You may feel like you've eaten a ton of food this holiday season. Well, over the entire course of 2011, you probably did. According to government data, the average American eats a literal ton of food each year, or about 2,700 calories each day — and an alarming proportion of that is sugar and other sweeteners. Here, a numerical look at the overindulgence:
1,996.3
Pounds of food the average American eats each year
2,000
Pounds in a U.S. ton
190
Weight, in pounds, of the average American male
164
Weight, in pounds, of the average American female
632
Pounds of dairy products that a typical American eats each year
31.4
Pounds of those dairy products that are cheese
415.4
Pounds of vegetables that a typical American eats each year
22
Percentage of those vegetables that are tomatoes
30.6
Percentage of those vegetables that are potatoes
29
Pounds of those vegetables that are french fries
237.2
Pounds of fruit that a typical American eats each year, mostly oranges and apples
183.6
Pounds of meat and poultry that a typical American eats each year
60.4
Pounds of that meat and poultry that are chicken
62.4
Pounds of that meat and poultry that are beef
16.1
Pounds of fish and shellfish that a typical American eats each year
85
Pounds of fat and oil that a typical American consumes each year
134.1
Pounds of wheat flour that a typical American eats each year
141.6
Pounds of sweeteners that a typical American consumes each year
53
Gallons of soda that a typical American drinks each year
Sources: Daily Mail, NPR, USDA, Visual Economics
