In the U.S., 38% of all food goes unsold or uneaten – and most of that goes to waste.
RNPB is actively combating this issue by enabling individuals to order food through our platform. Food waste extends beyond mere hunger; it impacts our environment. Irrespective of consumption, food utilizes valuable resources. Lost or discarded food accounts for a significant portion, consuming 25% of water in agriculture, necessitating cropland equivalent to the size of China, and contributing to approximately seven percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Our food system is radically inefficient. In 2022, the U.S. let a huge 38% of the 235 million tons in our food supply go unsold or uneaten. We call this surplus food, and while a very small portion of it is donated to those in need and more is recycled, the vast majority becomes food waste, which goes straight to landfill, incineration, or down the drain, or is simply left in the fields to rot. Overall, ReFED estimates that 33% of all food in the U.S. – 78 million tons – goes to these waste destinations.
That’s almost 145 billion meals’ worth of food that we’re letting go unsold or uneaten each year, roughly 1.8% of U.S. GDP. And the impacts of surplus food and food waste on our climate and environment are enormous, since food that is never eaten still requires resources to grow, harvest, transport, cool, cook or otherwise prepare – even when it ends up being disposed of. Around the world, food waste has been recognized as an urgent issue requiring immediate action – the United Nations, U.S. Government, European Parliament, global business coalitions such as the Consumer Goods Forum, and more have all set goals to cut food loss and waste in half by 2025 or 2030.