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# GRAPHIC: Americans eat out far more now — and it’s affecting their diets
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/restaurants-diet-fast-food-inflation-statistics/
- Published: 2024-09-25T20:41:54.000Z
- Updated: 2024-09-25T20:41:54.000Z
- Description: In the 1970s, going to a restaurant was an anomaly. Now, it’s a growing part of Americans’ diets.
- Author: Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
- Tags: Data Harvest, TP::Explainer, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

In the 1970s, Americans consumed most meals at home. While that’s still generally true, Americans’ diets have changed over the past half-century, and rather starkly.

Consumers now get about a third of their calories from eating out, [according to research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture](https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2024/august/food-consumption-and-nutrient-intake-trends-emerge-over-past-four-decades/?ref=investigatemidwest.org). Many of those calories come from fast food chains. In the late 1970s, Americans got about 6% of their calories from fast food. Now, it’s about 16%.

Generally, the USDA considers eating out worse for a diet than making food at home. The exceptions are school meals, which follow federal nutrition guidelines.

The pandemic dramatically [slowed the trend](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/graphic-food-spending-has-rebounded-since-pandemics-start/) of eating out, at least for a year. Once things opened up again, Americans started spending more money on restaurants than they did before.

In general, the cost of food — no matter where consumed — has gone up over the past couple of decades. In 2022, after accounting for inflation, Americans spent roughly 70% more on food than they did in the late 1990s.

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