Revised Estimates of Food Expenditures

Abstract

Probably more attention is given to the development and study of food statistics than to those for any other group of consumer goods. This is due to the significance of food even in an “affluent society,” and to concern over the agricultural situation in the American economy.

Most economic analyses of food marketing begin with a review of food expenditure data of the U. S. Department of Commerce. But recent revisions in these data, discussed in this article, may modify our ideas considerably about past and future trends. Certainly there appears to be a continuing decline in the proportion of income allocated to food and food-marketing services.