I was looking for food consumption data, and found that the USDA not only has lots of data, they’ve provided some interactive graph reports. While I was noodling around with that I noticed that the availability of oils and fats rose rapidly between 1999 and 2000
Note that the others are pretty much level, or rising at a fairly constant and small rate. It’s only the fats and oils that jump. And this shows up on all the other variations on this data.
So, does anyone know what might have caused this? Is there an answer? Inquiring minds want to know
When did the genetically modified seeds become available? Although I would think larger corn and soy crops would also make more protein and starch available.
That sudden jump (an increase of 25% in one year!) suggests to me that there’s some methodological change going on there. In other words, maybe there isn’t a sudden spike in actual availability of fats and oils, but something changed in how that number was collected, classified, or reported.