New Order Emerges In Food Chain Popularity Of Ethnic Foods Boosts Some Vegetables

An American palate increasingly favoring ethnic recipes and restaurant food is proving to be a boon for producers of garlic, chili peppers, processed tomatoes and onions.

Take garlic, for example. Per capita use has grown 72 percent since the early 1970s - from an average 0.04 pounds per person per year to 1.9 pounds now, according to Agriculture Department figures.

And use of chili peppers has doubled since 1980, from about 3.3 pounds per capita annually on a fresh-picked basis to an average 5.7 pounds now.

“It’s the different kinds of foods we’re eating now,” said USDA’s Gary Lucier.

In addition to a resurgence in popularity of Italian food and a growing interest in Thai and Ethiopian restaurants, there has also been “a pizza, pasta and salsa revolution,” Lucier said.

“Big profits are being made at the pizza chains, there are more ethnic restaurants springing up nationwide and Mexican restaurants are big now,” he noted.

There was a fling with salad bars in the 1980s, but “the luster has worn off on that a little bit and people are looking for more interesting things to eat,” Lucier said.

Another factor, he said, is that Americans are eating many more of their meals away from home.

With all the changes, use of processed tomatoes has grown since 1980 from about 64 pounds per person annually to 79 pounds.

Onion use has risen from about 11.5 pounds per person a year to nearly 17 pounds, he said.