Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss A Workshop Summary (2015) / Chapter Skim
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3 Historical and Current Uses of the Data for Economic Modeling and Reporting of Statistical Trends
3 Historical and Current Uses of the Data for Economic Modeling and Reporting of Statistical Trends
Pages 42-66
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From page 42... ...
Helen Jensen (Iowa State University) talked about use of FADS data in economic modeling of food consumption, production, and policy.
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. According to Unnevehr, FADS data are uniquely suited for understanding demand at the aggregate or population level, and how supply and demand are linked.
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From page 44... ...
Unnevehr suggested it might be useful to track the use of FADS data in research through Internet search engines, warning, however, that the data are not always referred to as "food availability data" even though FADS data are being used. An analysis of use of the data over time might provide guidance about their value to research stakeholders, and identify who those researchers are and their real data needs.
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From page 45... ...
Unnevehr emphasized that supply and demand analysis is a foundational use of FADS data. In the 1980s, there were many estimates of meat demand, all trying to answer the same question with the same limited FADS data.
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The advantage of scanner data for this type of analysis is that there is more time and product specificity. In summary, she said, FADS data are just one of several different sources that people can use to study market impact questions.
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She noted that these were fairly simple assessments that considered how crop acreage would need to shift for production to meet demand that follows dietary guidance, without consideration of how international trade might change or whether new equilibrium prices would alter demand. She noted renewed interest in this question as shown by recent citations of these articles in papers regarding local foods and sustainable food supply.
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From page 48... ...
STATEMENT OF HELEN JENSEN ECONOMIC MODELING OF FOOD CONSUMPTION, PRODUCTION, AND POLICY Jensen talked about economic modeling relating to food consumption, production, and policy to provide a closer look at examples of the way FADS data are used to address policy questions. She noted that the
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Jensen provided three examples of uses of FADS data. The first, documented in Miao et al.
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Data from Economic Research Service Food Availability System, see http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ food-availability-(per-capita) -data-system.aspx [July 2014]
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Carcass Weight to Carcass Retail Boneless Retail Boneless 69.8 54.2 49.9 0.78 0.715 62.6 48.6 44.9 0.78 0.717 66.0 51.3 47.4 0.78 0.719 65.5 51.0 47.2 0.78 0.721 66.0 51.5 47.7 0.78 0.723 62.3 48.6 45.2 0.78 0.725 62.7 48.8 45.6 0.78 0.727 67.0 52.1 48.8 0.78 0.728 66.4 51.5 48.4 0.78 0.729 63.6 49.4 46.4 0.78 0.729 64.1 49.8 46.8 0.78 0.729 67.4 52.3 49.1 0.78 0.729 66.5 51.6 48.5 0.78 0.729 67.2 52.1 49.0 0.78 0.729 66.3 51.5 48.4 0.78 0.729 62.0 48.1 45.2 0.78 0.729 61.4 48.6 44.7 0.78 0.729 66.1 51.3 48.2 0.78 0.729 67.7 52.5 49.3 0.78 0.729 65.5 50.8 47.8 0.78 0.729 food markets: breakfast cereal/bakery, cheese,4 condiments, ice cream, juice, milk, processed fruits/vegetables, soft drinks, and sweetener products. The study considered the supply of sweetener-intensive foods from processors, used existing demand elasticities compiled by ERS, and con 4 Cheese spreads are examples of sweetened cheese products.
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It looked at the effect on sweetener consumption of taxes applied either to the input or to the final product and evaluated consumer welfare changes. The FA data measure the use of raw and semi-processed agricultural commodities from which a final food product is made.
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This large-scale model uses some FADS data and, she suggested, it might benefit from greater use. For example, the outcome could be expressed through FA to show results relative to food use.
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Jensen described the structure of the FAPRI model, in which equilibrating supply and demand comes about through price changes. In the baseline period, the system is in equilibrium, and a policy change from that baseline affects the supply side, causing the different commodity markets to adjust.
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Jensen ended her presentation by noting several features of the FADS data that support their utility for policy analysis. First, the data provide a consistent series of food use (disappearance)
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She said she views the FADS data not as a proxy for consumption, but as a measure of food entering retail distribution channels with implications for consumption. Two other key uses she identified are to examine the potential of the food supply to meet the nutritional needs of the U.S.
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was a landmark study about how the U.S. food supply compares to dietary recommendations and was one of the first uses of the LAFA data, also developed by Kantor.
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They quantified discrepancies at the individual and aggregate food supply levels, with an analysis
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. that involved NHANES data as well as food supply data.
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, a multicomponent index that captures diet in multiple dimensions, has been used to assess dietary patterns. The LAFA data, nutrient availability data, and salt availability data from the U.S.
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Her department has been filling this role for the Canadian equivalent of FADS for many years and has been a partner in Canada's food availability data system since the system began in about 1956. For the first few years, only basic data on food supply per capita were published.
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The approach likely underestimates food loss and waste, and food availability is generally calculated as a residual, so accuracy is sensitive to inaccuracies in all of the component data series. She noted Canada, too, has lost some input data series, particularly some manufacturing data sources.
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She noted that these ambiguities would benefit from additional research, and the rich underlying data used in the tables are worth discussing, debating, and improving. OPEN DISCUSSION Krebs-Smith asked Jensen about her point that few policy changes at the consumer level would have the same kind of impact as policy changes at the food production level, asking whether it relates to the point that food supply data show U.S.
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Krebs-Smith responded 12Portions of the CNPP's Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply Data are provided in tables on the ERS website in the Nutrient Availability data.
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In addition, the Canadian Community Health Survey -- Nutrition Module collected food consumption data via a food diary, but it did not collect information about food waste and has not been conducted since 2004. Finally, she noted that Gooch et al.
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She said a processor has a much greater ability to control food waste than a retailer has. Unnevehr echoed Jensen's point about processed foods, noting more and more of the food supply is in processed products.
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