CHICAGO ? In 1980 when The NPD Group began continuous tracking of America’s eating behaviors, 72% of main dishes at dinner were homemade. At present, 59% of main dishes are made- from-scratch with many households preferring ready-to-eat and frozen foods and assembling a meal rather than preparing it, according to NPD’s National Eating Trends.

"The fast and hectic pace of the lives we lead has had the single greatest impact on this country’s eating behaviors," said Mark East, president of The NPD Group’s North American food and beverage unit. "It’s clear by the changes we’ve observed over the past 30 years that the Google generation wants things now."

Americans are eating many of the same foods they ate three decades ago, but how and who prepares the foods has changed, according to National Eating Trends data. A sandwich still ranks among the top foods consumed. but 30-years ago the sandwich was prepared by someone in the household. Sandwiches today are more likely ready-to-eat, frozen or prepared by a restaurant or foodservice outlet, based on NPD’s food and beverage market research.

"Americans have an ever-increasing need for convenience when it comes to eating," says East. "We fully expect this trend to continue as ready-to-eat meals prepared outside the home and eaten in-home, fresh, and frozen foods are all forecasted to grow notably in the next decade."

Other time-saving behavioral shifts National Eating Trends has captured are:

• The average number of food items used per meal decreased from 4.44 in the 1980s to 3.5 in 2010.
• Year-round grilling, microwave ovens and slow cookers are among the appliances that helped make meal preparation easier and more convenient. The percent of meals cooked by a microwave has doubled since the 1980s. Households using a slow cooker at least once in a two-week period jumped 67% from the 1980s to 2010. More than one-third of American households use the grill to make a meal at least once in a two-week period.

The need for convenience in meal preparation will continue to increase during the next decade, according to NPD’s A Look into the Future of Eating report, which provides a 10-year forecast of eating trends based on generational influences, population and trend momentum gathered from National Eating Trends.

Over the next decade, stove tops and microwaves will remain the most frequently used appliances for meal preparation, but usage of slow cookers is forecasted to increase by 16 percent and grilling is expected to grow by 11 percent. according to the NPD study.

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"Saving time motivated many of the trends we’ve captured in National Eating Trends over the past thirty years," says East. "As our lives get busier and busier, saving time will continue to be an increasingly important factor in deciding what, when, where, and how we eat."