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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

DATA AND RESEARCH TO IMPROVE
THE U.S. FOOD AVAILABILITY SYSTEM
AND ESTIMATES OF FOOD LOSS

A    W  O  R  K  S  H  O  P    S  U  M  M  A  R  Y  

Nancy J. Kirkendall, Rapporteur

Committee on National Statistics

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

Food and Nutrition Board

Institute of Medicine

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL AND
                      INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
                             OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. AG-32SB-C-13-0017 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. Support of the work of the Committee on National Statistics is provided by a consortium of federal agencies through a grant from the National Science Foundation (No. SES-1024012). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-31417-6
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-31417-8

Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242; http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2015 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested citation: National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2015). Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. N.J. Kirkendall, Rapporteur. Committee on National Statistics, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

STEERING COMMITTEE ON DATA AND RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE U.S. FOOD AVAILABILITY SYSTEM AND ESTIMATES OF FOOD LOSS: A WORKSHOP

MARY MUTH (Chair), Food and Nutrition Policy Research Program, RTI International

SUSAN M. KREBS-SMITH, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute

JEFFREY T. LAFRANCE, Department of Economics, Monash University

SARAH NUSSER, Department of Statistics, Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology, Iowa State University

JOSEF SCHMIDHUBER, Statistics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations

JEAN SCHWAB, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

ANN YAKTINE, Study Director

NANCY KIRKENDALL, Senior Program Officer

ANTHONY MANN, Program Coordinator

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL STATISTICS 2013-2014

LAWRENCE D. BROWN (Chair), Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

JOHN M. ABOWD, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University

MARY ELLEN BOCK, Department of Statistics, Purdue University

DAVID CARD, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley

ALICIA CARRIQUIRY, Department of Statistics, Iowa State University

MICHAEL E. CHERNEW, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School

CONSTANTINE GATSONIS, Center for Statistical Sciences, Brown University

JAMES S. HOUSE, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

MICHAEL HOUT, Department of Sociology, New York University

SALLIE KELLER, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, Arlington, VA

LISA LYNCH, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University

COLM O’MUIRCHEARTAIGH, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago

RUTH PETERSON, Criminal Justice Research Center, Ohio State University

EDWARD H. SHORTLIFFE, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, and Department of Biomedical Informatics, Mayo Clinic Campus of Arizona State University

HAL STERN, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine

CONSTANCE F. CITRO, Director

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

FOOD AND NUTRITION BOARD 2013-2014

SUZANNE P. MURPHY (Chair), Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center

CHERYL A. M. ANDERSON, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego

PATSY M. BRANNON, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University

SHARON M. DONOVAN, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

LEE-ANN JAYKUS, Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutritional Sciences, North Carolina State University

ALICE H. LICHTENSTEIN, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University

JOANNE R. LUPTON, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Texas A&M University

JAMES M. NTAMBI, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin–Madison

RAFAEL PÉREZ-ESCAMILLA, Office of Community Health and Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health

A. CATHARINE ROSS, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University

MARY T. STORY, Global Health and Community and Family Medicine, Duke Global Health Institute at Duke University

KATHERINE L. TUCKER, Department of Clinical Laboratory & Nutritional Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

CONNIE M. WEAVER, Department of Food and Nutrition, Purdue University

ANN YAKTINE, Interim Director

GERALDINE KENNEDO, Administrative Assistant

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

Acknowledgment of Reviewers

This workshop summary has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published summary as sound as possible and to ensure that the summary meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this workshop summary: Barbara Burlingame, independent nutrition consultant, Center for Food Studies, American University of Rome, and honorary professor at Deakin University in Australia; Susan M. Krebs-Smith, Applied Research Program, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute; Brian Lipinski, People and Ecosystems Program, World Resources Institute; and Laurian J. Unnevehr, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they did not see the final draft of the workshop summary before its release. The review of this summary was overseen by Johanna T. Dwyer, senior nutrition scientist, Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health, and Frances Stern Nutrition Center, Tufts Medical Center. Appointed by the National Research

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

Council, she was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this summary was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this summary rests entirely with the author and the institution.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
Page R8
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
Page R10
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Data and Research to Improve the U.S. Food Availability System and Estimates of Food Loss: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18978.
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Page R12
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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.

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