Gardening Articles: Health :: Cooking Reducing Food Waste by
Susan Littlefield Last time you cleaned out the refrigerator,
did a lot of stuff originally intended for your plate end up in
the trash? If so, you're not alone. According to a study
released in August 2012 by the Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC), about 40 percent of all the edible food in this country
goes to waste. This astounding figure takes into account losses
throughout the "farm to fork" supply chain. But even so, the
NRDC calculates that the average American tosses out 20 pounds
of food -- or $28 to $43 dollars worth -- each month, or the
equivalent of $165 billion nationwide. This is not only a waste
of food that could feed people; it comes with some significant
environmental consequences as well. Food waste is the single
largest component of the solid waste dumped in landfills in this
country, and its decomposition accounts for 25 percent of the
U.S. emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. According to
NRDC estimates, 25 per