Food Trends for 2009
Consider these food facts:
Fifty cents on every dollar! As a country, we spend over half of every food dollar on ready-prepared, ready-to-eat food. Most of these are high fat, high sugar foods.
1/3 less. One-third less cholesterol in each egg from a chicken that is raised in a pasture than from eggs from chickens that are raised in close-quarter industrial coops, according to the USDA. These “pastured” eggs have ¼ less saturated fat, 2/3 more vitamin A, twice the omega-3 fatty acids, 3 times more vitamin E, and 7 times more beta carotene.
50 to 90 percent. Every year, America’s beekeepers report that they lose between 50% and 90% of their bees due to Colony Collapse Disorder, which is directly linked to increased used of commercial toxic pesticides. No bees, no fruit . No bees, no vegetables. No bees, no nuts.
14%. This is the average percentage of food wasted by US households.
1947. The year in which the US Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticides Act codified the health risks from industrial chemical pesticides. The Act clearly admits that risks include neurological disorders, immune dysfunction, birth defects, reproductive failure, and more.
40%+ Processed, frozen, baked, and canned foods represent more than 40 % of supermarket sales, while produce claimed close to 10%.
52 percent less. Challenging times! The Organic Trade Association said in August that sales for 2008 were projected to be $24 billion, and average annual growth of 18 percent should increase through this year and next. But a survey by market researcher The Hartman Group found that the use of organics began leveling off in 2006, a trend it expects to continue this year, and an Information Resources survey of 1,000 consumers in May found that 52 percent were buying less organic food because of cost concerns.
22%. The percentage of each dollar spent on supermarket food in 2006 that went back to US farmers.
$120 billion a year. On any given day, a full 25% of our population eats a fast food meal. In the US we spend more than $120 billion each year on fast food.
75%. The percentage of tomato consumption in the US in the form of processed foods, like ketchup.
20 percent. The estimated amount of current household energy that we would save if we consumed locally grown and processed foods.
50 gallons! Soda Pop! The average American consumes over 50 gallons of carbonated soft drinks each year.
13%. The percentage of imported foods that American eat.
11,000. The number of new food products introduced to the market in 1999. 79% of them were candies, novelty items, condiments, breakfast cereals, and baked goods.
1.2%. The percentage of imported foods that is inspected by the FDA.
75%. The amount of the WORLD’S annual production of synthetic pesticides used by US farmers.
10 calories. For every one calorie (energy unit) that is eaten in America, nearly 10 units of energy are spent producing it, processing it, and shipping it to our tables.
75%. Seventy-five percent of adverse reactions to food additives, according to the FDA, comes from Aspartame, known as NutraSweet, Equal, and Spoonful.