dimanche 23 février 2014

Americans Spend More On Junk Food, Less On Groceries Overall

By Cornelius Nunev


Americans have it good, in a sense, in that we spend less than many other first-world countries on food, which is fairly essential. Granted, agricultural subsidies do have a fair bit to do with it. However, we have also been investing more on unhealthy foods than almost any type of food item.

Low expenditures comparatively

The average American household is said to have an income of $50,000 per year. That is not 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 countries.

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.

Largely, according to a recent article by NPR, it has to do with the cost of food in America steadily decreasing over the past 30 years.

Reason for Michelle's campaign

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that now, about 8 percent of yearly outlays is used on food. That is much better than the 13 percent we saw in the average household in 1982 though.

During that time, the cost of most food groups has decreased; in some cases considerably. For instance, the cost of steak has dropped 30 percent, from $7 per pound in 1982 to $4.90 per pound in 2012. No meats have gone up in price. Only one fruit and one vegetable increased in price in that time, those being grapefruit and bell peppers, the costs of which increased by 6.5 percent and 34 percent, respectively.

You can certainly see changes in what individuals are spending most of their cash on now compared with 1982 though. Now, people spend about 21.5 percent of the spending budget on meats when it used to be 31.3 percent. Now, people spend 22.9 percent on processed foods and sweets when individuals used to spend 11.6 percent. Fruits and vegetable expenditures have stayed almost the same though since they are now at 14.6 percent and they used to be 14.5 percent. Michelle Obama's plan to help kids get healthier is well justified whenever you consider these statistics.

The agriculture subsidies

Mother Jones explained that the agriculture subsidies have helped produce more food making prices go down. In fact, the amount of corn produced manufactured from 1995 to 2010 in America increased from 4 billion bushels a year to 12 billion bushels. In that same time frame, $261.9 billion in subsidies have been given out.

The price of meat went up 8 percent in 2011, and the price of grain doubled. This just shows that costs are beginning to go up, according to Forbes.

The low prices also don't benefit the farmer much. Apart 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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