Simple tips to reduce food waste recommended by UMaine experts
In 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that each year, U.S. households trashed 26.5 million tons of food, or 338 pounds per household. That’s enough to feed 26.5 million people in a year or about 350,000 U.S. residents over their lifetimes. According to the USDA, 30–40% of the U.S. food supply is wasted.
Reducing this food waste could benefit society by helping to feed people in need, eliminating the valuable resources used to produce the wasted food, and mitigating the climate impacts caused by rotting food waste in landfills. Maine is spotlighting the issue and encouraging everyone to help tackle it with the inaugural Maine Food Waste Awareness Week Sept. 25–29, an initiative launched in part by the advocacy of University of Maine students and faculty.
In honor of the celebration, UMaine experts are sharing easy tips to help keep food out of landfills.
Join the Mitchell Center’s Susanne Lee, UMaine Sustainability Director Dan Dixon and UMaine Extension professor Kathly Savoie as they explain some simple tips to reduce your household food waste in this UMaine News article.