Updated
Updated · Successful Farming · Aug 7
USDA Says Farms Capture 18.5 Cents of Home Food Dollar, 2.6x Restaurant Share
Updated
Updated · Successful Farming · Aug 7

USDA Says Farms Capture 18.5 Cents of Home Food Dollar, 2.6x Restaurant Share

1 articles · Updated · Successful Farming · Aug 7

Summary

  • USDA data for 2024 show farms received 18.5 cents of every dollar spent on food at home, versus 7.1 cents when consumers ate away from home.
  • That gap reflects higher marketing costs outside the home: the non-farm share was 81.5 cents for at-home food and 92.9 cents for away-from-home spending.
  • USDA economists said the farm-share measure highlights how domestically produced food follows different paths to consumers, with processing, retailing and other services taking a larger cut in restaurant and similar purchases.
  • ERS said the single “food dollar” framework is meant to simplify comparisons of food cost structures and track how those costs change over time.

Insights

If the farmer's share of our food dollar is shrinking, why are total agricultural revenues actually surging?
Why do farmers only see 7 cents of your restaurant dollar, and who is quietly pocketing the rest?
Could buying directly from local farmers completely disrupt the trillion-dollar food marketing machine we rely on?