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
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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.
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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.
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.
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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
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
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
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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
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.
Contents
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
D Biographical Sketches of Speakers and Steering Committee Members
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