The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Economic
Research Service's (ERS) Food Availability Data System includes
three distinct but related data series on food and nutrient
availability for consumption. The data serve as popular proxies for
actual consumption at the national level for over 200 commodities
(e.g., fresh spinach, beef, and eggs). The core Food Availability
(FA) data series provides data on the amount of food available, per
capita, for human consumption in the United States with data back
to 1909 for many commodities. The Loss-Adjusted Food Availability
(LAFA) data series is derived from the FA data series by adjusting
for food spoilage, plate waste, and other losses to more closely
approximate 4 actual intake. The LAFA data provide daily estimates
of the per capita availability amounts adjusted for loss (e.g., in
pounds, ounces, grams, and gallons as appropriate), calories, and
food pattern equivalents (i.e., "servings") of the five major food
groups (fruit, vegetables, grains, meat, and dairy) available for
consumption plus the amounts of added sugars and sweeteners and
added fats and oils available for consumption. This fiscal year, as
part of its initiative to systematically review all of its major
data series, ERS decided to review the FADS data system. One of the
goals of this review is to advance the knowledge and understanding
of the measurement and technical aspects of the data supporting
FADS so the data can be maintained and improved. Data and Research
to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food
Loss is the summary of a workshop convened by the Committee on
National Statistics of the National Research Council and the Food
and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine to advance
knowledge and understanding of the measurement and technical
aspects of the data supporting the LAFA data series so that these
data series and subsequent food availability and food loss
estimates can be maintained and improved. The workshop considered
such issues as the effects of termination of selected Census Bureau
and USDA data series on estimates for affected food groups and
commodities; the potential for using other data sources, such as
scanner data, to improve estimates of food availability; and
possible ways to improve the data on food loss at the farm and
retail levels and at restaurants. This report considers knowledge
gaps, data sources that may be available or could be generated to
fill gaps, what can be learned from other countries and
international organizations, ways to ensure consistency of
treatment of commodities across series, and the most promising
opportunities for new data for the various food availability
series. Table of Contents Front Matter 1 Introduction and
Background 2 The Food Availability System and Food Loss Estimates:
Current Methods, Data, and Uses 3 Historical and Current Uses of
the Data for Economic Modeling and Reporting of Statistical Trends
4 Alternative Approaches for Estimating Food Availability:
International and Domestic 5 Alternative Approaches for Estimating
Food Loss: International and Domestic 6 Wrap-Up Bibliography
Appendix A: Glossary and Acronyms Appendix B: Agenda Appendix C:
Workshop Participants Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Speakers
and Steering Committee Members Committee on National Statistics
Food and Nutrition Board
General
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