Addressing The Real Problem Of Food Waste

It's a topic we've discussed quite a bit here on the Washington Ag Network, the problem of massive food waste in the United States.

"Every year American consumers, businesses, and farms spend about 218 billion dollars a year growing, processing, transporting, and disposing of food that's never eaten," said Dr. Tara McHugh, director of the USDA's Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California.

So, what does all of this mean?

"52 million tons of food that ends up in the landfill, and another 10 million tons that's discarded or left un-harvested."

Dr. McHugh said this comes even as an estimated 1 in 7 Americans are food insecure. She added on a global scale, it's really hard to determine an accurate numbers, but reportedly somewhere between one quarter and one third of food that's produced is lost.

The USDA is part of a food waste challenge. The goal is to cut food waste in half by the year 2030.

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