Commodity Consumption by Population Characteristics

Note: Updates to this data product are discontinued.

ERS tracks the supply of food available for consumption in the United States and examines consumer food preferences by consumers’ age, income, region, race/ethnicity, and place where food is obtained, as well as by food/commodity categories and other characteristics. Descriptive statistics of commodity consumption help inform producers about who consumes their commodities, how and where their commodities are consumed, and how much is consumed. This information helps the food and agriculture industry improve its promotion strategies. In addition, USDA agencies have used commodity consumption data for regulatory analyses.

See ERS's new report on food commodity availability by food source:

U.S. Food Commodity Availability by Food Source, 1994-2008

This report uses data from four national food intake surveys conducted between 1994 and 2008 to disaggregate 63 loss-adjusted food availability commodities by food source—food at home and food away from home—for the Nation as a whole and by 15 demographic characteristics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) maintains two sources of data on U.S. food consumption that are integral to the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to monitor the health and dietary status of U.S. citizens. These sources are:

  1. The Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System (FADS) compiled by ERS, and
  2. The dietary intake surveys conducted by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

When used together, these sources provide a comprehensive picture of the Nation’s eating habits and support the coordinated research program outlined in the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990.

 

Data Set Last Updated Next Update
Food at Home and Food Away from Home
Annual U.S. per capita loss-adjusted food-at-home availability: total, children, and adults 2/27/2017
Annual U.S. per capita loss-adjusted food-at-home availability: boys, girls, men, and women 2/27/2017
Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food-at-home availability: low and high income 2/27/2017
Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food-at-home availability: adult educational achievement 2/27/2017
Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food-at-home availability: race and ethnicity 2/27/2017
Annual U.S. per capita loss-adjusted food-away-from-home availability: total, children, and adults 2/27/2017
Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food-away-from-home availability: boys, girls, men, and women 2/27/2017
Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food-away-from-home availability: low and high income 2/27/2017
Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food-away-from-home availability: adult educational achievement 2/27/2017
Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics
Table 1: Annual U.S. per capita loss-adjusted food availability: total, children, and adults 3/30/2016
Table 2: Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food availability: boys, girls, men, and women 3/30/2016
Table 3: Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food availability: low and high income 3/30/2016
Table 4: Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food availability: adult educational achievement 3/30/2016
Table 5: Annual, per capita loss-adjusted food availability: race and ethnicity 3/30/2016