Food Waste

Americans waste a lot of food, so much so that measuring food waste is one of the projects of the USDA's Economic Research Service. In 2010, Americans did not eat 21 percent of the food they bought measured in pounds. The biggest waste, on a percentage basis, is fish and seafood (30 percent of pounds purchased are wasted) and fresh fruit and vegetables (24 to 25 percent).

Measured in dollars, American consumers did not eat 9 percent of the food they bought. Of the $4,000 spent annually per person on food, $371 went into the garbage.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, ERS's Food Loss Data Help Inform the Food Waste Discussion