Wasted Food

A report said that the US healthcare system wastes $750 billion a year. But something else we are wasting?... It's not actual money but food.

Here are statistics for you in view of unemployment, inflation and economic hurdles that beleager us all: The average American family of four ends up throwing away an equivalent of up to $2,275 annually in food...Food waste is the single largest component of solid waste in U.S. landfills...Just a 15 percent reduction in losses in the U.S. food supply would save enough food to feed 25 million Americans annually. With those numbers in mind, I thought I would talk to somebody who is in the know...Dana Gunders, Natural Resources Defense Council project scientist with the food and agriculture program underscores that food waste is unacceptable. "The population is growing, we are looking at a population of 9 million or so in 2050 and the estimate by the food and ag organization of the U.N. is that we are going to need 70% more food to feed the population. So we are looking at increasing food demand and the most obvious place to start is the food that we are already growing." Here are staggering statistics for you in view of unemployment, inflation and economic hurdles that beleager us all: The average American family of four ends up throwing away an equivalent of up to $2,275 annually in food...Food waste is the single largest component of solid waste in U.S. landfills...Just a 15 percent reduction in losses in the U.S. food supply would save enough food to feed 25 million Americans annually. With those numbers in mind, I thought I would talk to somebody who is in the know...Dana Gunders, Natural Resources Defense Council project scientist with the food and agriculture program underscores that food waste is unacceptable. "The population is growing, we are looking at a population of 9 million or so in 2050 and the estimate by the food and ag organization of the U.N. is that we are going to need 70% more food to feed the population. So we are looking at increasing food demand and the most obvious place to start is the food that we are already growing."

Dana is the author or coauthor of several widely distributed reports, including "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill" and "The Dating Game," the latter of which reveals how confusion regarding food expiration dates contributes to the problem of food waste in America. She recently published Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook: A Guide to Eating Well and Saving Money by Wasting Less Food.