Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Louisiana State University
BATON ROUGE – An estimated 35 percent of food produced in the United States is thrown away, valued at an average $408 billion loss annually. About 37 percent of waste occurs in homes, though this amount is likely underestimated due to the difficulty of measuring household food waste.
To accelerate the development of bold methodologies that can be used to measure household food waste across the food system, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, or FFAR, is awarding a cumulative total of $1 million to three grantees: Oregon State University, The Ohio State University and the University of Florida. The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation is providing matching funding for these grants for a total $2 million investment.
In the U.S. over one-third of food produced each year is wasted. Yet, over 10 percent of U.S. households are food insecure. Addressing food waste is an urgent issue that requires dynamic and cohesive methodologies to establish and meet food waste reduction targets.