Purdue survey finds lower-income households lagging in food satisfaction
Compared with lower income earners, the wealthiest consumers report the most satisfaction with their diets, new survey data from Purdue University shows.
Highlights of Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability July 2023 Consumer Food Insights Report include:
- Food-at-home spending is up 4.6% from July 2022, reaching its highest level yet.
- Consumers’ predictions for food inflation over the next 12 months have dropped to 3.7%.
- Food insecurity is a percentage point lower than last month but higher than the 2022 average for the third straight month.
- Consumers most satisfied with their food consumption (i.e., thriving) also spend the lowest share of their incomes on food.
- Consumers most unsatisfied with their diets also have the fewest resources to pursue more sustainable food purchasing.
- Consumers greatly favor beef from cattle over cell-cultured/lab-grown meat, though these alternatives rate best on animal welfare.
The report is based on a poll of 1,200 consumers across the U.S., according to a news release.
“With food-at-home spending continuing to drive up total food spending at the same time that consumers predict annual food inflation will drop below 4%, we could continue to describe consumers as cautiously optimistic,” Sam Polzin, a food and agriculture survey scientist for the center and co-author of the report, said in the release. “However, it seems that the government measure of food inflation is now dropping faster than consumer expectations for inflation, which signals that consumers are potentially becoming more accustomed to higher inflation.”
On average, consumers in July were spending about $126 per week on groceries and $68 per week on restaurants and other carryout, according to the report.
Compared to last July, grocery spending is up 5%, while restaurant spending is down 2%, the report said.
“This annual decline in [restaurant] spending is somewhat surprising as government measures of inflation show restaurant food inflation remaining higher than grocery inflation,” the report said.
Nearly 3 of 4 Americans generally continue to report that their food satisfaction is thriving, Joseph Balagtas, the new Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability director and a professor of agricultural economics.
Eighty-one percent of households making more than $100,000 annually reported “thriving” diet satisfaction, compared with 68% of those making less than $50,000 a year, according to the survey.
“Consumers who report that they are thriving are more often than not checking the nutrition label on a new product before they buy it, while those who are suffering are only sometimes or rarely checking nutrition labels,” Balagtas said in the release. “This gap also relates to consumption choices that are typically thought of as more sustainable or ethical, such as choosing local foods or grass-fed beef.”
Food spending has been much more variable for consumers who report that they are suffering on the food satisfaction index, he said in the release. A certain group of consumers that has struggled to cope with the high-price environment while more well-off consumers can maintain a stable level of consumption, according to the release.
“We see further that the most satisfied consumers also value nutrition much more, nearly as much as the taste of their food,” Polzin said in the release. “These trends help demonstrate that considering nutrition in food consumption is a fairly big privilege afforded to those with more resources.”
A large majority of consumers continue to do most of their grocery shopping at the grocery store, the report said.
“There is some public concern that inflation pressures will push people to less desirable shopping outlets like dollar stores, but we see little evidence of this change,” according to the report.
The report said the share of consumers who are purchasing their groceries online has decreased by 2 percentage points since last July, from 17% in 2022 to 15% in 2023.
