Americans Waste Half of Their Food

Did you throw away that uneaten leftover and wilted groceries that sat too long in the fridge? You're not alone - Americans throw out nearly half of their food every year, to the tune of $165 billion annually:

"As a country, we're essentially tossing every other piece of food that crosses our path. That's money and precious resources down the drain," said Dana Gunders, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council's food and agriculture program.

The NRDC report said Americans discard 40 percent of the food supply every year, and the average American family of four ends up throwing away an equivalent of up to $2,275 annually in food.

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They don't own a freezer? In Canada, milk comes 3 bags at a time (most economical way to purchase it). We freeze two for later to avoid spoilage. Bakery products, of course, freeze well. No excuse for wasting food.
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I know people who will buy a whole loaf of bread, eat a few slices, and let the rest rot.

If only there was a way of just buying a few slices of bread.
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We have a worm box in the basement, where we feed the worms fruit and veggie peelings, leaves gathered from last fall, and paper from the shredder. In the spring, we have a couple of 5-gallon buckets of worm castings, with the rich color and density of chocolate cake. Our garden and flowers fried in the heat like everyone else's this summer (those that weren't drowning in excessive rain), but when we planted, using the castings was fantastic, and we had no qualms about using the produce. The plants required only a little organic fertilizer and regular watering. The worms are very easy to maintain as well.
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This is really phrased wrong - the throwing away isn't the bad part - it's the fact that this shows how people are buying twice as much food (or more since many overeat rather than throw it away) as they need. Over-consumption is the real cause of all the waste.

Don't stock your pantry with food you aren't going to eat. Plan your meals for the week. Don't just run out for fast food because you're too lazy to cook what's in the fridge. Buying in bulk or on sale doesn't save you a dime if you throw most of it away.
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