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.
