What's for dinner?
It's a deceptively simple question, one that's asked millions of times every day. But when we consider the myriad of factors that go into answering it—from cost to convenience to climate change—it's no wonder we spend so much time thinking about the food we eat.
And that's not counting breakfast, lunch or snacks.
Much depends on Americans' dietary choices, including trillions of dollars in spending and our collective risk of developing a host of chronic diseases. That's why the International Food Information Council conducts an annual survey on food and health.
“It's about understanding the consumer mindset,” said Kris Sollid, a registered dietitian and senior director of nutrition communications for the industry-funded nonprofit.
Over nearly two decades of IFIC surveys, taste has consistently ranked as the most important factor in food purchasing decisions, followed by price, healthiness, convenience and environmental sustainability.
In the 2024 survey, which was answered by 3,000 Americans in March, about 30% of respondents said the sustainability of an item was very important when making purchasing decisions about what to eat and drink.
That may not seem like much, considering that scientists are already looking for ways to feed the nearly 10 billion people expected to live on the planet by 2050 while reducing greenhouse gas emissions that trap the atmosphere. heat.
But for Sollid, the fact that 30% of respondents gave sustainability a score of 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale is a good result.
“Of course I would like to see that number higher, there's no doubt about that,” he said.
Here's a look at the state of the American diet, based on data from new IFIC findings.
What goes through our minds when we decide what to eat?
To start, we look for something that gives us energy or helps us combat fatigue. But health considerations are also a priority.
What type of foods do we choose?
Protein is the most popular nutrient right now: 20% of respondents said they had followed a “high protein” diet in the past year, up from just 4% five years earlier. But it's not the only thing we want in our food.
At the same time, Americans are trying to reduce their consumption of ingredients that are bad for us.
For example, 50% of respondents said they were trying to limit or avoid sodium or salt. Too much salt can cause blood pressure to rise, and high blood pressure (also known as hypertension) is a risk factor for serious health problems such as heart disease and stroke.
Additionally, 44% of respondents said they tried to limit or avoid saturated fats. This is the type of fat that can cause LDL (bad) cholesterol to build up in your blood vessels, which also increases your risk of heart disease and stroke.
But public enemy number one is sugar.
What's wrong with sugar?
Our bodies need some sugar for energy. But when we consume too much at once (which is easy to do by eating sodas, breakfast cereals, and all kinds of ultra-processed foods) it is stored as fat, which can lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, among others. . other problems.
Two-thirds of respondents to the IFIC survey said they were trying to limit their sugar consumption and 11% said they were trying to avoid it altogether. Their main targets were added sugars in packaged foods and drinks, although some were also reducing natural sugars present in foods such as fruits and natural dairy products.
The reasons for giving up sugar were a combination of current and future health concerns.
What other concerns influence our food choices?
We don't just think about ourselves when we decide what to eat. For many people, concerns about the way our food is produced are important when deciding to purchase a particular food or drink.
That concern extends to animals, to the people involved in all aspects of putting food on our plates (from farmers to factory workers to grocery store and restaurant staff), and to the planet itself. .
How do we measure if a food was made with the environment in mind?
The good news is that this is something that worries more than 70% of those surveyed. The bad news is that there is no easy way to tell.
“There is no true definition of what makes a food environmentally sustainable,” Sollid said. “There's nothing anyone can look at on a food package to know if this option is better than that option.”
Instead, environmentally conscious consumers use the following clues to guide them:
Will people pay more for an ecological product?
Producing food and drink sustainably often involves additional costs. Then the IFIC proposed this hypothetical scenario:
Imagine that you go to the store to buy a specific item and find three options. One costs $3 and has an icon that says “not very green.” Another costs $5 and is labeled “something green.” The third costs $7 and is “very ecological.”
What would you choose?
What is the relationship between food and stress?
The survey found that it goes both ways: Stress affects the foods we choose, and the foods we choose can cause stress.
It's a topic that IFIC began asking about after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which created both economic and food insecurity.
“COVID uncovered a lot of distress or potential sources of stress that a lot of people had to deal with,” Sollid said.
Four years later, nearly two-thirds of respondents are dealing with a significant amount of stress, up from 60% in 2023.
Why are we so stressed?
Money and health problems continue to be the biggest sources of stress among those who said they were “very” or “somewhat” stressed. Food choices weigh on the minds of nearly 1 in 4 people in this category.
Are we eating our feelings?
Some of us are. Nearly two-thirds of people said their mental and emotional well-being had a significant or moderate impact on their diet.
Among those who were at least somewhat stressed, about half said their food and drink choices were affected as a result. However, a small number responded to stress by seeking out healthier options.
