06/09/08 The High Cost of Eating Out

The High Cost of Eating Out. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Americans are spending almost as much on food to be consumed away from home as they are on food consumed at home, according to recent statistics. The trend works just fine for northwest agriculture. Times continue to change for the northwest and U.S. consumer. A busier lifestyle where time and convenience are major factors has sent people out of the house more often for meals. SEARLE: Over the last decade, the percent of consumer dollars spent away from home on food- restaurants and such- has hovered between 45 and 47 percent. Brent Searle, analyst with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, says that percentage is now at an all time high of 48.9 percent. It's estimated that the average person now eats out 205 times a year. Those new numbers emphasize the importance of the restaurant and food service trade for agricultural producers and processors. But the convenience issue is also affecting the meals that are prepared at home. SEARLE: Certainly the food served at home, even though it's in the at-home category, is very different than it was. You look back a couple of decades. It's much more prepared and packaged now- pre-cooked, pre-cut. The bottom line for agriculture remains simple. The product will go to where the market is, no matter if the consumer eats their meals at home or away from home. Searle says the amount of food expenditures away from home has been dipping and peaking the past decade and a half, but is back on the upswing. SEARLE: In the mid 90s, 1997-98, the dot com boom was at its peak. Eating out is 49 percent, which is an all time high. It dropped back in 2001, with 9/11, almost a percentage back to 46.1 percent of food dollars spent away from home. Searle says the trend towards eating out as much as eating at home provides a great opportunity for northwest ag producers and processors: SEARLE: Restaurants and other local venues are finding that consumers are increasingly interested in local food. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.