Addressing the multibillion food waste problem

American businesses could save nearly $2bn a year by cutting the amount of half-eaten entrees, unsold milk and other foods that get tossed into trash bins across the US by 20% over the next decade, according to a new report. The report, Roadmap to Reduce US Food Waste, lays out strategies that companies, along with governments, consumers and foundations, can implement to reduce the amount of discarded food in the country.

The report claims that strategies in the report, if implemented, would create 15,000 more jobs and provide 1.8bn meals of recovered food donations to nonprofits a year–double the current amount–as well as save 1.6tn gallons of fresh water, and cut carbon emissions by 18m tons per year.

The US Department of Agriculture estimates that cutting waste by just 15% would provide enough food for more than 25 million people each year.

Every year, the US spends $218bn growing and selling food that gets uneaten and tossed away. That food waste amounts to 63 million tons per year and could serve 1.8 billion meals if it were donated to nonprofits.

The US isn’t alone in trying to eliminate the streams of throwaway food.

The European Commission is considering proposals to slash the 100 million tons of food waste generated annually in the European Union.

 [The Guardian]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.