Farmers in the United States produce almost 4,000 calories per day per person. This is more than twice the average person's daily caloric need, and about 700 more calories per day than were produced in the 1980s. Out of that, the average American eats about 2,750 calories a day. Some of the rest is fed to animals or exported, but about a fourth of edible food is wasted.
More facts about food production in the U.S.:
- More than 80 percent of corn and more than 90 percent of soybeans grown in the U.S. are genetically modified (GMO). This is more than four times the amount of GMO corn and soybeans produced in the mid-1990s.
- Nearly 60 percent of all grains grown in the U.S. are fed to animals.
- Farmers receive about half as much compensation per US Dollar (USD) as they did in the 1970s.