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As we watch food prices rise, everyone should realize that your grocery bill might be lower if consumers weren't
paying for an estimated $20 billion worth of food that supermarkets in the United States throw away each year. Nationwide, household
food waste alone adds up to $48 billion, making it a serious economic problem.
Stores in the U.S. waste twice as much food annually as those in Europe, and a recent U.N. report found that total
American food waste, including what we pitch from our refrigerators is worth $48 billion each year. One reason is that,
since food travels 1500 miles on an average to reach your dinner plate, some of it spoils in transit. Also, Americans
are used to seeing huge displays of fresh food at the grocery stores, so some produce is piled up for decoration appeal
rather than being sold.
Fortunately, new studies reveal that supermarkets are trying to cut waste, or at least find more environmentally friendly ways to handle it. Some grocery stores have reduced the number of items on display and asked suppliers to use smaller boxes, resulting in less waste. Some supermarkets are making compost out of spoiled produce, meat, and even flowers. Still, keeping food from the trash pile in the first place would be best.
Americans waste between a quarter and a half of all the food we produce. On average, households waste 14 per cent of their food purchases. Fifteen per cent of that includes products still within their expiration date but never opened. An average family of four currently tosses out $590 per year, just in meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products.
Cutting food waste would also go a long way toward reducing serious environmental problems. Experts estimate that reducing food waste by half could reduce adverse environmental impacts by 25 per cent through reduced landfill use, soil depletion and applications of fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides.
If there is a silver lining to today's rising grocery prices, it may be that they force us to value our food more.
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