Consumption of Processed Farm Foods in the United States

Excerpts from the report: Practically all farm foods now purchased by U. S. consumers have gone through some form of processing, varying from trimming, grading, and washing to factory preparation of elaborate dishes and meals. Within the total civilian supply of farm foods, the proportion handled by marketing agencies rose from 80 percent in 1925 to 91 percent in 1954. Meanwhile, the proportion of the total food supply commercially processed beyond the minimum degree necessary for retail sale as fresh or raw, as by canning, drying, curing, freezing, or baking, went up from 25 percent to 35 percent. This report has the following five objectives: (1) To trace major trends in the processing of farm food commodities over the last 35 years; (2) to compare overall changes in average retail prices of relatively unprocessed and processed foods in recent decades; (3) to describe variations in the consumption of processed foods according to form and type, based on survey data for households grouped by region, urbanization, and income; (4) to evaluate factors related to changes in consumption of processed foods; and (5) to consider major elements in the outlook for processed foods.