How Much Food Waste in the US

Introduction

How Much Food Waste in the US

The United States and China are the two countries that release the most greenhouse gases. Food waste would be the third biggest country on the planet.

Megan Thompson of the Saturday news hour met with Elizabeth Balkan, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s food waste director, to learn more about food waste’s environmental impact and the scale of the problem in the United States.

What Percentage of Food is Wasted in the United States?

How Much Food Waste in the US

Every year, up to 40% of the food produced in the United States is wasted. This equates to an annual economic loss of $218 billion. Furthermore, an average household of four spends $1,500 or more per year on food that is never eaten.

What is the Relationship Between the Quantity of Food We Waste and Environmental Consequences, Such as Climate Change?

Food waste produces enough CO2 to power about 37 million passenger cars. You have all of these other resources that go into the creation, manufacture, transportation, storage, and distribution of food waste, not to mention the contributions of methane from landfill decay.

We lose all of those resources when we throw food away instead of consuming it. The top 100 most effective measures to address climate change include food waste avoidance. It’s not about solar or wind energy; it’s about reducing waste food.

What are the Primary Causes of Garbage in this Area?

Overall, consumers and consumer-facing businesses Restaurants, and cafeterias are responsible for over 80% of the garbage in this country. For example, the great majority of food waste in restaurants originates from what is left on people’s plates, also known as post-consumer waste.

So, if we truly want to confront. To decrease food waste at restaurants, for example, we need to start addressing the more difficult part of the problem, which is consumer behavior.

So it Appears that Culture has had an Impact on Some of this.

In the United States, culture has a tremendous impact and is an important factor to consider. In the most fundamental sense. I believe we have certain expectations regarding how food is presented in this nation. We have lots of food, and it is quite inexpensive in our nation.

As a result, the cost of food waste to businesses is not as high. When compared to what the customer or the business expects to see when they walk into a hotel buffet or a grocery aisle.

What are Steps that Individual Consumers can take?

We don’t want customers to believe they’re evil people in this situation. Date labels may be linked back to many of the causes of waste. Before the 1970s, there were no date labels, and people had to rely on their senses.

Milk would be subjected to the smell test. They should give yogurt a try. And if it tasted or smelled nice and wasn’t bad, they’d eat it.

What you read on a Date label that says “best if used by” has nothing to do with food safety; instead, it’s a Manufacturer’s recommendation on when to utilize something. It is a somewhat subjective word when this food item is at its freshest.

Except for infant formula, date labels are not regulated. As a result, there is a great potential to change date labels to match public health knowledge and research, resulting in less Waste material.

Elizabeth Balkan,