Did you know?

• Between 30 to 40% of food goes uneaten in the United States.
• Food waste is the largest component of US landfills at 24%—more than plastic (18%), paper (12%), metal (9%), and glass (5%).
• Food waste is responsible for an estimated 58% of methane emissions from US municipal solid waste landfills.
• The average family of four spends about $2,900 each year on food that goes uneaten.
• In a single year, the equivalent of more than 39 billion meals went uneaten in US homes.

Are you leaving money on the table? There may be more than dollars going to waste in your kitchen. That forgotten container of leftovers or wilted bunch of spinach also represents the water, fuel, fertilizer, labor, and other resources that went into getting it there.

Producing and transporting food from the farm to our tables requires the use of enormous amounts of energy, land, and water. 

When food goes uneaten, all of those resources go with it. Each year, about 140 million acres of US agricultural land are used to produce food that is ultimately lost or wasted, an area roughly the size of California and New York combined. Producing that uneaten food also uses about 5.9 trillion gallons of water and enough energy to power more than 50 million US homes for a year.

"About 13.7% of US households, or 18.3 million households, experienced food insecurity at some point during the year

And what are we wasting? Produce tops the list at home. In a single year, US households generated about 10.5 million tons of surplus produce, followed by dry goods and dairy and eggs.

Throwing food away creates another problem. Once food reaches a landfill, its nutrients are trapped instead of returning to the soil. As the food rots, it also produces methane, a greenhouse gas with an impact on climate change more than 25 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. Not all landfills have gas collection systems, and even where they are used, food can begin producing methane before those systems are in place or able to capture it.

That helps explain why food makes up about one-quarter of the waste in U.S. municipal solid waste landfills but is responsible for an estimated 58% of the methane emissions that escape from them.

The amount of food going uneaten is especially striking when you consider that millions of Americans struggle to put enough food on the table. About 13.7% of US households, or 18.3 million households, experienced food insecurity at some point during the year.

How You Can Help:

Reducing food waste requires cooperation among food producers, retailers, restaurants, policymakers, and consumers. But households are a big part of the picture. Homes account for roughly one-third of all surplus food generated in the United States, which means your own kitchen is a pretty good place to start.

Here are some strategies to help:

• Buy what you’ll actually eat. Come up with a realistic meal plan for your household, check your refrigerator and pantry before you shop, and make a list. Buying in bulk or taking advantage of a deal only saves money if you eat the food before it spoils. 
• Understand package labels. A date on a package does not necessarily mean the food has become unsafe. Except for infant formula, food date labels generally refer to quality rather than safety. Knowing what “Best if Used By,” “Sell By,” and other labels mean can keep perfectly good food out of the garbage.
• Use your freezer! If you know you won’t get to something in the next few days, freeze it. Many foods and leftovers can stay safe much longer in the freezer, though their quality may decline over time. 
• Mold: proceed with caution. Mold doesn’t always mean a food has to go, but this is not the place to guess. Some hard cheeses and firm produce can be safely trimmed, while moldy soft cheeses, bread, cooked leftovers, and other high-moisture foods should be discarded.
• Is this still good? Don’t let leftovers disappear into the back of the refrigerator. USDA recommends eating most cooked leftovers within three to four days or freezing them for later.
• Give leftovers another life. Yesterday’s vegetables can become today’s soup, stir-fry, casserole, or frittata. Overripe fruit can go into a smoothie or baked goods, and stale bread can become croutons or breadcrumbs. 
• Start with a little less. Serving smaller portions can reduce what gets scraped into the garbage at the end of a meal. Seconds are always an option.
• Spread the wealth! If you have unopened, shelf-stable food that you know you won’t use, consider donating it to a local food bank or food assistance organization rather than letting it go to waste.
• Compost what’s truly left. If you’ve shopped smart, stored food well, eaten or donated what you can, and you’re still left with food scraps, composting can keep them out of landfills and return valuable nutrients to the soil. On its Wasted Food Scale, EPA prioritizes preventing wasted food and keeping edible food in use before composting or disposal.

For more ideas on reducing food waste at home, check out USDA’s Easy Steps to Prevent Food Waste and EPA’s Preventing Wasted Food at Home, which offer practical tips for planning meals, storing food, using leftovers, understanding date labels, and making the most of what you buy.

The goal isn’t a perfectly empty refrigerator. It’s paying a little more attention to what you buy, what you already have, and what can still be used before it becomes trash. Those small changes can save money and make better use of all the resources that went into getting food to your table in the first place.

^{Originally published: November 2015 • Updated} 

Original Sources:

• Buzby, J., Hyman, J. 2012. “Total and per capita value of food loss in the United States”. Food Policy. Volume 37, Issue 5. pgs 561-570. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919212000693.
• EPA. 2022. Resources, Waste and Climate Change. Accessed March 24, 2022.  https://www.epa.gov/smm/resources-waste-and-climate-change#:~:text=EPA%….
• EPA. 2022. United States 2030 Food Loss and Waste Reduction Goal. Accessed March 24, 2022. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/united-states-2030-food….
• EPA. 2020. National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling. Accessed March 24, 2022. https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycli…
• EPA. 2018. National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling. Accessed April 4, 2020. https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials#NationalPicture
• EPA. 2018. Overview of Greenhouse Gas Emisisons. Accessed April 4, 2020. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases
• EPA. 2014. Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2012. Accessed November 28, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/2012_msw_f…
• UNFAO. 2013. Tackling Climate Change through Livestock. Accessed November 28, 2018. www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3437e/i3437e.pdf.