United States
What do we waste?
The total avoidable food waste in the United States is 55.41 million tonnes per year for 2009, which amounts to 28.7 percent of total annual production by weight (Venkat 2011).
Using 2011 retail prices, the avoidable food waste in the United States (for the year 2009) has a total retail value of 197.7 billion USD.
Consumer waste alone amounts to 124.1 billion USD, or nearly 63 percent of the total retail value of wasted food (Venkat 2011).
Per-capita consumer waste is estimated to be 95 to 115 kilograms per year for Europe and North America, but only 6 to 11 kilograms per year in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (Gustavsson et al. 2011).
Food waste is a huge problem globally, but the underlying reasons differ between regions.Food waste in high-income countries is dominated by consumer waste.
Developing countries have high losses at the post-harvest and processing stages due to spoilage. Factors leading to spoilage include lack of modern transport and storage infrastructure, as well as financial, managerial and technical limitations in difficult climatic conditions (Venkat 2011; Gustavsson et al. 2011).
The total avoidable food waste in the United States is 55.41 million tonnes per year for 2009, which amounts to 28.7 percent of total annual production by weight (Venkat 2011).
Using 2011 retail prices, the avoidable food waste in the United States (for the year 2009) has a total retail value of 197.7 billion USD.
Consumer waste alone amounts to 124.1 billion USD, or nearly 63 percent of the total retail value of wasted food (Venkat 2011).
Per-capita consumer waste is estimated to be 95 to 115 kilograms per year for Europe and North America, but only 6 to 11 kilograms per year in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (Gustavsson et al. 2011).
Food waste is a huge problem globally, but the underlying reasons differ between regions.Food waste in high-income countries is dominated by consumer waste.
Developing countries have high losses at the post-harvest and processing stages due to spoilage. Factors leading to spoilage include lack of modern transport and storage infrastructure, as well as financial, managerial and technical limitations in difficult climatic conditions (Venkat 2011; Gustavsson et al. 2011).
Did you know?
- More than 36 million tons of food waste was generated in 2011, 96 percent of which was thrown away into landfills or incinerators
- 14.9 percent of households in the U.S. were food insecure in 2011, meaning they did not know where their next meal would come from
- Wasted food means wasted money for businesses and residences
- Food decomposes in landfills to generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas
http://ccafs.cgiar.org/bigfacts/food-waste/
http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/foodwaste/
http://www.care2.com/causes/we-are-what-we-dont-eat-food-waste-in-the-united-states.html
http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/foodwaste/
http://www.care2.com/causes/we-are-what-we-dont-eat-food-waste-in-the-united-states.html