We need your help with a little social experiment.
Between 1980 and 2005, the amount of shrimp consumed by Americans nearly tripled, from 1.4 pounds per person to 4.1 pounds per person.
Shane Frederick, an M.I.T. management professor, has made a hobby of asking anyone he meets why Americans eat so much more shrimp today than they did 25 years ago. He thinks he has found a very interesting pattern in the responses. He wants to test his hypothesis on Freakonomics blog readers.
Here is my request: without researching the topic via Google or other means, and without reading the comments that other blog readers have left, think about why shrimp consumption has gone up so much. Leave your answer, along with your occupation, your college major, your gender, and your age in the comments section.
In a few days, we will tally up the results, present Shane’s hypothesis, and see how it fares.
and 
. You can also watch it on 
It is fast, easy and tasty
It is fast, easy and tasty
Good marketing and advertising, coupled with Shrimp being a “good” product. Bite size, low fat, convenient, and versatile. Retired, AB Economics, 70 years old, male.
Good marketing and advertising, coupled with Shrimp being a “good” product. Bite size, low fat, convenient, and versatile. Retired, AB Economics, 70 years old, male.
Several reason why I think shrimp consumption in the USA has gone up exponentially:
- popularity of Forrest Gump movie
- cost per pound (when compared with other protein foods) has gone down relative to other main course options
- reason costs have come down is that shrimping competition is much greater (mainly, more shrimpers of Vietnamese heritage working harder than prior shrimpers)
- considered an economic substitute for the most desired crustacean, lobster.
Several reason why I think shrimp consumption in the USA has gone up exponentially:
- popularity of Forrest Gump movie
- cost per pound (when compared with other protein foods) has gone down relative to other main course options
- reason costs have come down is that shrimping competition is much greater (mainly, more shrimpers of Vietnamese heritage working harder than prior shrimpers)
- considered an economic substitute for the most desired crustacean, lobster.
no report on how badly the shrimps are contaminated.
Educational professor
TESL
male
52
no report on how badly the shrimps are contaminated.
Educational professor
TESL
male
52