Consumers spend 10% on food

RBC — Food Check-out Week, Feb. 3-9, commemorates the time of year when the average American will have earned enough income to pay for the entire year’s food supply. It takes just five weeks to pay for an American family’s food supply for the year. In contrast, Americans must work much longer to earn enough disposable income to pay for health and medical care (52 days), housing and household operation (62 days) and federal taxes (77 days) for the entire year.
Food Check-out Week celebrations will take place nationally and statewide. On the national level, the American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee will donate food and groceries to the Ronald McDonald House in South Carolina and prepare a spaghetti dinner for the house guests. Ronald McDonald Houses provide a home away from home for families with sick or injured children being treated in a nearby hospital, and is supported by state Farm Bureaus nationwide. In Colorado, Farm Bureau members and county farm bureaus have donated money to be used to purchase groceries for the Denver House. The state women’s committee will purchase and deliver $1,000 in groceries, plus prepare a baked potato bar for house guests, with potatoes grown in the San Luis Valley. They will also present a food gift card to the Colorado Springs Ronald McDonald House.
U.S. consumers spend just under 10 percent of their disposable annual income on food. They also enjoy the safest and most abundant food supply on earth. Food Check-out Week is an ideal time to promote the good news about agriculture with consumers.