Regardless of whether your shopping preferences lean towards daily or weekly trips, there are diverse strategies available to curtail the significant issue of food waste.
Research illuminates an alarming statistic: a staggering 119 billion pounds of food are squandered annually within the United States. This translates to a staggering 130 billion meals and a financial toll exceeding $408 billion as edible resources are discarded.
“This substantial proportion is detrimental to both producers and, undoubtedly, consumers,” emphasized Angelos Deltsidis, Assistant Professor in the Postharvest Physiology Department of Horticulture at the University of Georgia. Deltsidis further remarked, “All too frequently, individuals purchase products that remain entirely fit for consumption, only to discard them due to various reasons.”
Feeding America corroborates this figure, highlighting that the U.S. wastes 119 billion pounds of food each year, amounting to 130 billion meals and over $408 billion in discarded food.
Economical and Environmental Advantages of Reducing Food Waste
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency underscores the fiscal and environmental merits of mitigating food waste. Notably, this effort not only saves money but also reduces the climate change footprint by diminishing greenhouse gas emissions and preserving precious natural resources.
Deltsidis elucidated that when food is wasted, the land, water, energy, and other resources invested in the production, processing, transportation, preparation, storage, and disposal of that food also go to waste.
“Whenever unconsumed food is discarded, the monetary and energy investments made in planting seeds, harvesting, and shipping across the country go down the drain,” Deltsidis emphasized. He added, “Composting stands as an admirable approach to give back to the Earth anything unconsumed. For instance, instead of discarding a tomato marred by fungal growth, consider composting it. Once it decomposes, it enriches the soil. However, it’s not advisable to buy surplus food merely for composting purposes.”