From Farm to Kitchen: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste

"Over one-third of the food produced in the United States is never eaten, wasting the resources used to produce it and creating a myriad of environmental impacts. Food waste is the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the United States, comprising 24 and 22 percent of landfilled and combusted municipal solid waste, respectively. This wasted food presents opportunities to increase food security, foster productivity and economic efficiency, promote resource and energy conservation, and address climate change.

As the United States strives to meet the Paris Agreement targets to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, changes to the food system are essential. Even if fossil fuel emissions were halted, current trends in the food system would prevent the achievement of this goal. Globally, food loss and waste represent 8 percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (4.4 gigatons CO2e annually), offering an opportunity for meaningful reductions.

Reducing food waste can also help feed the world’s growing population more sustainably. The United Nations (UN) predicts that the world population will reach 9.3 billion by 2050. This population increase will require a more than 50 percent increase in food production from 2010 levels. Decreasing food waste can lessen the need for new food production, shrinking projected deforestation, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and water scarcity.

In 2015, the United States announced a goal to halve U.S. food loss and waste by 2030, but the nation has not yet made significant progress. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepared this report to inform domestic policymakers, researchers, and the public about (1) the environmental footprint of food loss and waste (FLW) in the U.S. and (2) the environmental benefits that can be achieved by reducing U.S. FLW. The report examines the farm-to-kitchen (cradle-to-consumer) impacts of FLW, excluding the impacts of managing FLW (e.g., methane emissions from landfills), which will be covered in a separate companion report (The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste: Part 2).

Given the size and dynamic complexity of the U.S. food system, no single agreed-upon comprehensive estimate of the total amount of U.S. FLW exists. Instead, the literature includes multiple credible estimates, which differ in scope and methodology, that together provide insights into the magnitude and distribution of U.S. FLW. Estimates that include food lost or wasted during all stages of the food supply chain (from primary production to consumption) range from 73 to 152 million metric tons (161 to 335 billion pounds) per year, or 223 to 468 kg (492 to 1,032 pounds) per person per year, equal to approximately 35 percent of the U.S. food supply. Roughly half of this food is wasted during the consumption stage (households and food service), and fruits and vegetables and dairy and eggs are the most frequently wasted foods..."
Food waste and environmental impact