Survey: Americans don’t know how much food they waste
According to the “2016 Food & Health Survey,” about one-third of Americans (30%) say that they “don’t create any food waste.”
By some estimates, up to half of all the food produced on the planet—about 2 billion tons—is wasted before it ever reaches a human stomach. Yet, according to a survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, Washington, D.C., many Americans are unaware of their own roles in contributing to the problem.
According to the “2016 Food & Health Survey,” about one-third of Americans (30%) say that they “don’t create any food waste.” Of the remainder who admit that they do contribute to food waste, the top causes include forgetting about perishable food until it’s too late (19%), purchasing too much fresh or perishable food (17%), cooking big meals and throwing some of it away (8%) and not eating everything they put on their plate (7%).