Food preferences—their conceptualization and relationship to consumption†

The relationship between a dislike and non‐use was much stronger than a like for, and consumption of a vegetable, leading the authors to surmise that food preference functions to limit the available food supply for individuals. This paper reports on a study undertaken to examine the extent of the relationship between food preference and consumption; to ascertain the relative importance of characteristics of the food, the individual, and the environment on these two measures of food habits; and to update knowledge of adult vegetable preferences. Preferences of 120 women, living in upstate New York, for 20 vegetables were measured using hedonic scaling and compared to their frequency of use.