Earth Day Teach In

Reducing Food Waste Will Benefit the Economy, Environment and Society

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) defines food waste as, "the component of food loss that occurs when an edible item goes unconsumed, as in food discarded by retailers  due to color or appearance and plate waste by consumers." Food waste examples are meals left on plates at restaurants and scrapes from home-prepared meals. The waste is discarded at every point along the food chain, during processing and distribution, farms and fishing boats, in retail stores and restaurants, and in your home.

The United States is estimated to waste 40% of its food yearly. Approximately 142 billion pounds of perfectly edible and nutritious food is wasted. The alarming cost associated with food waste has a price tag in the U.S. of $218 billion per year. By reducing food waste just 15%, we could feed more than 25 million people annually according to research done by Food Print.

Food waste is probably not something you think about too often, especially if you do not struggle financially to afford groceries. This is not the case for over 37 million American households, including 2.7 million children that have been classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as being food insecure in 2018. Food-insecure homes are unable to provide adequate, nutritious food to members of the family.

Most of the food waste comes from consumer households in the United States. We have all had those days when we find produce and vegetables that are no longer edible in the refrigerator. So, you throw the food into the garbage which ends up in the landfill, generates methane which is a greenhouse gas and traps heat within our atmosphere. ReFED estimates that every year, the average individual's food waste weighs 238 pounds, which costs the consumer $1,800 and makes up 21 percent of the food that was purchased. In 2017 the Environmental Protection Agency reported that consumers disposed of 38.1 million tons of food waste and approximately 94 percent ended up in landfills or combustion facilities. The food waste from your refrigerator has now become part of the collective carbon footprint.

There is enough food to feed every single person in the United States. We can all do our part to manage food waste, food sustainability, and conservation efforts for future generations. The Environmental Protection Agency's Food: Too Good to Waste Toolkit figures how much food is being wasted in your home and what steps you can take to decrease the amount. By allowing yourself to make small changes in your shopping, preparing the food, and storing the food you will be able to save money, time and valuable resources. The tools and metrics from the Environmental Protection Agency can help you get started on your journey of saving money, reducing the environmental impact and feeding the hungry.

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