Food Waste, Healthy Diets, and Environmental Sustainability

A Guide for Nutritionists

Abstract

Food is wasted at various points in the US food system, but the greatest amount of food waste occurs at the consumer level. Emerging research now shows a connection between consumer food waste, healthy diets, and environmental impacts, with implications for food security and hunger. In the United States, the average consumer wastes nearly 1 lb of food every day—approximately one-quarter of edible food purchased. Those who consume healthier diets waste more food than people who consume diets that are less healthy. This food waste accounts for vast amounts of wasted cropland, irrigation water, fertilizers, pesticides, and energy, as well as greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts. These inefficiencies can reduce agricultural productivity and undermine efforts to feed an expanding global population and reduce food insecurity in the United States and globally. Nutrition professionals can help move consumers toward healthier diets and reduce food waste simultaneously.