The Big Picture: Obesity, Consumption, and Food Production

Reducing the percentage of Americans who are either overweight or obese to meet public health objectives may influence agricultural production+ The authors’ results show that reducing aggregate consumption by 6% to meet public health objectives with no increase in overall physical activity could reduce production of agricultural commodities and reduce net returns to producers by $3+5 billion+ However, if consumption is reduced by 2% concomitantly with a marginal increase in physical activity, similar health outcomes could be achieved at much less cost ~$1+3 billion!+ Conversely, continuing obesity trends may enhance returns to agricultural production by $1+3 billion annually+ Changes in agricultural activities would likely be variable across the landscape+ Results indicate that the largest potential changes in agricultural producer net returns ~positive or negative! would occur in the Corn Belt and the Lake States+ There, crop acreage could fall by as much as 650,000 hectares+ @EconLit citations: Q130, Q180# © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc+