How big of a problem is food waste in the United States? Well, if you look at it from a national standpoint, it gets to be pretty big…
Credit: NRDCThis is a massive amount of resources being wasted every day because of excess buying in stores, restaurants, and homes, food being edible but not meeting high quality standards, and supply chain restrictions. While it isn’t great to hear that this much is being wasted, it means that there is plenty to be recovered, and that means we’ve got work to do.
Hand in hand with this issue is the problem of food insecurity. According to the USDA, 11.1% of Americans were food insecure in 2018. Knowing that 1,250 calories are wasted per person per day in America, it makes sense that if we redirect food in a smart way we can end food insecurity issues.
Credit: USDAMeanwhile, in Franklin County, home of OSU and Columbus, food security may be an even bigger issue. A 2018 article by OSU’s The Lantern found that 17-32% of Franklin County families are food insecure. With this amount of food insecurity in our home county, we are looking to scale up our impact as quickly as possible.
Of course, problems are more easily solved when more people chip in. This is why we are lucky to have several other Ohio State organizations dedicated to fighting food waste and insecurity. Check out their websites below.
For more resources and information about food waste and security, check out the links below.
USDA: Food Security in the U.S.
The Lantern: Food Security in Franklin County
NRDC: America Wastes 40% of its food