Food Waste Facts
Food is the No. 1 thing in America’s landfills.
40% of all food produced in the US is wasted.
That's like filling up five bags with food at the grocery store, and throwing away two of them when you get home.
In one year, food wasted in America equates to:
400 lbs per person
$2,100+ for a family of four
18% of farmland
25 trillion gallons of water
Food waste accounts for 8% of global GHG emissions.
That's the same as the United States and the European Union combined...
and more than the entire airline industry!
When food rots in landfills, it releases methane gas. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is more than 25x more potent than carbon dioxide.
At the same time, many people do not have enough food to eat.
34 million Americans face hunger, including 1 in 6 children
828 million people globally are food insecure
Hunger is fueled by agricultural risks such as drought, floods, natural disasters, disease, and pest infestations exacerbated by climate change.
All things considered, food waste is the world's dumbest problem.
And it’s one we can actively address in our daily lives.
By knowing what’s in your fridge, not over-purchasing, and using everything up, you’re decreasing the amount of greenhouse gasses that end up in our atmosphere and trap heat in our planet. Whatever scraps you have, composting them puts nutrients back in the soil and keeps food out of landfills!
