http://www.plosone.org/article/info%...l.pone.0007940

Throwing Food and it's drastic impact on the US Economy Americans on average throw away their half eaten meals rather than boxing it up when at a restaurant, and/or simply keeping them in the fridge for a later time. These wasted food adds up to over a billion dollars annually of wasted spending. World hunger? The amount of food Americans throw away has risen by approximately 50 percent since 1974 according to a new study in PLoS ONE. This means that the US could feed over 200 million adults every year with the food that ends up in the trash. Currently, the UN estimates that one billion people—an historical record—are going hungry worldwide. This means that the US alone can essentially feed one-fifth of the world's entire hunger population. Money tight in this economy? Did you know that Americans eat out an average of 4-5 times a week? The study shows that a family of four usually wastes $2,500 worth of food a year, which equates to Americans just throwing away $10 a day. High gas prices in today's economy? The study found that food waste in America consumes approximately 300 million barrels of oil every year from fossil fuels used in farming. In 2003 this was 4 percent of the nation's total oil consumption, which is one of the nation's largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Shortage on nation's water supply? Wasted food is also impacting America's freshwater supply. According to the study a quarter of all freshwater usage in the US goes to produce food that is never eaten. "Assuming that agriculture utilizes about 70% of the freshwater supply, our calculations imply that more than one quarter of total freshwater use is accounted for by wasted food," according to researchers.

It's one of the reason why many people in this country goes broke, why the US economy continues to stumble, and why world hunger gets bigger.

This shouldn't be a problem for a CAGer I'm guessing...

Next time you want to buy a Video Game that you're just not sure you could afford, then save your food, spend less on it, and since Americans throws away $10 per day on wasted food, you can have that video game in a week!

Maybe the restaurants should have better portions then.

Holy strawman batman!!!!

Restaurants should have better portions. But the study is about how much food people buy at the grocery store and end up throwing out as it goes bad before the use it.

It is a huge waste of money if you're not careful in what you buy when it comes to perishables as anything you buy and don't eat is just money down the drain.

And people do love to bitch about things like gas prices that they have limited control over (beyond driving less, consolidating trips etc.), when they're wasting money by tossing out food, leaving lights on when not in a room, not weatherproofing their home properly etc.

I was going to go throw this moldy bread away, but after reading your post with this crazy backwards logic I think Ill eat it. Mmmm, Penicillin.

It's not a matter of eating spoiled food, it's buying the right portions so you can be sure to eat it before it goes bad.

With bread, an easy trick is to freeze the rest of a loaf before it gets stale/moldy and use it for toast as frozen bread toasts fine.

In general it's about not buying a gallon of milk when you usually end up dumping half of it out as it spoils, or buying too many bananas (which can be refrigerated to last longer--peeling will brown, but inside is fine) etc. It's mostly common sense stuff, but many people don't think about it, or only go to the store once every couple of weeks and try to buy 2 weeks worth of stuff and end up with more perishables than they can finish before they go bad. Deals like 5 avocados for a $2 or whatever are also problematic as many end up buying the quantity on the sign, not realizing that at most stores you can get however many you want at the discounted per unit price.

I don't think I have ever not gotten a to go box at a restaurant unless I finished the meal there. I also freeze my bread to keep it longer, as I hardly use it.

I think if grocery stores would donate their near sell date food to food shelters instead of throwing it away before it is even close to expiring, it would significantly help matters.

We don't throw anything out at home. At a restaurant we finish the food or box it up I'd say 90% of the time. If the food sucks or if there's not enough left to be bothered with, we don't. People who waste a lot of food are assholes and are wasting their own money.

Wait, we waste food in the US? I thought we were all fat as .

Originally Posted by hankmecrankme Wait, we waste food in the US? I thought we were all fat as .

That's only in states like Porkland Oregon. When in California you get them fine honies at 90 lbs. You just want to give those cunts a ing sandwich. Get some meat on them hips. Though they'll probably just vomit that shit so they can fit into their size 4 clothing that is designed by homosexual men making women conform to their vision of twink. Sexy.

I'm guilty of tossing quite a bit. I can't just buy half a loaf, or use up an entire bag of celery. So what? I can also buy less celery for more money, and toss less, but then what's the point?

And I actually don't have a very strong stomach, so not having stomach aches every week (like when living with my parents) is well worth tossing ~$10-15 of food a week. I toss things for precautionary reasons. To call me an ass for that makes you a bitch.

Though sometimes, things spoil a lot faster than they're supposed to. Sometimes cheeses get moldy really fast. Usually not though.

I almost always get doggie bags and eat leftovers, but I admit that I get annoyed because she never eats restaurant leftovers, which I then have to throw out cause I thought she wanted it.

Originally Posted by masked lemon I don't think I have ever not gotten a to go box at a restaurant unless I finished the meal there. I also freeze my bread to keep it longer, as I hardly use it. I think if grocery stores would donate their near sell date food to food shelters instead of throwing it away before it is even close to expiring, it would significantly help matters.

Working in the grocery business, I can verify that my company's distribution center donates produce to the local food banks once the date passes a certain window. Can't speak for the grocery stores themselves but the local needy are at least getting some fruits and veggies around here from the warehouse.

To a couple of the above posts, no one's an asshole for throwing away expired food. It's going to happen. Stuff goes bad quicker than expected, you buy something new you dislike, you get busy and work late and eat out rather than being home for dinners etc.

It's only assholish if one puts no thought into what they're buying and no effort into minimizing waste. Stuff's going to go bad, but you can minimize it by being mindful about what you buy and planning out meals for the week, avoiding buying things in quantities you know you can't finish (i.e. buy however many individual apples you need weekly rather than big bags of them you may not finish), going for things closer to expiring when grabbing a snack out of the fridge, freezing bread before it gets stale, putting half a bunch of bananas in the fridge to stay good longer, stopping buying things you notice you're consistently tossing large portions of etc.

It doesn't take much effort, and people should have personal incentive to do it as it's saving them money.

I eat everything. If I'm full, I'll save like 2 bites of a burger to eat later. At home when I eat off plates, I clean the plate with a piece of bread. If I don't have bread, I use my tongue. I grew up pretty hungry living at home as a kid so it is very rare that I waste food. People love me at the buffet cuz I make their job so easy. I've had some food spoil on me and I hate it but shit happens sometimes. You save money this way but to me it's really just that. If the food is edible, eat it. One shouldn't throw it out because it doesn't look pretty any more or you're tired of the flavor. It is still food.

Originally Posted by hankmecrankme Wait, we waste food in the US? I thought we were all fat as .

Yeah! Which is it? Are we fat, or are we throwing food away? You can't have both, man!

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Misleading title, OP. Where's my garbage-in-a-blender powered car of the future?

I'm guilty of throwing away bread crust ends. Because who the wants to eat them?!

Originally Posted by masked lemon I don't think I have ever not gotten a to go box at a restaurant unless I finished the meal there. I also freeze my bread to keep it longer, as I hardly use it. I think if grocery stores would donate their near sell date food to food shelters instead of throwing it away before it is even close to expiring, it would significantly help matters.

My mom used to be an inventory control clerk at a grocery store, and they did donate the day-old breads and bakery items. Not sure about other items, I should ask.

It might not be as simple as you think... they might not be legally able to donate certain items. The profit margin in grocery is slim, they'd want to get all they can- including a donation tax writeoff.

The article is flawed from the start. The issue isn't throwing out restaurant food, it's going out to eat in the first place. People are always complaining about how much ANYTHING costs, from gas to healthcare, but nobody complains about throwing down $15 for a single meal when they go out, sometimes multiple times per week. Most of these meals could be made at home for $5 and might be healthier too.

I personally love it when someone who has just spent $10 on a single lunch throws a fit about having to spend $10 for an entire month of their blood pressure medication.

I think in most places there are public health regulations preventing near or expired food being given to shelters even though it seems logical. I know one food bank around here that could not give bottles or cans of water/soda away but did accept them from stores, just dumping out the contents and trading the cans in for the deposit. One of my friends also offered to buy the full cans from them while we volunteered there but they were unable to sell it by law, even for 10 cents each (double to donation!)

Originally Posted by Jodou I'm guilty of throwing away bread crust ends. Because who the wants to eat them?!

Buy crustless bread.