What You Need to Know About Food Waste in the USA

Food waste is no laughing matter. Since we just celebrated earth day this week, it is time to rethink about how much food we waste that the planet produces. 

Many people have good intentions to use the food they buy, but between busy lives or becoming too tired to cook, food waste has become a chronic issue in the American home. 

It is estimated that 40% of the food produced in the USA goes to waste every year, resulting in an economic loss of $218 billion dollars per year. 

Besides the value of the food, that $218 billion includes loss from wasted energy, water, fertilizers, cropland and production costs. 

It is also estimated that the average US household of four people, waste about $1,500 worth of food annually that never gets consumed. That's nearly an entire paycheck! In Canada, reports have shown that big box stores throw out nearly $31 billion dollars in food. 

However, food waste is not just limited to throwing food out in the confines of our home, but waste also occurs on a national level. Farmers and food producers also waste food for a myriad of reasons. 

• Disease or call backs from food poisoning results in products being thrown out. One example is spinach or eggs or chicken having salmonella. 
• Damage to crops from species, bacteria or damage caused by insects or rodents. 
• Food spoils at many stages between growth, production and shipping, resulting in loss. 
• Economic crises results in stores, restaurants or companies not being able to fulfill purchases from farmers or producers. 
• Imperfect produce is often wasted because it is not purchased from the store. Psychologically, consumers think something is wrong with the food because it does not look normal, thus more people opt out of buying it. 
• Policies and possible litigious actions results in companies not donating food in fear of a possible lawsuit because of food borne illnesses. 

Did you realize that food waste affects climate change?

According to NRDC representative, of the top 100 most impactful things we can do to prevent climate change and methane gas release is reducing food waste, which is #3 on the list. 

During COVID 19, America is presented with a whole new list of problems regarding food waste. Many people have "stocked up" in fear of stores closing or running out of supplies. If people overloaded their fridge, this results in a whole new set of problem as most people will not use the fresh food in time, or fail to realize they can freeze fresh produce. Also, closed restaurants will not order their fresh sheets from suppliers or farmers, resulting in a ton of food being produced but not purchased or consumed. 

​See more thoughts below on how coronavirus is affecting food waste worldwide. 

So how do you reduce food waste?

• Cook it, with batch cooking allowing for leftovers making life easier some nights of the week.
• Stop purchasing fresh items in bulk if you cannot consume them in a timely manner OR
• Freeze fresh produce before it turns or use produce in soups and then freeze the soup
• Share it! Maybe your neighbors could use some tomatoes, or maybe some of that banana bread if you can't eat it. Most people will happily accept free food. 

It all starts with you, and if you purchase less, you're more likely to use and consume what you purchased. 

ALL CHANGE STARTS WITH AWARENESS AND THEN STARTS WITHIN BY MAKING THE CHANGES YOURSELF. 

Join me next week for wellness week to help get you through COVID 19 and rediscover how to use your pantry items! 

How do you reduce your food waste?

Let's Connect! 

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