This is the reason America leads in the world in health care costs. 


 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to view a larger version of the food consumption infographic.

The image comes from Visual Economics and combines data from sources such as the USDA, FDA, and CDC. According to their report, the average man is 5'9" and weighs 190 pounds, while the average woman is 5'4" and weighs 164 lbs. Not good. 

The average American ingests 1,996.3 pounds of food per year which includes gross statistics like we consume 141.6 pounds of sweeteners (42 of them from corn syrup). And we eat so many animal products -- 62.4 pounds of beef, 46.5 pounds of pork, and 73.6 pounds of poultry, primarily chicken  -- and 600.5 pounds of dairy products other than cheese (an additional 31.4 pounds). Also, we drink a gallon of soda a week.

To quote Michael Pollan's classic axiom in Unhappy Meals: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

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