About the Food Domain: Consumers

Consumers
Consumers purchase food for direct or indirect consumption. Direct consumption takes place when consumers purchase food and eat it without modifying it. Buying and eating apples is an example of direct consumption. Indirect consumption takes place when consumers alter the food before eating it. An example of this is the purchasing of sugar and consuming it after it is used to make cinnamon rolls.

Consumers purchase their food from a variety of places. Many prefer to buy their food from farm markets or grocery stores. Others prefer to buy it as prepared, ready to eat food from a restaurant. Some people even purchase their food by placing phone or on-line orders.

Food is primarily used by consumers to satisfy the daily nutrient requirements of the human body. However, many use food for social reasons. They communicate with others while eating a meal, or they use a meal to commemorate an important social or religious event. Food consumption, therefore, is important in both sustaining and enriching human life.

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