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Diets Around the
World: How the Menu Varies
People may think globally, but we still eat local. Here’s a look at how diets differ around the world.
People may think globally, but we eat locally. Despite the pervasive influence of "Western" cuisine and a near-universal shift to a more diverse menu in recent decades, globalized markets have yet to produce a globalized diet.
Local tastes, traditions, agronomics and incomes still determine what the majority of people eat around the world. By choice or necessity, it’s different foods for different folks.
One measure of how average diets differ comes from United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization data on production, trade and consumption by country and region. The data provide a tool for estimating calorie consumption by food group, based on the available per capita food supply.
In addition to regional dissimilarities in diets, the figures reveal some notable changes over the last few decades. For example, average global calorie consumption has increased, reaching record levels in recent years. Rising incomes allowed most regions of the world to expand both the variety and quantity of foods consumed.
Among developing countries as a group, daily calories per person rose by nearly 25% between the early 1970s and the mid-1990s. These countries were able to increase the consumption of meat and poultry, fats and oils, and fruits and vegetables.
But not everyone found a place at the banquet. Among the poorest countries, gains were marginal, and average diets continue to depend mainly on a limited range of locally produced foods. For developing countries overall, nearly two-thirds of the diet still consists of cereal grains (such as rice, wheat or maize) and starchy roots and pulses (such as potatoes, cassava and beans).
Calorie consumption per person has also increased in industrialized countries, though at a slower pace. In general, diets in industrialized countries remain much more diverse than diets in developing countries.
This diversity includes a smaller place on the plate for cereal grains, as well as larger portions of fats and oils, thanks to foods like french fries.
The charts below present some comparisons of average diets in different parts of the world, based on the percentage of calories available for consumption among major food groups during 1995-97. Exporters take note: These averages mask wide differences among countries within regions and among different income, ethnic and other groups within individual countries.
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Source: Material is based on the data and analysis of economist Stacey Rosen (202-694-5164; e-mail: slrosen@econ.ag.gov ), Economic Research Service, USDA, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Agrostat database. Chart data is for 1995-97.
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