I did a little research today on how the world spends on food. The following data is from the US Department of Agriculture web site. You can find the data here:
I sifted through all of the countries the USDA had listed and picked out a few that seemed representative of developed and developing countries, as well as most of the continents. My sample is somewhat haphazard - you can do your own follow up if you want.
The above chart shows expenditures on food consumed at home as a share of all consumer expenditures. As you can see, food consumed at home is a small fraction of total expenditures in developed countries and much larger (nearing as much as 50%) in developing countries. It's important to note that this is not the complete picture of food consumption because people in developed countries eat out a lot.
Looking specifically at the US expenditures on food consumed at home and food consumed out of the home:
You can see the dramatic shift towards spending on food consumed outside the home. On average, we spend as much eating out as we do on food we prepare at home. That makes me feel a little better - at least I know I'm closer to average.
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