Understanding Food Consumption Patterns and Foodways: Influences and Trends - Prof. Laura , Study notes of Agricultural engineering

Download Understanding Food Consumption Patterns and Foodways: Influences and Trends - Prof. Laura and more Study notes Agricultural engineering in PDF only on Docsity! ABM 100 Chapter 3 Book Notes – Food Consumption & Marketing – pg (37-52) - pg (37) – These food consumption patterns are influenced by physiological needs, social conditions, and economic factors - Food Preferences – pg (38-39):  Each society develops common patterns of dealing with food, which we refer to as foodways. These foodways govern how food is acquired, prepared, and eaten.  Foodways:  Complex behavioral patterns that, from the standpoint of food marketing, have four important characteristics  1) No 2 societies have identical foodways  2) Standardized foodways result in somewhat similar and stable food preferences and eating patterns within a society  3) Foodways defining “how to eat” add social significance to the diet and are taught to each succeeding generation  4) Foodways adapt to socioeconomic changes such as urbanization, education, income, technology, and changing lifestyles  American Foodways are the result of 5 influences  1) The functional, physiological values of foods (their nutritional contributions to health and survival)  2) The sociopsychological values of foods (status, religion, aesthetics, and lifestyle)  3) Economic values of foods  4) The availability of foods  5) The consumer’ knowledge and information about foods  In high-income, affluent, urbanized societies food consumers purchase much more than physical farm products. Modern consumers don’t want only farm products, they want food, and increasingly they don’t want just food, they want a meal.  The modern consumer purchases a whole bundle of attributes, which includes, along with farm products, time, form, space, and possession utilities.  Even the store where the food is purchased and the setting in which it is served contribute to consumer’s satisfaction and must be considered part of the product bundle  The task of food marketing firms is to discover the product bundle of attributes that will appeal, profitably, to consumers. This search results in large expenditures for product innovation and design, packaging, merchandising, and advertising - Food Consumption & Expenditure Patterns – pg (39-40):  From 1930-1999  Total spending and per capita food expenditures rose significantly over this period. However, because food spending rose less rapidly than the consumers’ income, the share of consumers’ income spent for food declined from 24% to 10%  Consumers’ food expenditures are rising for 3 reasons…  1) Increased population and quantities of food eaten  2) Rising food prices  3) Consumer preferences for more expensive foods and marketing services  In recent years, rising retail food prices have accounted for most of the increase in consumer’s food bills. The second most important reason for this rise has been the result of consumers substituting more expensive foods into their diet and eating away from home more frequently.  Only a small portion of the rise has been due to increased quantities of food eaten  Trends in Consumption:  Per Capita Consumer Food Expenditures  Increasing  Total Food Spending as % of disposable income  Decreasing  Spending on food eaten away from home  Increasing  Retail Food Prices  Increasing  Calories Consumed Per Day  Increasing (fluctuated through 1930 – 1960 period but began increasing again from 1970 – 2000)  Low point of caloric intake at 1957 then has been increasing ever since  These changing consumption patterns are of enormous importance to food producers and marketing firms  Considerable money is spent monitoring these trends and attempting to influence them through new product development and promotional efforts - Demographics of Food Consumption – pg (41):  Demography is the study of populations  These trends influence food marketing by affecting the number of mouths to feed, what people eat, where food is sold, and how people buy their food  Mobility of the population influences the food marketing machinery… ~20% of Americans move each year, but only 3% move to another state, This alters the food distribution network  Urbanization is another important demographic trend. In 1997 – 80% of the population live in metropolitan areas compared with 56% in 1956.  The age and education of the population also influence food consumption.  With the aging of baby boomers and reduced family sizes, the percentage of the population under 18 years of age is declining.  These informational programs allegedly import consumer food choices and contribute to more competitive food markets - Diet, Health, and Food Marketing – pg (47-48):  In recent years, many Americans have become more concerned with their food choices. There is a growing awareness of the connection between diet and health  This has changed the demand for some farm products…  Notably  Grains, fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy products, fats and oils, sugar, and meat types. It has also affected the marketing programs of food firms  Functional Foods:  Foods which are believed to provide medical or health benefits, including disease prevention or treatment, beyond the general health benefits of any foods.  Sometimes Functional Foods are also called Farmaceuticals  Functional Foods include  products with improved nutritional contents (i.e. – vitamin fortified), altered food values (i.e. – low-fat, diet, low- cholesterol, sugar-free, leaner meats), and changed ingredients (i.e. – poultry-based hot dogs, soymilk)  The trend towards more healthy eating is resulting from the gaining population of baby boomers and a growing American lifestyle which places greater responsibility on the individual for personal health - Away From Home Food Market – pg (48-49):  Increased consumer incomes, working spouses, and changed lifestyles have contributed to a rapid growth in the away-from-home food market, sometimes referred to as the institutional or foodservice market. Food eaten away from home accounted for ~50 percent of all food expenditures in 1999  The foodservice sector includes restaurants, schools, factories, and hospital cafeterias, hotel and motel eating places, government foodservice operations and military feeding establishments  For many restaurants, ~45% to ~65% of the price changed to consumers’ represents nonfood costs of service and profits, whereas ~80% of supermarket price represent food costs.  Because of the higher ratio of marketing services to food, farmers receive a smaller share of the away-from-home food dollar than they receive for food purchased at grocery stores  The eating-out trend has markedly affected sales of hamburgers, chicken, pasta, potatoes, and ketchup - Public Food Programs – pg (50):  The U.S. Department of Agriculture administers several government food assistance programs, including the following:  Food Stamp Program, Child Nutrition Programs (school breakfast and lunch, the special milk program, the child and adult care food program, and the summer food service program); the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC); the nutritional program for the elderly; and the emergency food assistance program, among others  In addition to assisting low-income people and promoting better nutrition, one of the original objectives of these public food programs was to reduce agricultural surpluses by increasing the demand for food  By reducing the income required for food purchases, the programs allow participants to expand nonfood purchases on housing, medical care, and other non-food items 