Food waste statistics

Data has shown that food wasted can feed many people around the world. There are many people dying due to starvation, and yet Americans waste large quantities of food each year. For example, the food thrown out in California can fill the Staples Center in Los Angelos thirty five times over and over (Tommy). Food is the biggest single source of waste in California, making up 15.5 percent of the Golden's state's wastes stream, according to the California Integrated waste management Board. Fruit and vegetables that rot in fields and orchard are thrown each year. These fruits and vegetables are thrown out because they are shaped weirdly or are discolored and will not be sold. Japan throws away twenty millions tons of uneaten food because of the appearance of the food.

Many grocery stores often dispose of perfectly good food such as ham and roast beef, rather than donating it. Another business that throws food are restaurants. Restaurants dump up to tens of thousands of tons of edible food away every year. Restaurants and Stores throw away food because it is not sold or simply because it is left over. Restaurants want the best selection of foods; therefore, leftovers are discarded so the restaurant can uphold their quality of food and their reputation. Another factor is that every day people discard food, 5-9 million tons of food is wasted due to low percentage of every day people not eating their food. About 90,000 restaurants and other eateries do not participate in food donation programs.

In Productiondaily.com, it revealed that "almost half the food in the country wasted is never eaten". A lot of households waste is thrown away. An Average of 14 percent of households’ food waste is thrown away. An average of 15 percent of food wasted is food that was never touched or even reached the expiration date. It is estimated that an average family of four tosses out about $590 per year worth of food that includes meats, fruits, vegetables of grain products- "Nationwide household food waste alone ends up to $43 billion making it a serious economic problem. Also Alison Austin at Sainsbury estimated that approximately food waste that is sent to landfills is around 60,000 tons per year". Most of this food comes from supermarkets and restaurants.

Large amounts of food are dumped; also large amounts of food are thrown out when it is processed or when shipped:

    -Approximately 27% of the amount of food is lost when it is retailed, when it is in household or in food service.

    - Switzerland estimates that 20 to 25 percent is lost through production or in households