BlManctster Fanning, Saturday, April 8,1989
COLLEGE PARK, Md.
Take a look in almost any shop
ping bag -- paper or plastic -- and
you’ll see signs that the American
diet is changing ... for the better.
More than ever, concerns about
health and nutrition are influenc
ing what foods people buy and
how they prepare them.
’There was a time when con
sumers bought products based
mainly on taste, convenience,
price and even how much they
liked the package,” says Dr. Mark
A. Kantor, a nutrition specialist
with the University of Maryland
Cooperative Extension Service.
“But I think it’s safe to say that
times have changed. The 1980 s
may well be remembered as the
decade that began the great nutri
tion revolution -- a time when con
sumers began to make food
choices and plan their meals with
nutrition in mind.”
Thai’s not to say that taste isn’t
important; it is. But nutrition is
catching up. In its 1988 ’Trends”
survey, the Food Marketing Insti
tute (FMI), a national trade associ
ation representing supermarket
companies, reported that taste was
“very important” to nearly nine
out of ten shoppers (88 percent),
followed by product safety, which
was very important to 83 percent
of shoppers. Seven out of ten (72
percent) shoppers said nutrition
was very important, ranking it
above price, storability and ease of
preparation. And when shoppers
who thought nutrition was “some
what important” were taken into
account, nutrition tied with taste
and safety (at 98 percent) as a fac
tor that influences purchase
decisions.
More than two-thirds of the
shoppers surveyed by FMI said
they frequently select foods to
balance their families’ diet and
serve nutritional snacks, such as
fruits and vegetables.
‘These findings suggest that for
almost all shoppers, nutrition
plays a major role in the selection
of food items,” notes Kantor.
Changes in shopping behavior
have been matched by changes in
the kitchen. Two-thirds (67 per
cent) of the shoppers questioned
for FMl’s ‘Trends’* report, for
example, say they cook or prepare
foods differently than they did
three to five years ago. They use
less salt and sugar (40 and 17 per
New American Revolution
cent, respectively), eat more veg
etables and fresh foods (20 per
cent) and less red meat (IS per
cent). These figures represent an
increase of at least eight percen
tage points in each category since
last year.
Based on a national telephone
survey of some 1,000 adult shop
pers, FMl’s survey results are
similar to those revealed in polls
conducted to evaluate federal
public health programs. Called
“Health and Diet Surveys,” these
polls are based on telephone inter
views with some 4,000 consumers
nationwide.
Their most recent results indi
cate that 61 percent of Americans
have made major diet changes
during the past two years, specifi
cally to reduce their risks of
cancer and heart disease.
Efforts to reduce fat intake -
especially by cutting down on red
meat -- predominate, followed by
attempts to cut back on salt, sugar,
and cholesterol. Consumers inter
viewed for the federal surveys
also reported eating more fish,
poultry, fresh produce and bran or
whole-grain products.
Kantor isn’t surprised.
“Since the early 19705, per
capita consumption of fresh veget
ables has increased more than 20
pecent - from 75 pounds a year to
more than 90 pounds today,” he
says. “Fresh fruit consumption has
increased more than 13 percent,
with each American now eating
more than 210 pounds a year.”
If you extend the dielaty com
parison to 1965, the differences
are even more dramatic. We’re
eating 34 percent more fish, 120
percent more pasta products, 198
percent more low-fat milk and
yogurt and a whopping 767 per
cent more broccoli.
Many of these changes can be
attributed to advertising, increased
media attention and public infor
mation campaigns.
“Consumers are literally being
bombarded with messages about
nutrition,” says Kantor. “Even a
casual television views’ like me
can’t help but notice all the com
mercials that emphasize nutrition.
And have you noticed there seem
to be more and more popular
magazines dealing with nutrition,
health and fitness appearing on the
newsstands?”
Paralleling consumers’
increased awareness of the diet
health link is a growing interest in
food quality and safety. Three
fourths of consumers consider
pesticide and herbicide residues to
be a “serious hazard,” and an addi
tional 20 percent deem them
“something of a hazard,” accord
ing to the 1988 ‘Trends” survey.
Their No. 2 concern is antibiotics
and hormones in poultry and
livestock, considered a serious
hazard by six out of ten shoppers
(61 percent) and something of a
hazard by three out of ten (28
percent).
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and techniques.”
And what better time to focus
on such issues than National Agri
culture Week. Designed to cele
brate and focus attention on an
industry that affects all of us, the
event is sponsored in Maryland by
Maryland Agriculture Week, Inc.,
the University of Maryland
Cooperative Extension Service
and the Maryland Department of
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