American’s still spending 10% of income on food

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American’s still spending 10% of income on food

A recent report by the Economic Research Service finds Americans have spent nearly the same portion of their income on food for the past two decades but a larger share has been spent on food away-from-home.

The agency says in 2000, the average share of Americans’ disposable personal income spent on food totaled about 10 percent.  Researchers say slightly less than six percent of that was spent on food-at-home while the rest went to away-from-home purchases.

During the 2007-09 recession, away-from-home purchases dropped slightly more than one percent and only rose fractionally in the decade that followed.

The agency says food-away-from-home prices also grew more than prices for food at home in the last two decades. Food-away-from-home prices increased by nearly 70 percent between 2000 and 2019, and food-at-home prices rose by 44.0 percent.

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