U.S. Trends in Food Availability and a Dietary Assessment of Loss-Adjusted Food Availability, 1970-2014

Overview

This report examines the amount of food available for consumption and related food trends in the United States from 1970 to 2014 using the food availability data in ERS’s Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System. It also estimates whether Americans, on average, are meeting the dietary recommendations in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Errata: On February 17, ERS made corrections to three column heading labels in table 8, pages 22-23. In the first section of the table, on page 22, the first column heading under the column “Change, 1970 to 2014” was changed from “Pounds per year” to “Gallons per year.” In the last row of column headings on page 23 (labeling the “Total milk and milk products” row), the first column heading “Pounds per person” was changed to “Pounds per person per year” and, next to that, the second column heading “Pounds” was changed to “Pounds per year.”