Patterns of food consumption and nutritional intake strongly affect the population's health and well-being. The Food Economics Division of USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) engages in research and data collection to inform policy making related to the leading federal nutrition assistance programs managed by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. The ERS uses the Consumer Food Data System to understand why people choose foods, how food assistance programs affect these choices, and the health impacts of those choices. At the request of ERS, A Consumer Food Data System for 2030 and Beyond provides a blueprint for ERS's Food Economics Division for its data strategy over the next decade. This report explores the quality of data collected, the data collection process, and the kinds of data that may be most valuable to researchers, policy makers, and program administrators going forward. The recommendations of A Consumer Food Data System for 2030 and Beyond will guide ERS to provide and sustain a multisource, interconnected, reliable data system.

The FAD System developed by the ERS tracks annual food and nutrient availability for many commodities. The FAD series in this system overstates actual consumption, so ERS has included an additional series, the Loss-Adjusted Food Availability (LAFA) data, to adjust the FAD for non-edible food parts and food losses, including losses from farm to retail, at retail, and at the consumer level. This report proposes new consumer-level loss estimates for "cooking loss and uneaten food" to replace those currently used in the LAFA data and proposes their adoption for the entire data span. The proposed loss percentages are calculated by subtracting food consumption estimates from food purchase or availability estimates for each food. A print on demand report.