Food Surplus Problem In America Causes Enormous Food To Go To Waste

There are people starving in the world and yet there are nations where food goes to waste on a daily basis. It is very sad that there are millions that go hungry despite the world food surplus.

How much food do you waste on a daily basis? Half of it? America spends $218 billion growing and processing food that is never eaten. Food production in the U.S. uses 10% of the total energy budget. It takes up 50% of all land and swallows up 80% of all the freshwater consumed.

Yet 40% of the American food supply goes uneaten which accounts for 1.3% of the GDP. Half of all fruits and vegetables grown are discarded and half of the fish caught are never eaten. Some of the food dies on the vine, or perishes during delivery. However, nearly half of all the wasted food is residential waste.

The most common foods tossed in household waste, coffee, bananas and chicken. By some estimates, American families spend $1,600 each year on uneaten food. American food waste is up 50% since the 1970s. Meaning there was a time when we wasted much less. However, things are turning around and solutions are being devised.

The U.S. government has a target of 50% reduction in food waste by 2030. Because there is no reason to go hungry when you have this much food.

America throws perfectly good, uneaten food in the trash and that is alarming. This is a billion-dollar nationwide problem because Americans waste an enormous amount of food. A major reason is that food is cheaper in the United States than nearly anywhere else in the world. But, how solve this issue?

Research suggests that when it comes to fruits and vegetables, much of what is considered edible never even makes it out of the fields simply because it doesn’t meet the cosmetic standards of retailers and consumers. No one wants the apple that has the bruise on it, right? That same attitude is prevalent in American homes, despite the fact that 1 in 6 people in America are not sure where their next meal is coming from. Will this problem be reduced with a change in the national mentality?