I’m giving this lecture at UCSC, Sponsored by the Humanities Institute. Title: “Food Politics 2026: Sustainable Food in the Trump Era.” 6:00 p.m. Cowell Ranch Hay Barn, Ranch View Rd. Register here.
by Marion Nestle
Mar
29
2018
How much of the food dollar do farmers get?
USDA has just issued a revision to its food dollar series—its graphic explanation of how the U.S. food dollar gets spent.
This tells us that 15.8 cents out of every food dollar goes to the producer; the rest goes for marketing.
Oddly, the USDA does not provide an updated illustration of the marketing components from its previous version in 2006:

What this tells us is that 80% of the cost of food is accounted for by marketing.
Don’t farmers deserve more?

