The Problem of Food Waste Almost half of our food is wasted in the United States.

America wastes roughly 40 percent of its food.¹ Of the estimated 125 to 160 billion pounds of food that goes to waste every year, much of it is perfectly edible and nutritious. Food is lost or wasted for a variety of reasons: bad weather, processing problems, overproduction and unstable markets cause food loss long before it arrives in a grocery store, while overbuying, poor planning and confusion over labels and safety contribute to food waste at stores and in homes.² Food waste also has a staggering price tag, costing this country approximately $218 billion per year.³ Uneaten food also puts unneeded strain on the environment by wasting valuable resources like water and farmland. At a time when 12 percent of American households are food insecure ⁴, reducing food waste by just 15 percent could provide enough sustenance to feed more than 25 million people, annually.