Nearly every article on food waste includes these stats: 40 percent of food in this country, worth $165 billion, is wasted each year. But a study from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Applied Economics and published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics says that those numbers are only estimates and may actually be inaccurate.
“The biggest issue the authors point out? No one knows exactly what we mean when we use the term ‘food waste.’ It turns out that definitions differ significantly from study to study, resulting in ‘wildly different estimates’ and, ultimately, different policy conclusions,” says The New Food Economy.
For example, “the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defines ‘food waste’ as any instance in which ‘safe and nutritious’ food is discarded, or used for a non-food purpose, anywhere in the supply chain,” says New Food Economy. But other sources, like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are concerned only with food from consumers, institutions (hospitals, schools, etc.), and retail outlets that end up being discarded. Some studies count carrot tops and kiwi peels—food parts that aren’t typically eaten—as “waste”; other studies do not.
Interestingly, the 40 percent/$165 billion statistics, which are often quoted together, actually came from two different studies. What’s more, the studies used different methods to calculate waste.
“Ultimately, the [University of Minnesota] study concludes, the familiar stats about the amount and value of food squandered are probably too high,” says New Food Economy. “If true, that’s a tough pill to swallow. For anyone who cares about this issue (and we all should), it’s hard to hear. But the Minnesota study is a reminder that we need transparent methodologies, clearly defined terms, and a shared language with which to discuss the problem.”