TUCSON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Nearly half of harvestable U.S. crops are wasted, with U.S. families wasting about 15 percent of their food, a University of Arizona study shows.
The 10-year study, by the university's Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, indicates 40 percent to 50 percent of all food ready for harvest never is consumed.
Anthropologist Timothy Jones visited farms, orchards, warehouses, retail outlets, dining rooms, and landfills, and found edible food is discarded that might, instead, feed needy people.
Households waste 14 percent of food they buy, including food that's still edible but never opened, he said.
Jones estimates an average family of four currently tosses out $590 annually in meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products. Nationwide, he says, U.S. household food waste is worth $43 billion.
Jones says there are three simple ways most people can significantly reduce their own food waste: purchase planning, using up food before it goes bad, and freezing or refrigerating food for later use.
Reducing food waste by half could cut negative environmental effects by 25 percent through reduced landfill use, less soil depletion and less use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, he said.
