Food Balance Sheets
Food balance sheets are commonly used to assess food consumption on the national
level. They provide information on annual food production, distribution of food
within the country, and imports and exports. They do not measure food actually
consumed. The information from food balance sheets can be used to formulate
agricultural policies, monitor changes over time, and compare food supplies
among countries.
The gross national food supply is totaled by taking into account values of
domestic food production, food taken from stocks minus exports, food
added to stocks, food diverted for non-human food, and estimated waste. It is
often converted to a daily per capita basis using population estimates
for the country. This information can be found in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion publication The
Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply, 1909-94.
Market Databases
Commercial market databases report projected sales of packaged foods sold in
grocery stores. This information can be used to analyze trends in consumer
purchases of foods, food groups, or individual brands nation-wide.
