The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) released a report earlier this year that examined food trends in the United States over the past 4 decades. It contains a lot of nice charts that really illustrate how drastically we have shifted our dietary patterns.
If you are just dying to read the 14,300-word report, you can check out the full publication here.
Or you can read my 550-word tl;dr summary below. Tough choice, eh?
Methodology: How did they obtain these numbers?
Basically through simple arithmetic and not-so-simple statistics (aka fancy math).
Big changes in dietary patterns
We went from eating an average of 2,016 to 2,390 calories per day — a 374 calorie increase. On average, that’s an extra 136,500 calories per year! In food terms, this translates to:
70 gallons of 2% milk (my personal preference)
136 pints of regular ice cream (or 427 pints of Halo Top)
1,177 large apples
4,627 large carrots
Fruit is making a comeback
This is encouraging, but we still only eat ~0.9 cups a day, a little less than half the recommended intake of at least 2 cups.
We’re ruining too many pizzas with pineapple
Pineapple consumption grew from 0.7 pounds (0.3 kg) in 1970 to 7.2 pounds (3.3 kg) in 2014. Your pizzas deserve better than this. Shame on you.
Vegetable intake is dropping
We hit “peak vegetable” in 2004 and have steadily declined since. We eat ~1.6 cups a day but should be hitting at least 2.5 cups a day. That puts us 66% under the recommended intake. Go eat some carrots!
Americans love potatoes
While total potato product availability stayed mostly the same, frozen potato product availability increased by 62%. Curious. Very curious.
Don’t be fooled by the post-2010 drop in total grain consumption
The dataset used doesn’t account for all whole grains (such as popcorn and whole-grain products) and hasn’t included rice since 2010. Take the chart below with a grain of salt.
We seem to be eating fewer protein products
But note that the dataset does not account for seeds or protein-rich soy products.
These results are perhaps the most surprising to me, as the message to increase protein intake has become commonplace in recent years.
Dairy is the comeback kid
My favorite vegetable is dairy. Rumor has it I consume 2 gallons per week.
We consume too many added fats and oils
Our consumption was probably underestimated prior to 2000 when reporting methodology improved. Added fats and oils are the biggest source of increased calories since 1970.
We’re eating less sugar
Since the record high in 1999, we’ve seen a 14% drop. But we’re still consuming 10% more compared to 1970. I’m still counting this one as a win.
All in all, Americans are eating too much
Yet, the reasons for this are far more complex than these graphs may lead you to believe. This systems map helps lay out many of the contributing variables and how they interconnect.
Bonus Chart: Discretionary calories (aka the fun calories)
Everyone has a little room in their diet for indulgent foods. Just how many depends on your daily caloric needs and how nutrient-dense your diet is. The chart below gives you a sense of how many calories per day you could potentially allot to the good stuff (e.g., 🥨 🍟 🍕 🍦 🍰 🍭 🍫 🍩 🍪 🍺 🍷).