Ag Facts

• Of all food ready for harvest, 40 to 50 percent never gets eaten.
• On average, households waste 14 percent of their food purchases. Fifteen percent of that includes products still within their expiration date but never opened.
• An average family of four currently tosses out $590 per year, just in meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products.
• Nationwide, household food waste alone adds up to $43 billion, making it a serious economic problem.

SOURCE: Nation Wastes Nearly Half Its Food, Timothy W. Jones, Univ. of Arizona, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, 520-626-7624, twj@u.arizona.edu