Industry
drivers for who survived
the production process? families continue to budget
the dollars they have. people really don’t want to give
up something they once had.
The drivers identified in 2006
probably still are present. The
first driver is increased income
levels, with dual-income
families and related lifestyles.
Income is not guaranteed, and As income declines, spending
will shrink, but more
importantly, the related lifestyle
will not, at least willingly. I guess The second driver is a healthy
lifestyle. No doubt that obesity
and the associated health
costs continue to surface as a
major concern. As a result, the
caloric content of purchased
food now is displayed
widely. Do caloric numbers
change food purchases?
Maybe, or maybe not.
The basic farm and ranch
products, when served without
processed side dishes, have
very acceptable caloric content.
Will consumers respond?
A quick lunch today of basic
farm and ranch products
with 300 to 500 calories
could be purchased easily. A
side of dip and chips could
add almost another 1,000
calories, and that was before
the potential visit to the
automatic soft drink dispenser.
What drives this? If one drops
the side dish and drinks water,
calories were not an issue.
Consumers and agricultural
producers certainly should
be on the same page for
the second issue. Yes, some
progress has been made with
increased visibility of caloric
numbers, but consumers still
need to change some well-
engrained eating habits.
178 | JUNE/JULY 2018
The third issue identified
by Jensen was a slowdown
in population growth. The
North American population
is aging and more ethnically
diverse because of increased