In the 1970s, Americans ate most of their meals at home, and while that’s still largely true today, the way Americans eat has changed dramatically over the past half century.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture study, consumers currently get about one-third of their calories from eating out, with many of those coming from fast-food chains. In the late 1970s, Americans got about 6 percent of their calories from fast food. Today, that number is about 16 percent.
In general, the USDA considers eating out to be worse for your diet than cooking at home. The exception is school lunches, which follow federal nutritional guidelines.
The pandemic dramatically slowed dining out trends for at least a year, and as things started to open up again, Americans started spending more money at restaurants than ever before.
In general, the cost of food has been rising over the past few decades, regardless of where it’s consumed: In 2022, Americans spend about 70% more on food than they did in the late 1990s, taking inflation into account.
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Sky Chadde has covered the agriculture industry for Investigate Midwest since 2019 and spent much of 2020 focusing on the COVID-19 crisis in meat processing plants, collecting and analyzing… More articles by Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
