fruits and vegetables
together, 1.5 percentage points; meats
and nuts together, 1 percentage point;and dairy products and eggs together,-1.5 percentage point.

Figure 2-1

Calories from the U.S. Per Capita Food Supply, Adjusted for Losses, Increased 19 Percent
Between 1983 and 2000
4,000

3,500

Total food supply available for consumption1

3,000

2,500

Food supply adjusted for spoilage, cooking losses,
plate waste and other losses2

2,000
1960

1970

1980

1 Rounded to the nearest hundred.
2 Not calculated for years before 1970.
Source: USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion; USDA’s Economic Research Service.

1990

2000

Some of the observed increase in caloric
intake may be associated with the increase in eating out. Data from USDA’s
food intake surveys show that the foodaway-from-home sector provided 32 percent of total food energy consumption in
1994-96, up from 18 percent in 1977-78.
The data also suggest that, when eatingout, people either eat more or eat higher
calorie foods—or both—and that thistendency appears to be increasing.
According to the National Center for
Health Statistics, an astounding 62 percent of adult Americans were overweightin 2000, up from 46 percent in 1980.
Twenty-seven percent of adults were so
far overweight that they were classified
as obese (at least 30 pounds above theirhealthy weight)—twice the percentage
classified as such in 1960. Alarmingly, an
upward trend in obesity is also occurringfor U.S. children.
Although multiple factors can accountfor weight gain, the basic cause is an excess of energy intake over energy expenditure. In general, Americans’ activity
levels have not kept pace with their increase in calorie consumption. Many
people apparently are oblivious to thenumber of calories they consume. Calories consistently rank toward the bottomof consumer nutrition concerns, according to the annual national probability
surveys “Trends—Consumer Attitudes
and the Supermarket” conducted by the
Food Marketing Institute. Of respondents
in the 2002 survey who said they were
either “very concerned” or “somewhat
concerned” about the nutritional content
of what they eat, only 13 percent citedcalories as one of their concerns. Thatcompared with fat (49 percent), sugar (18percent), salt (17 percent), and cholesterol (16 percent).
A variety of factors are responsible forthe changes in U.S. consumption patterns in the last 50 years, includingchanges in relative prices, increases inreal (adjusted for inflation) disposable
income, and more food assistance forthe poor. New products, particularly
more convenient ones, also contribute toshifts in consumption, along with more
imports, growth in the away-from-homeProfiling Food Consumption in America | 15

food market, expanded advertising programs, and increases in nutrient-enrichment standards and food fortification.
Sociodemographic trends also driving
changes in food choices include smaller
households, more two-earner households, more single-parent households, ataller population, an aging population,and increased ethnic diversity.
ERS estimates per capita food and nutrient supplies based on food disappearance data. These data are used as aproxy to estimate human consumption.
The data reported in tables 2-1 through2-6 are unadjusted for spoilage andwaste, so they may overstate what is
actually eaten. The data are used more
appropriately as indicators of trends inconsumption over time.

Meat Consumption at Record HighNow more than ever, America is a Nationof meat eaters. In 2000, total meat consumption (red meat, poultry, and fish)
reached 195 pounds (boneless, trimmedweight equivalent) per person, 57 pounds
above average annual consumption in

the 1950s (table 2-1). Each American
consumed an average of 7 pounds more
red meat than in the 1950s, 46 pounds
more poultry, and 4 pounds more fishand shellfish. Rising consumer incomes,
especially with the increase in two-income households, and meat prices in the
1990s that were often at 50-year lows,when adjusted for inflation, explain
much of the increase in meat consumption. In addition, the meat industry has
provided scores of new brand-name, value-added products processed for consumers’ convenience, as well as a host of
products for foodservice operators.

The food system has entered aconsumer-driven era and diversity
within our farm sector is enormous.

Nutritional concern about fat and cholesterol has encouraged the productionof leaner animals (beginning in the late
1950s), the closer trimming of outside fat
on retail cuts of meat (beginning in1986), the marketing of a host of lower
fat ground and processed meat products,
and consumer substitution of poultry forred meats since the late 1970s—significantly lowering the meat, poultry, andfish group’s contribution to total fat andsaturated fat in the food supply. Despitenear record-high per capita consumption of total meat in 2000, the proportion

Table 2-1

In 2000, Americans consumed an average 57 pounds more meat than they did annually in the 1950s, and a third fewer eggs
Annual averages

Item

1950-59

1960-69

1970-79

1980-89

1990-99

2000

Pounds per capita, boneless-trimmed weight

Total meats
Red meats
Beef
Pork
Veal and lamb

138.2
106.7
52.8
45.4
8.5

161.7
122.34
69.2
46.9
6.2

177.2
129.5
80.9
45.0
3.5

182.2
121.8
71.7
47.7
2.4

189.0
112.4
63.2
47.6
1.7

195.2
113.5
64.4
47.7
1.4

Poultry
ChickenTurkey

20.5
16.4
4.1

28.7
22.7
6.0

35.2
28.4
6.8

46.2
36.3
9.9

61.9
47.9
13.9

66.5
52.9
13.6

Fish and shellfish

10.9

10.7

12.5

14.2

14.7

15.2

320

285

257

236

250

Number per capita

Eggs
Note: Totals may not add due to rounding.
Source: USDA’s Economic Research Service.

374

16 | Agriculture Fact Book | Chapter 2

Table 2–2

Americans are drinking less milk, eating more cheese
Per capita annual averages

Item

Unit

1950-59

1960-69

1970-79

1980-89

1990-99

2000

All dairy products1

lb

703

619

548

573

571

593

Cheese2

lb

7.7

9.5

14.4

21.5

26.7

29.8

Cottage cheese

lb

3.9

4.6

4.9

4.1

2.9

2.6

Frozen dairy products
Ice cream
Lowfat ice cream
SherbetOther (including frozen yogurt)

lb
lb
lb
lb
lb

23.0
18.1
2.7
1.3
1.0

27.5
18.3
6.2
1.5
1.5

27.8
17.7
7.6
1.5
1.0

27.4
17.7
7.2
1.3
1.2

28.8
16.0
7.5
1.3
4.0

27.8
16.5
7.3
1.2
3.1

Nonfat dry milk

lb

4.9

5.9

4.1

2.4

3.1

3.4

Dry whey

lb

.2

.6

2.1

3.2

3.5

3.4

lb

21.6

15.7

9.4

7.5

7.3

5.8

Cream products
Yogurt1/2 pt1/2 pt

18.1
0.2

13.3
0.7

10.1
3.2

12.8
6.5

15.7
8.5

18.6
9.9

Beverage milk
Whole
Lower fat

gal
gal
gal

36.4
33.5
2.9

32.6
28.8
3.7

29.8
21.7
8.1

26.5
14.3
12.2

24.3
9.1
15.3

22.6
8.1
14.5

Condensed and evaporated milks

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding.
1Milk-equivalent, milkfat basis; includes butter. Individual items are on a product-weight basis.
2Natural equivalent of cheese and cheese products; excludes full-skim American, cottage, pot, and baker’s cheese. Source: USDA’s Economic Research Service.

of fat in the U.S. food supply from meat,
poultry, and fish declined from 33 percent in the 1950s to 24 percent in 2000.
Similarly, the proportion of saturated fat
contributed by meat, poultry, and fish
fell from 33 percent in the 1950s to 26
percent in 2000.

in consumption of salty snack foods favored soft drink consumption.

Eating Out Cuts Milk, Boosts Cheese
Consumption…

Average annual consumption of cheese(excluding full-skim American and cottage, pot, and baker’s cheeses) increased
287 percent between the 1950s and 2000,
from 7.7 pounds per person to 29.8
pounds. Lifestyles that emphasize convenience foods were probably major forces
behind the higher consumption. In fact,
more than half of our cheese now comesin commercially manufactured and prepared foods (including food service), suchas pizza, tacos, nachos, salad bars, fastfood sandwiches, bagel spreads, saucesfor baked potatoes and other vegetables,and packaged snack foods. Advertisingand new products—such as reduced-fat
cheeses and resealable bags of shredded

In 2000, Americans drank an average of
38 percent less milk and ate nearly fourtimes as much cheese (excluding cottage, pot, and baker’s cheese) as in the
1950s (table 2-2).
Consumption of beverage milk declined
from an annual average of 36 gallons perperson in the 1950s to less than 23 gallons in 2000. Consumption of soft drinks,
fruit drinks and ades, and flavored teas
may be displacing beverage milk in thediet. Big increases in eating away from
home, especially at fast-food places, andThe beverage milk trend is toward lower
fat milk. Whole milk represented 92 percent of all beverage milk (plain, flavored,
and buttermilk) in the 1950s, but its
share dropped to 36 percent in 2000.

Profiling Food Consumption in America | 17

cheeses, including cheese blends tailoredfor use in Italian and Mexican recipes—
also boosted consumption.

…and Swells Use of Salad and Cooking
Oils and Shortening
Americans’ mid-1990s push to cut dietary fat is apparent in the recent percapita food supply data, which show amodest (8 percent) decline in the use ofadded fats and oils between 1993 and1997, from 69 pounds (fat-content basis)
per person to just under 64 pounds. As aresult of consumer concerns about fat
and mandatory nutrition labeling beginning in July 1994, food processors introduced over 5,400 lower fat versions offoods in U.S. supermarkets in 1995–97,
according to New Product News, a trademagazine based in Albuquerque, NM.
But the decline in average consumptionof added fats was short lived. Between
1997 and 2000, per capita consumptionof added fats jumped 17 percent, from64 pounds per person to 74.5 pounds. Fat
plays an important role in enhancing theflavor of foods. Many consumers foundthe taste of the new low fat (3 grams of
fat or less per serving) and fat-free versions of foods unacceptable. Accordingly,

many companies reformulated their
low-fat and fat-free products in the late
1990s, adding some fat to improve taste.
Some consumers, who rejected the lowfat and fat-free versions, have accepted
reduced-fat products (1/3 less fat thanfull-fat versions). Many other consumers
have resumed eating full-fat versions.
According to a 2000 Roper Reports surveyof a nationally representative sample of
2,000 Americans 18 or older, the percentage of Americans who say they are eating “pretty much whatever they want”
was at an all-time high of 70 percent in
2000, up from 58 percent in 1997.
Although Americans apparently have relaxed their efforts to curb consumptionof added fats, they are choosing to eat
healthier fats. Olive oil and canola oil—high in heart-healthy monounsaturated
fats that lower blood levels of bad cholesterol but not good cholesterol—captured
23 percent of the salad and cooking oil
market in 2000, up from less than 4 percent in 1985.
Average use of added fats and oils in2000 was 67 percent above annual average use in the 1950s (table 2-3). Added
fats include those used directly by consumers, such as butter on bread, as well
as shortenings and oils used in commer-

cially prepared cookies, pastries, andfried foods. All fats naturally present infoods, such as in milk and meat, areexcluded.
Americans in 2000 consumed, on average, three-and-three-fifths times moresalad and cooking oil than they did annually in the 1950s, and more than twice
as much shortening. Average use of tablespreads declined by 25 percent during
the same period.
In the 1950s, the fats and oils group(composed of added fats and oils) contributed the most fat to the food supply(41 percent), followed by the meat, poultry, and fish group (32 percent). By 1999,
the fats and oils group’s contribution tototal fat had jumped 12 percentage
points to 53 percent, probably due to thehigher consumption of fried foods infoodservice outlets, the increase in consumption of high-fat snack foods, andthe increased use of salad dressings.
Margarine, salad dressings and mayonnaise, cakes and other sweet baked
goods, and oils continue to appear in the
top 10 foods for fat contribution, according to recent USDA food intake surveys,
which indicates the ongoing prevalenceof discretionary fats in Americans’ diets.

Table 2-3

Average consumption of added fats increased by two-thirds between 1950-59 and 2000
Annual averages

Item

1950-59

1960-69

1970-79

1980-89

1990-99

2000

Pounds per capita1

Total added fats and oils

44.6

47.8

53.4

60.8

65.5

74.5

Salad and cooking oils2

9.8

13.9

20.2

25.0

28.2

35.2

Baking and frying fats3

21.4
10.9
10.5

20.7
14.6
6.1

20.5
17.4
3.5

23.6
20.5
3.1

26.2
22.7
4.0

29.0
23.1
6.0

17.0
9.0
8.0

16.5
6.6
9.9

15.9
4.7
11.2

15.3
4.6
10.7

14.0
4.4
9.6

12.8
4.6
8.2

Shortening
Lard and beef tallow4
Table spreads
ButterMargarine

1Total added fats and oils is on a fat-content basis. Individual items are on a product-weight basis.
2Includes a small amount of specialty fats used mainly in confectionery products and nondairy creamers.
3Total may not add due to rounding.
4Direct use; excludes use in margarine or shortening.
Source: USDA’s Economic Research Service.

18 | Agriculture Fact Book | Chapter 2

Table 2-4

Per capita consumption of fruit and vegetables increased by one-fifth between 1970–79
and 2000
Annual averages

Item

1970–79

1980–89

1990–99

2000

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
Continues To Rise
Americans in 2000 consumed a fifth(20 percent) more fruit and vegetables
than did their counterparts in the 1970s(table 2-4).

Pounds per capita, fresh-weight equivalent

Total fruit and vegetables

587.5

622.1

688.3

707.7

Total fruit

248.7

269.0

280.1

279.4

Fresh fruit
CitrusNoncitrus

99.4
27.2
72.2

113.1
24.2
88.9

123.7
23.7
100.0

126.8
23.4
103.3

Processed fruit
Frozen fruit, noncitrus
Dried fruit, noncitrus
Canned fruit, noncitrus
Fruit juices

149.3
3.4
9.9
24.7
110.7

155.9
3.4
12.2
21.3
118.6

156.5
3.8
11.7
19.7
120.8

152.7
3.7
10.5
17.4
120.6

338.8

353.1

408.2

428.3

Fresh vegetables
Potatoes
Other

147.9
52.5
95.4

157.2
48.5
108.7

181.9
48.8
133.1

201.7
47.2
154.5

Processing vegetables
Vegetables for canning
Tomatoes
Other
Vegetables for freezing
Potatoes
Other
Dehydrated vegetables and chips
Pulses

190.9
101.1
62.9
38.2
52.1
36.1
16.0
30.8
7.0

195.9
98.9
63.5
35.4
61.0
42.8
18.2
29.4
6.5

226.3
109.4
74.4
35.0
76.8
54.9
21.9
32.0
8.1

226.6
104.7
69.9
34.8
79.7
57.8
21.9
33.7
8.6

Total vegetables

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding.
Source: USDA’s Economic Research Service.

In the last two decades, Americans havebeen more successful in reducing the fat
density in home foods than in awayfrom-home foods, according to food intake surveys. In 1977–78, both home andaway-from-home foods provided slightly
more than 41 percent of their calories
from fat. By 1987-88, the fat density ofhome foods had declined to 36.4 percent
of total calories from fat, compared with
38.7 for away-from-home foods. Since
then, the fat density of home foods declined steadily to 31.5 percent of calories
from fat, but fat from away-from-homefoods declined only slightly to 37.6 percent of calories.

Total fruit consumption in 2000 was 12
percent above average annual fruit consumption in the 1970s. Fresh fruit consumption (up 28 percent during thesame period) outpaced processed fruit
consumption (up 2 percent). Noncitrus
fruits accounted for all of the growth in
fresh fruit consumption.
Total vegetable consumption in 2000
was 23 percent above average annual
vegetable consumption in the 1970s. As
in the case of fruit, fresh vegetable use(up 26 percent during the same period)
outpaced processed vegetable use (up 21
percent). The introduction of pre-cut andpackaged value-added products and increasing health consciousness among
consumers boosted average fresh broccoli
consumption by a third between 1995
and 1998 and average fresh carrot consumption by more than a fifth. Highly
publicized medical research linking
compounds in broccoli with strong anticancer activity in the body has added a
powerful incentive to consumption.
The popularity of pizza and other ethnic
foods in the 1990s boosted average consumption of canned tomato products, but
consumption of other canned vegetables
declined 13 percent between the 1970s
and 1997. The popularity of french fries,
eaten mainly in fast-food eateries,
spawned a 63-percent increase in average
consumption of frozen potatoes during
the same period; consumption of otherfrozen vegetables rose 41 percent.

Profiling Food Consumption in America | 19

Consumers Eat Too Much Refined Grain,
Too Little Whole Grain
Per capita use of flour and cereal products reached 200 pounds in 2000 froman annual average of 155 pounds in the
1950s and 138 pounds in the 1970s,
when grain consumption was at a recordlow (table 2-5). The expansion in supplies reflects ample grain stocks; strong
consumer demand for variety breads,
other instore bakery items, and grainbased snack foods; and increasing fastfood sales of products made with buns,
doughs, and tortillas.
Many consumers’ diets now meet or
exceed the Food Guide Pyramid serving
recommendation for grain products. The
Pyramid recommends 9 daily servings ofgrain products for a 2,200-calorie diet, 6servings for a 1,600-calorie diet, and 11
servings for a 2,800-calorie diet. The foodsupply, adjusted for waste in the home
and throughout the marketing system,
provided an average of 10 daily servingsof grain in 2000. This is an underestimate.
The food supply database excludes wheat
foods not manufactured directly from
wheat flour or bulgur. That is, it excludes
wheat bran, wheat germ, wheat berries
and products manufactured directly fromthese items, such as Wheaties (cooked,
flattened, toasted wheat berries), Shredded Wheat, Puffed Wheat, and All-Bran
breakfast cereals and Triscuit crackers.
Similarly, it excludes whole-grain foods
made directly from field corn (for example, Tostito and Dorito brand corn tortillachips, corn bran (used in some breakfast

cereals), and popcorn. ERS estimates thatthese missing items would add an additional serving of grains for an average of
11 daily servings of grain in 2000—theamount recommended for teenage boys
or men who engage in heavy physicalactivity.
However, most people’s diets fall wellshort of the recommended minimum
three daily servings of whole grain products. The mean daily intake of foods
made from whole grains was one serving
in USDA’s 1996 Continuing Survey of Food
Intakes by Individuals. According to thesurvey, only 7 percent of Americans ate
the recommended three or more servings of whole-grain foods a day.

Table 2-5

Annual average grain consumption was 45 percent higher in 2000 than in the 1970s
Annual averages

Item

1950-59

1960-69

1970-79

1980-89

1990-99

2000

190.6
141.8
24.5
17.5

199.9
146.3
28.4
19.7

Pounds per capita

Total grain products1
Wheat flour
Corn products
Rice

155.4
125.7
15.4
5.3

1 Includes oat products, barley products, and rye flour not shown separately.
Source: USDA’s Economic Research Service.

142.5
114.4
13.8
7.1

138.2
113.6
11.0
7.3

157.4
122.8
17.3
11.3

20 | Agriculture Fact Book | Chapter 2

Table 2-6

America’s sweet tooth increased 39 percent between 1950–59 and 2000 as use of corn sweeteners octupled
Annual averages

Item

1950–59

1960–69

1970–79

1980–89

1990–99

2000

Pounds per capita, dry weight

Total caloric sweeteners

109.6

114.4

123.7

126.5

145.9

152.4

Cane and beet sugar

96.7

98.0

96.0

68.4

64.7

65.6

Corn sweeteners
High fructose corn syrup
GlucoseDextrose

11.0
.0
7.4
3.5

14.9
.0
10.9
4.1

26.3
5.5
16.6
4.3

56.8
37.3
16.0
3.5

79.9
56.8
19.3
3.8

85.3
63.8
18.1
3.4

Other caloric sweeteners

2.0

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.3

1.5

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding.
1Edible syrups (sugarcane, sorgo, maple, and refiner’s), edible molasses, and honey.
Source: USDA’s Economic Research Service.

Consumption of Caloric Sweeteners Hits
Record High in 1999
Americans have become conspicuous
consumers of sugar and sweet-tastingfoods and beverages. Per capita consumption of caloric sweeteners (dryweight basis)—mainly sucrose (tablesugar made from cane and beets) andcorn sweeteners (notably high-fructose
corn syrup, or HFCS)—increased 43
pounds, or 39 percent, between 1950-59
and 2000 (table 2-6). In 2000, each American consumed an average 152 poundsof caloric sweeteners, 3 pounds below
1999’s record average 155 pounds. Thatamounted to more than two-fifths of apound—or 52 teaspoonfuls—of addedsugars per person per day in 2000. Of
that 52 teaspoons, ERS estimates that
Americans wasted or otherwise lost 20
teaspoons, resulting in an average intake
of about 32 teaspoons of added sugars
per person per day.

USDA recommends that the average person on a 2,000-calorie daily diet include
no more than 40 grams of added sugars.
That’s about 10 teaspoons, or the amountof sugar in a 12-ounce soft drink. Sugar—
including sucrose, corn sweeteners, honey,
maple syrup, and molasses—is ubiquitousand often hidden. In a sense, sugar is thenumber one food additive. It turns up insome unlikely places, such as pizza, bread,hot dogs, boxed mixed rice, soup, crackers, spaghetti sauce, lunch meat, canned
vegetables, fruit drinks, flavored yogurt,
ketchup, salad dressing, mayonnaise,and some peanut butter. Carbonated sodas provided more than a fifth (22 percent) of the refined and added sugars in
the 2000 American food supply, compared with 16 percent in 1970.

Food Expenditures and Prices
What does it cost Americans to eat what
they eat? Total food expenditures, which
includes imports, fishery products, andfood originating on farms, were $844.2
billion in 2001, an increase of 3.8 percent
over those in 2000. Average food expenditures came to $2,964 per capita, 2.8
percent above the 2000 average. Awayfrom-home meals and snacks captured
47 percent of the U.S. food dollar in 2001,
up from 45 percent in 1991 and 40 percent in 1981.

Profiling Food Consumption in America | 21

While personal food expenditures rose
3.7 percent, disposable personal income
increased 5.5 percent from 2000 to 2001.
U.S. consumers in 2001 spent 10.0 percent of their disposable personal income(after taxes) on food. This figure compares with 11.6 percent in 1991, 13.0 percent in 1981, and 13.4 percent in 1971.
In the United States, retail food prices(including meals served in restaurants
and food purchased at grocery stores)rose 27.0 percent over the last 10 years(1991-2001). Prices of food eaten awayfrom home increased 26.1 percent, while
retail food store prices increased 27.7
percent. Prices of all goods and services
in the Consumer Price Index climbed
30.0 percent over the same 10 years.

The cost of labor is the biggest part of
the total food marketing bill, accounting
for nearly half of all marketing costs. Labor used by assemblers, manufacturers,
wholesalers, retailers, and eating places
cost $252 billion in 2000. This was 4.7
percent higher than in 1999 and 64 percent more than in 1990. The total number of food marketing workers in 2000
was about 14.3 million, about 17 percent
more than in 1990. About 80 percent of
the growth in food industry employment
occurred in public eating places. A wide
variety of other costs comprise the balance of the marketing bill. These costs
include packaging, transportation, energy, advertising, business taxes, net interest, depreciation, rent, and repairs. Theirrelative proportions are illustrated in theaccompanying dollar chart.

How Much of the Cost of Food Services
and Distribution Goes to Farmers?

In 1990, the cost of marketing farm
foods amounted to $343 billion. In thedecade after that, the cost of marketingrose about 57 percent. In 2000, the marketing bill rose 6.9 percent. These risingcosts have been the principal factor affecting the rise in consumer food expenditures. From 1990 to 2000, consumer
expenditures for farm foods rose $211
billion. Roughly 92 percent of this increase resulted from an increase in themarketing bill.

19¢

port
atio
n
rgy

3.5¢
4¢

Farm valueMarketing bill

Pro
fits
Adv
ert
Dep isingrec
Ren iationt
Inte
Represt (neBus airs t)
inOth ess Taer costs xes

8¢

Ene

38¢

Tran
s

kag

or

ing

What a dollar spent on food paid for in 2000

Pac

The cost of marketing farm foods has
increased considerably over the years,
mainly because of rising costs of labor,transportation, food packaging materials, and other inputs used in marketing,and also because of the growing volume
of food and the increase in services provided with the food.

Figure 2-2

Lab

The estimated bill for marketing domestic farm foods—which does not include
imported foods—was $498 billion in 1999.
This amount covered all charges fortransporting, processing, and distributing
foods that originated on U.S. farms. It
represented 80 percent of the $618 billion
consumers spent for these foods. The remaining 20 percent, or $121 billion, represents the gross return paid to farmers.

4¢
4.5¢

4¢

3.5¢

3.5¢ 2.5¢
1.5¢

4¢