The diagram compares changes in consumption figures for different kinds of meat and fish in a country in Europe from 1979 to 2004. Overall, although beef was initially the most popular type of meat, it was overtaken by chicken towards the end of the survey. In contrast, the figure for fish remained the least significant throughout the period.
In the first year, beef had a consumption of about 225 grams per person per week, after which it experienced a sudden drop of 50 before increasing to about 230 in 1984. There were small fluctuations until 1989, which was followed by a dramatic decrease to around half as high as its original level in 2004.
The figure for lamb was initially almost as high as that for chicken (around 150 grams). However, while the former declined gradually as it reached approximately 60 in the last year, the latter saw a considerable growth and outstripped beef consumption in 1989, peaking at 250 in 2004.
Fish consumption was originally approximately 60 grams and experienced a small fall of about10 over the period.