Food Trends

According to Nielsen Company executive Todd Hale, economic concerns are benefiting sales of fresh meat more than any other edible product as more U.S. consumers are choosing to cook at home.

In a survey commissioned by IBM, nearly three-quarters (72%) of U.S. consumers have made "significant spending cuts" because of the economy. However, there are certain things consumers are unwilling to cut out altogether. For instance, 10% of respondents said they refuse to give up meat, poultry, fish and seafood, while 8% refused to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, milk, or juice.

This paper examines thirty-nine Finnish experts' views on the development of meat consumption and identifies possible factors affecting meat consumption in the future.

According to personal interviews with 770 regular meat buyers in the Bio-Bio and Araucanía regions of Chile, researchers found that information regarding animal treatment was more important to these consumers than price. However, while animal welfare is desirable, consumers are not willing to pay significantly more when buying meat in order to gain information about animal handling.

Survey results released by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) found that about two-thirds of China's consumers stopped eating pork after the initial outbreak of the H1N1 influenza in early 2009.

According to an analysis of Australian egg industry data, an insufficient number of free-range layer hens exist in the country to produce the stated number of eggs sold that were labeled as "free-range."

YouGov and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals conducted an online survey and found that about 93% of the population consumes meat and animal welfare is considered to be an important factor by about 28% of consumers when purchasing meat products.

According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), 80% of the restaurants at the busiest 15 airports in the U.S. offer at least one low-fat, cholesterol-free vegetarian entree.

Poor nutrition is a leading contributor to childhood obesity, which prompted the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to analyze elementary school lunches served by 20 school districts. The group surveyed healthy food options and found that more schools are now serving healthy items, including vegetarian dishes, on a daily basis.

According to results from the School Nutrition Association’s comprehensive "School Nutrition Operations Report: The State of School Nutrition 2009," healthy options are becoming increasingly common in lunch programs around the country. Specifically, availability of vegetarian menu items increased by 12.4% since 2007.