In accordance with analysis led by agricultural economics professor Edward Jaenicke of Penn State College, the common American family wastes almost a 3rd of its meals. The worth of that waste is estimated at $240 billion yearly. When divided among the many 128.6 million American households, that’s a mean of $1,866 being wasted per family on a yearly foundation. Examine Finds reviews:

Jaenicke says all that wasted meals has far-reaching penalties, and negatively impacts total American well being, meals advertising, local weather change, and meals safety.

“Our findings are in line with earlier research, which have proven that 30% to 40% of the entire meals provide in america goes uneaten — and that signifies that sources used to provide the uneaten meals, together with land, power, water and labor, are wasted as effectively,” Jaenicke says in a college launch. “However this examine is the primary to determine and analyze the extent of meals waste for particular person households, which has been almost not possible to estimate as a result of complete, present knowledge on uneaten meals on the family degree don’t exist.”