Americans Increased Food Waste in 2001

Danielle Jackson

Washington, D.C. — According to the Atlanta Journal- Constitution, ongoing research has indicated that the amount of food U.S. households dispose of has tripled in two decades.

One study tha focuses on food loss was conducted by Timothy Jones for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Contemporary Archaeology Project of the University of Arizona. Jones' team has found that Americans throw away 1.3 pounds of food every day, or 474.5 pounds annually, compared with 1980s estimates that each household threw away 3 pounds of garbage per week.

The USDA estimates that 30 percent of milk and other dairy products, grain products, fresh fruits, and vegetables were disposed of, while only 15 percent of meat, dried beans, nuts, and processed fruits and vegetables were disposed of in landfills.