Americans eat more food than ever, USDA says

Food & Drink Weekly, Dec 12, 2005

Americans eat more food than ever, USDA says: Scripps Howard News Service reports that government economists say that not only is there more food available for the American diet than they have ever recorded, but Americans are also eating more each year. The amount of food available for Americans to eat has increased 16 percent over the last 35 years, from 1,675 pounds in 1970 to 1,950 pounds in 2003. That translates to about 2,757 calories per person each day, about 500 daily calories more than was available for consumption in 1970, says USDA.

Hodan Farah, a USDA economist, said the statistics are compiled from food production figures, then adjusted by extracting food exports and other food losses from spoilage and plate waste. The agency is updating its decade-old food consumption data, which should be completed by 2007.