The provided graph depicts the per capita consumption of butter and margarine in the United States from 1980 to 2020. The graph illustrates the changing of trends over a 40 year period.
Overall, margarine started off as the most consumed per capita after gradually decreasing over time. In contrast, butter, which was initially less consumed, managed to surpass the intake of margarine after a few decades.
Margarine was initially the most popular in 1980, with roughly 10.3 lbs consumed. After that year, the trend gradually plummeted, until reaching a low of 2 lbs per capita in 2020. In contrast, only 4.8 lbs of butter was consumed in 1980 as opposed to margarine. The rate began to mildly fluctuate, when the trend decreased to 4 lbs in 1990, after which it then began to gradually increase. This increase marked a pivotal point in 2005, when the consumption of butter surpassed the intake of margarine. The intake of butter increased modestly after reaching a peak of nearly 6lbs in 2020. The trends shows a 4lbs difference in margarine and butter consumption by 2020.