How much food do you throw away after a meal? It may be far more than you'd ever suspect. Researchers have estimated that food loss at the retail and consumer levels in the U.S. was at a staggering 133 billion pounds in 2010. That's a whopping 31 percent of the 430 billion pounds of total available food.
Food loss is a serious issue across the world. The world's population continues to grow, which means that garbage is stacking up along with food scarcity, according to RT. The researchers found that meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and dairy products were the biggest culprits when it came to food waste. In addition, retail food waste in grocery stores and restaurants accounted for 10 percent, while consumer losses counted for 21 percent.
Needless to say, that's a lot of food. In fact, the report estimates that a total of 1,249 calories per capita per day were lost. As food scarcity rises, this becomes a major issue.
"Food loss is becoming an increasingly important topic both domestically and nationally," the reported stated, according to Agri-Pulse. "Better estimates of the amount and value of food loss, including food waste, could help serve as quantitative baselines for policymakers and the food industry to set targets and develop initiatives, legislation, or policies to minimize food waste, conserve resources, and improve human nutrition."
The recent report actually highlights the amount of food that simply goes to waste each year. Total retail and consumer losses of fresh vegetables, for example, totaled 18 billion pounds. That's 34 percent of the total fresh vegetable supply. While it's impossible to completely avoid food waste, though, it's certainly possible to trim this waste.
"In the end, economic incentives and consumer behavior will be paramount in reducing food loss," stated the report, according to The Packer.
The new report itself was released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It can be found online here.
