Science

Study finds American households throw away more than 30 percent of their food every year


A new study has just proved something many tourists say when visiting the US – Americans are wasteful.

Data shows that the value of wasted food in the country is about $240 billion annually, which is $1,866, 30 percent to 40 percent, per household.

Researchers also discovered that those with healthier diets toss out the most food because they purchase more perishable fruits and vegetables than the average person.

However, households that use a shopping list when grocery shopping and those who have to travel rather to reach a supermarket had the lowest levels of waste.

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A new study has just proved something many tourists say when visiting the US – Americans are wasteful. Data shows that the value of wasted food in the country is about $240 billion annually, which is $1,866, 30 percent to 40 percent, per household

A new study has just proved something many tourists say when visiting the US – Americans are wasteful. Data shows that the value of wasted food in the country is about $240 billion annually, which is $1,866, 30 percent to 40 percent, per household

Edward Jaenicke, professor of agricultural economics in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, said: ‘Our findings are consistent with previous studies, which have shown that 30 percent to 40 percent of the total food supply in the United States goes uneaten — and that means that resources used to produce the uneaten food, including land, energy, water and labor, are wasted as well.’

‘But this study is the first to identify and analyze the level of food waste for individual households, which has been nearly impossible to estimate because comprehensive, current data on uneaten food at the household level do not exist.’

Jaenicke and his associate, Yang Yu, doctoral candidate in agricultural, environmental and regional economics, analyzed data from 4,000 households t hat participated in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey, known as FoodAPS.

‘Based on our estimation, the average American household wastes 31.9% of the food it acquires,’ Jaenicke said.

However, households that use a shopping list when grocery shopping and those who have to travel rather to reach a supermarket had the lowest levels of waste

However, households that use a shopping list when grocery shopping and those who have to travel rather to reach a supermarket had the lowest levels of waste

‘More than two-thirds of households in our study have food-waste estimates of between 20% and 50%.

‘However, even the least wasteful household wastes 8.7 percent of the food it acquires.’

The duo also looked at different characteristics that could increase or decrease food waste in households.

They discovered that the more income the more waste and those with healthier diets that include more perishable fruits and vegetables also threw away more food, according to the researchers, who reported their findings in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.

‘It’s possible that programs encouraging healthy diets may unintentionally lead to more waste,’ Jaenicke said.

‘That may be something to think about from a policy perspective — how can we fine-tune these programs to reduce potential waste.’

Households that showed lower levels of food waste were those with greater food insecurity, such as those who used government programs to purchase groceries.

‘People in larger households have more meal-management options,’ Jaenicke explained. ‘More people means leftover food is more likely to be eaten.’

In addition, some grocery items are sold in sizes that may influence waste, he said.

‘A household of two may not eat an entire head of cauliflower, so some could be wasted, whereas a larger household is more likely to eat all of it, perhaps at a single meal.’

Among other households with lower levels of waste are those who use a shopping list when visiting the supermarket and those who must travel farther to reach their primary grocery store.

‘This suggests that planning and food management are factors that influence the amount of wasted food,’ Jaenicke said.

Not only is food waste frowned upon, but separate studies have found that the life cycle of discarded food is contributed to green house emissions.

‘According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, food waste is responsible for about 3.3 gigatons of greenhouse gas annually, which would be, if regarded as a country, the third-largest emitter of carbon after the U.S. and China,’ Jaenicke said.

The researchers suggested that this study can help fill the need for comprehensive food-waste estimates at the household level that can be generalized to a wide range of household groups.

‘While the precise measurement of food waste is important, it may be equally important to investigate further how household-specific factors influence how much food is wasted,’ said Jaenicke. ‘We hope our methodology provides a new lens through which to analyze individual household food waste.’

HOW MUCH FOOD DOES THE WORLD WASTE EACH YEAR?

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about 2.9 trillion pounds (or a third of the food in the world) is lost or wasted every year.

Fruits, vegetables, roots, and tubers make up the most-wasted foods. 

In industrialized countries, this all amounts to $680 billion in food. In developing countries, it’s $310 billion. 

The average waste per capita in Europe and North America is 95-115 kg, or 209-254 lb, ever year.    

The food lost or wasted in Latin America each year is enough to feed 300 million people. In Europe, it could feed 200 million people, and in Africa, it could feed 300 million people.  

 

 



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