According to one source, in 2003 Americans bought $450 billion in retail food. Of this, $40 billion (less than 9%) went to the farmers that grew the food. Compare that with the portion that Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club (the two largest food retailers) got: $80 billion.
The average retail sales per retail employee was $127,000. The average farm sales per farm employee was $66,000. Clearly there’s more money in selling food than in growing food.
Retail food sales employed 3.4 million people. Farming employed 3 million people. It takes about 13% more people to sell the food than it does to grow the food.
Of the $40 billion in sales made by farmers, an estimated $812 million (2%) was made directly to consumers.
The average food eaten by Americans travels 1,500 miles.
