It is no myth that the United States produces enough food to feed the world, but Americans have often been criticized and viewed as eating too much or producing too much food. Unfortunately, there is some truth to these accusations. According to food consumption data from the U.S department of Agriculture, Americans are eating on average about 1,996 pounds of food every year. That is close to one ton (2,000 pounds) of food! In terms of calorie consumption, the average american consumes 2,700 calories a day (according to the USDA). Now you may be wondering: why do Americans eat this much food? There are several reasons, but one that is most probable in stimulating our "need" for food is completion compulsion (according to University of Alabama psychologist Paul Siegel). This basically means that if a person were provided with an immense amount of food on their plate, they would feel compelled to finish all of the food because they want to, not because they are still hungry. In all honesty though, I think everyone has been a victim of this (including myself). To prevent this, the Mayo Clinic has stated that Americans should consume more water (making you feel fuller), fiber, and fat (especially foods with "good" fat like nuts).
Now as for food availability in the U.S, the U.S government has recently put out a new report on American's changes in diet from 1970-2014. According to dietdoctor.com (which has the statistics on it's website), "fresh fruit consumption is up 35%, vegetables consumption is up 20%, wheat flour is up 21%, chicken is up 114%, and nuts are up 51%." These all seem to be positive changes in the american diet, especially for chicken. There are also foods that Americans have decreased their consumption of: "red meat down 28%, beef down 35% and veal, lamb, and mutton are down 78%". All in all, these statistics show improving trends for the american diet, but there is still controversy. For example, according to sustainableamerica.org, "50 million americans are living in a state of food insecurity". To make matters worse, low income groups are contributing 37% of their income to food and fuel purchases". As mentioned in the blog post about food availability itself, corn consumption is outdoing production as well. According to sustainableamerica.org, corn consumption has risen dramatically from 2006 onward, due to it's immense use in ethanol within gasoline.
There are several issues that are hindering the U.S's ability to produce food. These are environment conditions and waste. Detriments in the environment such as drought and soil degradation have been the main "roadblocks" in food availability (according to sustainableamerica.org). For example in the year 2012, 62% of the country experienced a drought, which in turn affected 49% of the corn crop, 50% of the soybean crop, and 45% of the hay crop (according to the NOAA of the USDA). Now, the situation has improved as heat conditions have progressed over the years, but this shows the power that the environment has over food in general. I think that we need to take some sort of precautionary measures if there were to be a drought which could possibly diminish corn in the U.S. Since it is used partially to fuel our cars, how would we travel from place to place? Of course, this is a bit of an extreme position to take, but these are questions that need to be asked and answered in some way or another. Another question that is brought up in my mind is the following: What if all of the corn in the U.S suddenly perished? What would we do then? I think the federal government needs to come up with some sort of alternative to corn being used so extensively (be it another crop or food).
Similarly, there is the issue of food waste in the U.S. According to sustainableamerica.org, waste accounts from 27-50% of food produced in the U.S. Add to this the fact that 2/3 of the waste produced the United States goes to landfills, while only 1/3 goes to notable causes (composting, food banks). Honestly to me this statistic was the most shocking of all: 1% of food waste goes to shelters and food banks that give it to needy families. In my opinion, this whole dilemma is absurd. Why aren't there regulations on how much food goes to landfills? Also, if 50 million people are living in food insecure households, why does only 1% of food waste go to them? Is the federal government trying to create a bigger problem than it already has in America? It is trying to increase the gap between the rich and poor? I realize that I am sounding like a broken record, but these issues need to be taken into account. The image below is showing a breakdown of what the major contributors of food waste are in the United States.
Now as for food availability in the U.S, the U.S government has recently put out a new report on American's changes in diet from 1970-2014. According to dietdoctor.com (which has the statistics on it's website), "fresh fruit consumption is up 35%, vegetables consumption is up 20%, wheat flour is up 21%, chicken is up 114%, and nuts are up 51%." These all seem to be positive changes in the american diet, especially for chicken. There are also foods that Americans have decreased their consumption of: "red meat down 28%, beef down 35% and veal, lamb, and mutton are down 78%". All in all, these statistics show improving trends for the american diet, but there is still controversy. For example, according to sustainableamerica.org, "50 million americans are living in a state of food insecurity". To make matters worse, low income groups are contributing 37% of their income to food and fuel purchases". As mentioned in the blog post about food availability itself, corn consumption is outdoing production as well. According to sustainableamerica.org, corn consumption has risen dramatically from 2006 onward, due to it's immense use in ethanol within gasoline.
There are several issues that are hindering the U.S's ability to produce food. These are environment conditions and waste. Detriments in the environment such as drought and soil degradation have been the main "roadblocks" in food availability (according to sustainableamerica.org). For example in the year 2012, 62% of the country experienced a drought, which in turn affected 49% of the corn crop, 50% of the soybean crop, and 45% of the hay crop (according to the NOAA of the USDA). Now, the situation has improved as heat conditions have progressed over the years, but this shows the power that the environment has over food in general. I think that we need to take some sort of precautionary measures if there were to be a drought which could possibly diminish corn in the U.S. Since it is used partially to fuel our cars, how would we travel from place to place? Of course, this is a bit of an extreme position to take, but these are questions that need to be asked and answered in some way or another. Another question that is brought up in my mind is the following: What if all of the corn in the U.S suddenly perished? What would we do then? I think the federal government needs to come up with some sort of alternative to corn being used so extensively (be it another crop or food).
Similarly, there is the issue of food waste in the U.S. According to sustainableamerica.org, waste accounts from 27-50% of food produced in the U.S. Add to this the fact that 2/3 of the waste produced the United States goes to landfills, while only 1/3 goes to notable causes (composting, food banks). Honestly to me this statistic was the most shocking of all: 1% of food waste goes to shelters and food banks that give it to needy families. In my opinion, this whole dilemma is absurd. Why aren't there regulations on how much food goes to landfills? Also, if 50 million people are living in food insecure households, why does only 1% of food waste go to them? Is the federal government trying to create a bigger problem than it already has in America? It is trying to increase the gap between the rich and poor? I realize that I am sounding like a broken record, but these issues need to be taken into account. The image below is showing a breakdown of what the major contributors of food waste are in the United States.
![Picture](/uploads/9/9/9/0/99904062/900171294.jpg)
https://www.dietdoctor.com/new-us-food-availability-data
https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/food-availability-and-consumption/
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2011/12/31/144478009/the-average-american-ate-literally-a-ton-this-year
http://www.sustainableamerica.org/downloads/whitepapers/Food_White_Paper.pdf