Americans Are Delusional About Food

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Recently, Chelsea has been taking on what she considers to be her mini-series on consumer culture: the aspects of our unique American economy and environment that are, ultimately, making our lives worse. Today, she takes on a particularly fraught topic: our food economy, and why it feels so impossible to make a healthy decision in American society. Stay tuned for part 2!

Special thanks to our research expert, Grace Chamberlin! Grace is a Senior Policy Associate focused on Federal Food Procurement and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). She collaborates with the Federal Good Food Purchasing Coalition and other partners to strengthen the DGA and advocate for federal agencies to purchase and serve more healthy and sustainable food. https://www.cspi.org/biography/grace-chamberlin-mph

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SOURCE LINKS:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/29/dining/america-250-years-of-food.html

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/58268

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-availability-per-capita-data-system/food-availability-documentation

https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/11535/dietary-recommendations-and-how-they-have-changed-over-time.pdf?v=92463

https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/history

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https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanam/article/PIIS2667-193X(24)00040-1/fulltext

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https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12512152/

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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34878877/

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https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/87530

https://www.cspi.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/CSPI_dollarStoreReport_2023_4.pdf

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https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107571

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https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/foodborne-disease/cdc-cuts-back-foodborne-illness-surveillance-program

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/u-s-officials-declare-an-end-to-record-setting-cyclospora-outbreak-but-its-origin-is-still-unknown

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https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/local-regional/rfbcp

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https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-026-02547-9