SoSA | Food Waste in America

Gleaning America's Fields ~ Feeding America's Hungry

Food Waste Studies

USDA Food Loss Study

In 1997 the USDA studied food losses after harvest. It remains the most thorough government study on the subject.

food loss study

Food Loss Project

The goals of the USDA Food Loss Project were to quantify food losses at major stages of the food marketing system: harvesting, pro-cessing, storage; retail distribution; food service; and households. The findings were reported in 2004.

project report

International Water Institute

The 2008 Stockholm International Water Institute Report, "Saving Water: From Field to Fork" makes the point that food wastage is also water wastage. Food losses and wastage are as high as 50%.

research report

Exploratory Research

RTI International published a report on their exploratory research about food losses at the consumer level of America's food system.

research report

Food Waste in America

A 2004 study showed that forty to fifty per cent of all food ready for harvest in the United States never gets eaten.

Timothy Jones, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona, Tuscon, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, spent 10 years measuring food loss at all levels of food production and consumption. He discovered not only that about half of the food produced in America was discarded, but also that much of it could feed people who need it. On top of that, the rate of food loss, even partially corrected, could save US consumers and manufacturers tens of billions of dollars each year.

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Global Food Waste

A 2008 report on the relationship between food waste and water waste indicated that less developed countries experience significant food losses and spoilage.

In many developing countries, post-harvest losses of food grains can reach as high as 50%. Without proper storage and transportation systems, perishable food items are particularly vulnerable to spoilage and loss.

Environmental Impact of U.S. Food Waste

The United States spends about 1 billion dollars a year just to dispose of food waste.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, food leftovers are the single-largest component of the waste stream by weight in the United States. Food waste includes uneaten food and food preparation scraps from residences or households, commercial establishments like restaurants, institutional sources like school cafeterias, and industrial sources like factory lunchrooms. Over 12 percent of the total municipal solid waste generated in American households was food scraps and less than three percent was recovered. The rest was thrown away and disposed in landfills or combusted in incinerators.

The environmental impact of food disposal is significant. The decomposition of food and other organic waste in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide. Landfills are the largest human-related source of methane in the United States, accounting for 34 percent of all methane emissions.

Society of St. Andrew Programs

Our ministry prevents about 30 million pounds of food going to waste each year.

Society of St. Andrew food salvage programs have a positive impact on the environment by reducing landfill waste by as much as 30 million pounds a year. Instead of harming the environment, this food instead goes to feed hungry Americans.

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