Household food consumption in the Dominican Republic, 1976-1977 : an analysis of the effects of income, price and family size

Applying the sample probability of 1:200 led to a sample size of 4,028 households, 1,681 of which were urban and 2,347 rural. Because food consumption accounts for slightly more than 60% of total spending at median income levels, food expenditure and consumption data was carefully surveyed. The food items were grouped into 12 categories, excluding alcoholic beverages and meals away from home. An examination of the food budget shows that meat and milk replace beans and yucca as income rises, and cereal products (chiefly rice) are preferred over both tubers and beans as sources of calories. Although cereal products drop in importance from 27% to 3% of the food budget for families of three people, they decline only from 30% to 12% of the budget for families of seven people. Rice alone appears to account for one-fourth of the total food intake. Another interesting finding is that consumption of commercial eggs is affected more by family size (twice the effect of domestic eggs) and price (eight times that of domestic), but not by income. This effect may be more general than eggs, since eggs were the only item separated into commercial and domestic. The article also discusses prices and public policy, particularly the examples of milk and the differences between home production and purchased foods. (Author abstract, taken from PN-ABH-813)