100 Years of Eating in America in Four Handy Charts

The USDA's Economic Research Service now has a full century of data on food availability in America.

This one-of-a-kind data set measures which food commodities are available to eat at the national level and provides the foundation for estimating if the nutrients available support a healthy, well-nourished citizenry. The data date back to 1909, allowing researchers, marketers, and policymakers to examine historical consumption trends and shifts in food demand.

The four charts below from the linked article are great ways to absorb the data and see the trends in what foods are available per/capita. I'll take a stab at giving the charts names.

The "Have You Ever Noticed that Half the Items
on a Restaurant Menu Have Chicken" Chart

The Cheesehead Century Chart

The "Sweet Potatoes, We Barely Knew Ya" Chart

The "I Wonder What Foods the Government is Subsidizing
and Throwing the Whole System Out of Whack" Chart

Feel free to offer you're own "lame attempts at humor" chart names if you like.

Comments

[Karen]

Makes you want to go right out and buy some sweet potatoes . . .

[craig]

I actually tried to grow sweet potatoes a couple years ago but I think I didn't plant them soon enough.

[Karen]

I've tried, too, with no luck -- the roots were long and red, but not even remotely plump or potatoey looking.

I was thinking that starting them inside on a hot mat, then planting them out in one of those black plastic grow bags would be the only way to do it in this climate. But since we garden in the front yard, adding black plastic to the already admittedly scruffy aura seemed a step too far.