Monday, November 3, 2014

Americans Spending Less Overall On Food, But More On Junk Food

By Cornelius Nunev


Surprisingly, Individuals spend less on food than most of their counterparts in developed countries. Though less is spent all around, more is being used on unhealthy foods and sweets than on more wholesome fare.

Good news for country

The average American household is said to have an income of $50,000 per year. That isn't really exactly the lap of luxury for the typical two-parent, two-child plus assorted pets home. However, the good news is that, as a country, we spend less on food than other developed nations.

The Agency of Labor Statistics explained that in 2009, the average household spent $6,372 on food. About $2,619 of that was for food away from home and $3,753 was for food in the home. Mother Jones reports that the spending is only 6 percent of the $32,051 yearly outlay for the year. The French spend 14 percent on food of the outlay while the British spends 9 percent on food.

The cost of food in America decreasing for the past 30 years is the biggest reason, according to the NPR article.

Maybe Michelle has a point

In 1982, the average household spent 13 percent of the yearly outlay on food, which means we are really doing better now. This is despite the truth that the amount spent has increased to about 8 percent now, according to recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Food prices have really decreased a lot in that time. In fact, no meats went up in price. Steak costs dropped from $7 a pound to $4.90 a pound from 1982 to 2012. Grapefruit prices increased 6.5 percent and bell pepper costs increased 34 percent. Other than that, no other fruits and vegetables increased in price.

Michelle Obama's grievances about child food health are entirely justified when you consider the percentage of what people spent on different foods. From 1982 to 2012, there were many changes in the amount used on food. For instance, Fruits and vegetables went from 14.5 percent to 14.6 percent, staying relatively the same. Meats decreased from 31.3 percent to 21.5 percent. The worst part is that processed foods and sweets increased from 11.6 percent to 22.9 percent.

Thanks to subsidies

From 1995 to 2010, the agriculture industry has received $261.9 billion in subsidies. The amount of corn produced produced in America increased from 4 billion bushels to 12 billion bushels in that time. This is part of why we are paying less for groceries, according to Mother Jones.

Some costs are going up. According to Forbes, grain and meats have both begun rising recently. In 2011, the price of meats went up by 8 percent. Grain costs doubled.

The low prices also do not benefit the farmer much. Aside from not much money in nominal terms, the Department of Agriculture estimates 15.8 percent of revenue from selling food goes to the entity that produced it, according to a post on The Daily Green.



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