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The food an American family throws away each month

graphics8.nytimes.com — *****

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  • spammishking, on 05/19/2008, -8/+131I wish I could afford throwing that much food out. I did find it funny that we throw out 24 pounds of fruit and vegetables, and don't throw out any doughnuts.
    • Buckeye17, on 05/19/2008, -42/+7Maybe because fruit and vegetables spoil and doughnuts don't u fuqqin idiot.
      • chanop, on 05/19/2008, -2/+19You, my friend, are rude
      • ChillEnt, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2...and inaccurate....are you saying that doughnuts don't spoil??
    • orlyfactor, on 05/19/2008, -2/+17Doughnuts are much tastier than veggies...duh.
      • dfsjdkflasjk, on 05/19/2008, -4/+2That, and doughnuts never spoil. NEVER.
    • WilliamDavis, on 05/19/2008, -16/+2Makes sense to me. Americans don't eat fruits and vegetables.
    • degron, on 05/19/2008, -1/+31I could see throwing out the fruits, but who the hell is throwing away that bacon??!?
    • IglooBurner, on 05/19/2008, -1/+5I'm just glad that we don't waste beer.
    • DjArcadian, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4I usually go for those 2 for 1 specials and end up buying more fruit than I can eat before it goes bad. Mainly Strawberries. I'm otherwise pretty good about eating the foods I buy.
      • JustinCase18, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1I can't tell you the number of time I bring home packaged fresh fruits or vegetables and find them spoiled. My personal peeve is apples, oranges or pears that are freezer burned.

        Now does the "waste" include the non-edible parts as well. If we're talking in terms of pounds, then they probably are. (makes for a more impressive chart.)
    • Cytranic, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2Geez guys, its not like food grows on trees.
    • mylinksx, on 05/19/2008, -4/+0WATCH FULL REPORT/MOVIE CLIP http://myvix.com/
  • domfosnz, on 05/19/2008, -14/+43Is this the food crisis everyones talking about???
    That is simply disgusting.
    • Cglass, on 05/19/2008, -0/+13I didn't see it anywhere else so let me just point out....businesses and consumers IN 1995....

      1 9 9 5

      Seriously?
      • orlyfactor, on 05/19/2008, -8/+6Yeah, half you f'ers weren't even alive in 1995.
    • fiktionous1, on 05/19/2008, -8/+11There is a food crisis? Its amazing how everything bad in the world is the fault of the Americans.
      I am thinking most of this food that they are counting is due to LAWS that prohibit them to sell rotting food... anything can happen. ***** can fall off the pallet, etc while they are moving it off the truck and then into the store, when this happens they typically chock it up as a loss as the store will not "purchase" it but the truck company writes it off as a loss. My father use to work in a trucking warehouse, he use to come home with all kinds of food that somehow got "dropped"; such as smuckers jelly. If they dropped the crate and ONE broke, the entire crate got thrown out. Seriously, company's do not throw out food that is good to SELL unless they are forced to by LAW.

      And a note to the rest of the world. GROW YOUR OWN ***** FOOD INSTEAD OF BLAMING AMERICA FOR YOUR PROBLEMS.
      • ElAssoWipo, on 05/19/2008, -7/+2This is what consumers throw away.

        The article plainly states that food lost on farms, processors and wholesalers isn't included.
        • defsyfe, on 05/19/2008, -0/+10You seemed to have missed the part where it said retailers. Most retailers DO throw away food in this method trust me. I once worked for seven eleven and after 1 day we'd through away sandwhiches. Every night I threw away about two hot dogs, three brats, three sasuages, about ten to fifteen sandwhiches....
        • Silentnite85, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1@Defsyfe: So um, You going to eat that?
      • iticu, on 05/19/2008, -1/+1Why do you instantly assume everyone blames America?
        • Chassit, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2Look at the idiotic response ligyron below and maybe you'll figure it out...
    • ligyron, on 05/19/2008, -11/+3Americans disgust me with how wasteful they are towards everything
      • Tyrghast, on 05/19/2008, -5/+1you do know, that for all intents and purposes, the lifestyle of your average canadian varies only slightly from your average american? Yes, America is full of inbred and ignorant people. Canada is no different.
        • ligyron, on 05/19/2008, -3/+2Hardly. I've been to America. Canada is nothing like America. It's comparing black and white. If you hadn't noticed, we have a different government. Just because we share a border doesn't make us like you. If America ever started influencing Canada, I would move back to the UK
    • kund57, on 05/19/2008, -0/+9The main point of this is that not everyone is doing this, notice the word AVERAGE. This article is not focusing solely on American individuals. The huge numbers come from companies not the American citizen. I used to work in a grocery store where if any package had a tear in it, it was thrown away. Stop blaming Americans for your problems. I hate being an American right now because of the image other people have portrayed me to be. But seriously you are believing every single American wastes this much? Every American basher on this thread sounds just as ignorant and stupid as you portray Americans to be.
      • SteveMax, on 05/19/2008, -2/+1The point remains that the country, as a whole, wastes this much food; dividing by the population only gives us a more tangible volume. It doesn't matter if a kid, dog, grocery store or big supermarket threw it away: it is still wasted food that would be sold on international markets otherwise, and therefore alleviate (not by much, of course) the current problem.
      • domomike, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4SteveMax,

        Yeah because all the food we throw away would be sold on international markets... Because, you know... It's just that easy, quick, cheap and profitable to sell possibly rotten, unsafe, already opened, or nearly expired food items on the international market.
    • micflo, on 05/19/2008, -4/+2So what we are Americans we can do whatever the hell we want. I wish I could go in front of the starving kids in the world and eat cheeseburgers in front of them just to let them know what they are missing.
    • DuFace, on 05/19/2008, -1/+6The system can't be robust and efficient at the same time. You have to pick one or the other. It is no surprise that we value robustness over efficiency, consumers want plenty of FRESH food on the shelves when they go grocery shopping. If you went to the grocery store and everything was sold out or old, wouldn't you be pissed? That's why we throw away so much *****.
    • xigxag, on 05/19/2008, -1/+2I wonder how much food they wasted taking that photo...
  • citydragon, on 05/19/2008, -46/+53The main point to understand about the issue is this: they buy it and it is theirs to do with as they wish.
    • itsgotyou, on 05/19/2008, -22/+13Spoken like a true irresponsible person. Freedom has a price and the price is wrong bitch!
      • citydragon, on 05/19/2008, -0/+17TBH I can personally barely afford enough to eat, never mind throw away.
        • itsgotyou, on 05/19/2008, -7/+5Sorry to hear that. Maybe you should go find a better paying job or something. No disrespect intended.
        • biggiantmat, on 05/19/2008, -0/+5I feel your pain - coming from a student in many, many thousands of Pounds of debt :(
      • blast_flame, on 05/19/2008, -1/+10So your argument is that the price of freedom is giving up freedom? Nice doublespeak there...
        • itsgotyou, on 05/19/2008, -3/+2How do you equate being responsible to giving up one's freedom?
        • blast_flame, on 05/19/2008, -1/+9Forcing someone to do anything, even be responsible as you were subtly suggesting, is giving up freedom.
        • itsgotyou, on 05/19/2008, -5/+3Would you live in a place where people do whatever they wish without regard to the other people living around them? Nobody's being forced here, I'm talking about compassion and empathy.
        • blast_flame, on 05/19/2008, -1/+5I would prefer that people lives their lives as they see fit with voluntary (non-governmental) incentives being rewarded for people acting in a positive manner.
        • itsgotyou, on 05/19/2008, -1/+3I would agree with you then.
      • rory2267, on 05/19/2008, -2/+4why is this guy getting dug down? saying it's theirs to do with as they wish is so irresponsible, and it is a bad attitude.
    • DeadMeatUK, on 05/19/2008, -16/+29It's about the finite resources to grow, make , package and transport the original produce and the resulting waste. It's wasting them.

      See past the end of your nose (or out of your SUV)
      • TheLivingShade, on 05/19/2008, -8/+3I agree with you. You buy it, its yours, do as you wish.
      • vinceish, on 05/19/2008, -1/+1It's about the world being the world and not being some hippie paradise. If you want to talk about economics then here: Time is money. It costs time (money) and capital to search out food that would otherwise be wasted and sell it or give it away. The food which would be otherwise thrown out would be preopened, possibly dangerous to eat, possibly spoiled, very bad tasting or soon to be expired. The costs greatly outweigh the benefits. Get used to it. That's why you get paid for the work you do and that's why you can afford to eat every day. Our country works for profit. It's called capitalism. It has nothing to do with SUVs.

        I hate the unnecessary SUV driver as much as the next guy who's sick of being tailgated... But this is something completely different.
    • ahawks, on 05/19/2008, -5/+13Yes, you're free (legally) to buy anything you can afford and throw it away. Does that make it smart? No. That makes you a ***** moron.

      This isn't about what you can do, it's about making smarter choices.
    • Robopath, on 05/19/2008, -4/+5No the point of everything on Digg now is to make you ashamed and demoralized about anything/everything that is U.S.A.

      If you dont like it, your free to go somewhere else. If you do like it, your free to cry all over the internet. I will continue to be insanely wealthy and drive my Land Rover with mud tires.

      Its Morning in America.... time for you nay sayers to leave.
      • vinceish, on 05/19/2008, -1/+1x2

        I hate SUVs. But this is America. Do what you want.

        I'm sick of this "I hate everyone because, unlike me, they're wasteful" attitude.
    • siszam, on 05/19/2008, -6/+1There are children and families in America who don't have enough to eat. There is no reason why anyone should be hungry in this country. That's the problem. It's insulting to humanity and to decent people that people like you think it's alright for anyone to be hungry or to live without healthcare. You have a right to do what you want with your money? I don't think so. Not when others suffer because you're selfish. We need a Socialist revolution so we can catch up to civilized countries who take care of their people. It's Americas great shame the we use our "freedom" to justify selfish greed. People like you don't choose to do good. You have to be forced too. You sickening animal.
      • citydragon, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Like I said, I'm pretty skint and hungry.
        So will you put your money where my mouth is?
  • ferreth, on 05/19/2008, -6/+30I can understand throwing some food away once in a while. Plans change, you forget about something, etc, but 122lbs on average?!! I would be surprised if I throw away 5lbs a month, even counting vegetable bits I'm not fond of. It makes you think about how much other waste Americans must produce as well - throwing out perfectly good clothes, furniture, etc.
    • Nhmarine, on 05/19/2008, -9/+10I wish you wouldn't generalize americans, most of us are poor and dream of a wasteful life due to the glamor that the media shines down upon us, but a lot of citizens of the U.S. are actually intelligent as opposed to the obese idiotic slobs you usually see. So, unless you want me to call all french existentialist beret-wearing pussy artist and the germans a bunch of neo-nazis and say all british have bad teeth, don't generalize me.
      • dlllb, on 05/19/2008, -8/+5Fat people aren't intelligent? Thats a bit of a sweeping generalisation if ever I saw one.
        • aladrin, on 05/19/2008, -1/+4He didn't say that. He said you usually see obese idiotic slobs. He didn't say the 3 always go together.
      • vinceish, on 05/19/2008, -1/+0Oh, stop complaining. Quit complaining about how helpless and sad you are on Digg with us living our "wasteful lives" and do something about it.
    • dn11, on 05/19/2008, -3/+9these studies always talk about America - probably because Americans are the only once that examine their own bad habits in such detail, but I would be surprised if Western Europeans are much better. When it comes to other rude habits such as littering - many European countries have us beat in spades.
    • wrathchilde, on 05/19/2008, -1/+23The graphic clearly states that this is waste produced BEFORE these products reach consumers. Certainly all post-expiration date stuff. In the restaurant I worked we sent all that stuff to animal farms, as do many many supermarkets, at least the fruit an veggies stuff.

      Don't get me wrong, that is a huge andappallng waste, but it is not "families" throwing out perfectly good food as the misleading and hyperbolic headline would imply.

      Oh, and plese post the articles, not just the graphics. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/weekinreview/18m ...
      • deadlyfluvirus, on 05/19/2008, -0/+5But how else could we criticize Americans and make up generalizations without posting misleading topics where most won't even bother to read where the original image came from or even read the article for which in came from?
      • strictnein, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2The image is really misleading in its use of completely good products.

        Much of the "expired" food from grocery stores gets sent to food banks, not the trash bin.
      • bingostud722, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4I love how people will blindly follow an image without even second guessing where it came from, how the data was collected, etc. I think thats more disappointing than the food being thrown out.

        It DOESNT EVEN SAY ITS WASTED BY FAMILIES in the article, only in the heading some digger put up. sad.
    • kosibar, on 05/19/2008, -0/+12Remember, this is retailers, food service businesses, and consumers. If the average consumer throws out 5 pounds then the retailers and food service businesses throw out 117 lbs.

      They didn't say how they collected their statistics. What counts as edible food?

      Most food which is newly expired is still perfectly edible. Is that counted as waste? Retailers and food service businesses probably throw out a lot of food because of expiration dates.

      How many restaurants throw out parts of food that are perfectly edible but not desirable? An apple peel, for example, is edible. If a restaurant peels its apples to use in a recipe, is the peel counted as wasted food? The fat that is trimmed off a piece of meat is edible but thrown out, is that counted?

      This seems like a lot of food but the image may be misleading us. They may not be throwing out 122 pounds of whole cooked chickens, packages of bacon, boxes of cereal, etc. This may or may not be better, but it is certainly a different level of wastefulness.
    • Stormshark, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Looking at this I can't imagine me or my family throwing out that much food ever. We are very middle class, but the only thing I can think of is throwing out half a quart of milk once in a while and some veggy skins.
  • UltramegaOK, on 05/19/2008, -3/+302This is slightly misleading.

    It statistics are based on "retailers, food service businesses, AND consumers" - which is how they came to the 1 pound of "wasted food" per day.

    I know for a fact that grocery stores, restaurants, and cafeterias can each throw away a hell of a lot more food in a day than a single person can in a month.

    When I worked at a grocery store deli during high school we would throw away cases of food every night if we didn't sell it.



    I hate misleading titles.
    • db0255, on 05/19/2008, -0/+32Agreed. When I worked at a bagel shop we threw out 100 bagels at the end of the day sometimes. The problem is nobody wants to take the time to transfer the food to a homeless shelter or where it's really in need.
      • Whadabala, on 05/19/2008, -1/+7Yeah that really pisses me off. The grocery store's bakery I used to work for would throw away at least 2 carts full of just dry baked goods every night. Absolutely ridiculous.
      • m00nmaster, on 05/19/2008, -1/+40Rebecca: Are you the ones leaving the muffing pieces behind our shelter?

        Elaine: You been enjoying them?

        Rebecca: They're just stumps.

        Elaine: Well they're perfectly edible.

        Rebecca: Oh, so you just assume that the homeless will eat them, they'll eat anything?

        Mr. Lippman: No no, we just thought...

        Rebecca: I know what you thought. They don't have homes, they don't have jobs, what do they need the top of a muffin for? They're lucky to get the stumps.

        Elaine: If the homeless don't like them the homeless don't have to eat them.

        Rebecca: The homeless don't like them.

        Elaine: Fine.

        Rebecca: We've never gotten so many complaints. Every two minutes, "Where is the top of this muffin? Who ate the rest of this?"

        Elaine: We were just trying to help.

        Rebecca: Why don't you just drop off some chicken skins and lobster shells.

        Elaine: I think I might.
      • webtweakers, on 05/19/2008, -0/+5Why don't the city governments put homeless shelters next to bakeries or vice versa, so all this perfectly good food wouldn't go wasted...?
        • IllBeBack, on 05/19/2008, -1/+3Because that would require master planning? If any level of government ever gets anything correct according to a planned effort, I will be ***** amazed.
        • micflo, on 05/19/2008, -2/+2yeah then all the stupid homeless people would go inside during store hours asking for free food for someone whose down on their luck. That would be a terrible business move actual customers would be complaining about the smell and the annoying homeless people asking for a quarter. Homeless people are stupid this is America and they should be able to find a job all it takes is a little effort.
        • AriaStar, on 05/19/2008, -1/+2micflo, are you an idiot? Have you been watching the economy? Finding a job is HARD right now, even for skilled people. All our damned jobs are being outsourced.
        • JustinCase18, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1A business owner would have to be completely insane to donate food from the end of the day to a homeless shelter. It's called "Legal Liability".
      • mustang460, on 05/19/2008, -0/+6I was at a bakery late one night and was asked if i wanted some bagels for free, as they were to be thrown out soon anyway, of course I took them up on the offer, little did I know they were giving me an entire trash bag FULL of bagels ;D

        luckily I had a lot of freezer space so I took them all and had bagels for months ;D

      • flashingcurser, on 05/19/2008, -2/+4All seinfeld jokes aside, you cannot give away food you couldn't sell. If it is out of date or spoiled you cannot give it away. Just because they are homeless doesn't mean you can give them food unfit for humans. Unfortunately, there is also a tax benefit to throwing away outdated/unsellable food. You can claim it as a business loss which provides the same tax credit without having to pay someone to deliver the food to a shelter.
        I have volunteered for two different homeless charities and have a good friend who manages a St. Vincent de Paul. I know many homeless people on a first name basis. That said, there is not much of a problem for these charities getting food.
        Can you imagine if a restaurant or grocery store sold foods they knew where out of date or contaminated in some way? Even if they gave it away. The liability of food handling is astounding, it is much safer to throw it away.
        • AriaStar, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4Food baked earlier in the day and given away that night isn't spoiled. Bakeries won't make money on baked goods a few days old, even if it's still good. That's the food that's given away.
        • Whadabala, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3The bakery at my old store threw away the unsold stuff every night, because picky people want their stuff baked that day. And I don't know where you are from, but the homeless shelters here in Tampa do not have a surplus of food.
    • Dumbledorito, on 05/19/2008, -0/+14The Panera Bread Company chain sends its leftovers to homeless shelters.

      And while I don't doubt that someone would eat the leavings, I worked at Hardee's back in the day, and a lot of our food became inedible rather quickly after closing (the biscuits from breakfast were hockey pucks by about noon, and the burgers in the warming bin would have to have the buns washed off of them).
    • nonesupplied, on 05/19/2008, -7/+1Yeah, I'm sure these statisticians just forgot what they were doing and didn't arduously calculate the appropriate manner to account for such a situation.
    • nevpayne, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3Its media misleading to allow for some scare factor - otherwise people would basically "meh" the whole thing. Bigger numbers and extra minty flavors of doom and disaster always help the sheep follow orders.
    • westlawn, on 05/19/2008, -2/+21Slightly misleading??? This is an outright lie.
    • Gamer2k4, on 05/19/2008, -0/+6I'm with you here. We're throwing away food for the same reason that hospitals throw away unused supplies after a patient leaves: So that you're guaranteed that the items that will be used by the next people are sterile/healthy. Too many people are going to read the title and say,"Those wasteful Americans; I'm glad I don't live there," but I for one am willing to make the tradeoff of throwing out some things in order to have a better quality of life.
    • Kronos6948, on 05/19/2008, -0/+18I worked for Whole Foods a couple of years ago. They donated so much of their food to local food banks, that the food banks refused to take more. Whole Foods still had a ton of food they threw out.

      Thing that pissed me off though is that if the employees wanted to take it home, they couldn't unless they paid full price.
      • Dumbledorito, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3That's probably because some bean-counter (pardon the pun) realized that employees couldn't issue a receipt.

        If he had been clever, he would have allowed the take-home and put the lost "value" under "theft."
        • sparkleton, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3It's partially that and partially some other issues:

          1. Inventory - If someone were to know they got to keep the extra food at the end of the day in ... lets say the deli, they might make a ton of food right before the store closed in order to keep it. It is the end of the day right? I just made myself 20 lbs of chicken.

          2. Resale - Fear of someone trying to do this and reselling. Both 1 and 2 are theft, basically.

          3. Legal Reasons - If someone took home old or expired food and got sick you can bet there would be a lawsuit.

          4. Lost Sales - Employees who receive free food would not buy as much food at the store they worked at.

          In conclusion, I wish there was some way to keep down food waste but honestly companies only care about their profits.
      • mikusjay, on 05/19/2008, -0/+5My work is a local natural foods store (like whole foods). We have different "free" boxes all over the store. Some for produce, some for dairy, some for bread and some for dried goods. The employees are allowed to take whatever they want, and what's left over Food For Lane County (local food bank) comes and picks up.

        And we also have "mark down" bins in produce and grocery for things that are slightly damaged (tears and stuff we will just tape up). The markdown bins sell really really well.

        And we compost food waste that's not edible. FFLC uses it in their community gardens.

        • CobaltBlue, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1I would feel kind of guilty taking food that would otherwise to to a food bank, but I bet I could get over it.
      • Brian48216, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1it's actually to reduce theft from the store. If employees realized that food getting to expiration was going to the employees to take home, the employees wouldn't help sell, or they'd hide ***** around the store till it went expired and then they'd take it home. It'd be a mess.
        • Kronos6948, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1This'd be kind of hard to do, since the stuff getting thrown out was mostly bread and produce. All of this is kept out in the open and rotated daily. Bread is thrown out the next day!
        • mikusjay, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1That's so not true. If anything, getting free stuff makes us all more aware of how much loss the store has. I pay more attention to the dates on things so I can let the management know when something is CTD (close to date). They can then reduce the price so that it sells more quickly.
          I guess it's all about having good morale. Because I like where I work (because we get so much good, free stuff and we have a great work environment) I care about how well the store does and wouldn't be dishonest. Walmart certainly couldn't get away with something like that.
      • xsquirrel378x, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2when i worked at whole foods (very late 90s). the deli and bakery used to be able to hook up employees with anything they couldnt save for huge discounts. times changed i guess.
      • AriaStar, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1That annoys me. So many people work places where they can't afford to shop/eat/use the services/etc., and somehow this isn't seen as a problem.
    • redfred18t, on 05/19/2008, -1/+2I agree on the misleading title

      Silly New York Times.
    • MasterThief117, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2It is still a lot of wasted food. It is even worse when it is wasted by grocery stores, restaurants, and cafeterias because they have better means of redistributing that food to homeless shelters and those who can actually use it.
    • wamitch, on 05/19/2008, -1/+2anybody who can read should be able to figure this bombshell out. Skewed information coming from the NY Times?! I never!
    • devonkeale, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4Very misleading. Also, it's from 1995. Surely household and commercial waste has lessened slightly in the past 13 years with increased recycling and awareness.
      Buried for being a statistic (and a misleading one at that) from 13 years ago and therefore completely irrelevant now.
    • Kas70, on 05/19/2008, -1/+2I think people are getting confused. I believe the figures are arrived at from families eating at home, in restaurants, cafeterias, and food that they buy from grocery stores - like that head of lettuce you forget about at the back of the fridge, or the bacon past its expiration date.

      I think the figure is probably accurate. I'm always on my kids about their not eating left-overs and trying to toss them out after only a day or two. I rarely eat everything at a restaurant or cafeteria. And when we go major shopping once a month, there is more going into the garbage and disposal than I'm at all happy with.

      Good information to know. Gonna try to lower that number in my household.
    • alphaeno, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Misleading title, dugg down
    • Contajeerus, on 05/19/2008, -2/+1It's OK with me that family stats are lumped in with business stats. People use "the office" to hide their gluttonous lifestyles all the time. You're responsible for your actions and the world pays the consequences whether you do it at home or are getting paid to do at work.
    • STPZ, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1I dont know what store you worked for but the way we did it when i worked at a supermarket we left foods out there until some unlucky bastard bought it, ***** had dust on it....unlucky bastard

      ...that's the American way (capitalist)
    • supaklaw, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Look at any cheap buffet in Las Vegas. All have shrimp and lobster... flown in from seaports. That'll be fresh what, 5 minutes after sitting out in the desert sun? Into the trash it goes.
  • StatiK69, on 05/19/2008, -5/+36Please note, NO ramen noodles are wasted. None!
    • tehbored, on 05/19/2008, -0/+15Yeah, salt wasn't even a category.
    • SQLserver, on 05/19/2008, -3/+2This is evident proof the Flying Spaghetti Monster created the world 6,000 years ago!
      Think about it:
      If each person on average throws away 122 LBS of Ramen Noodles every day, as this study here says, then if the world was as old as Evilutionists said it was, we'd be waaaaaay out of Noodles!

      PROOOF!
      • wecaanation, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4Is this what SQL servers do during idle times?
  • TheCash, on 05/19/2008, -4/+50I wish I could afford that much food, period. I had to start my own garden outside my living room window just to add some produce to my Top Ramen diet but hey, thats college for ya. I can't really bitch about what others' needlessly throw out because I am writing this on a desk I found on the curb a few blocks away :-D

    Something that *does* annoy the hell out of me are people (usually women, but not exclusively) who order huge amounts of food at the restaurant I work at, have a few bites, and then won't let me talk them into putting it into a box for them to take home. This lady last week actually told me "oh I'd feel horrible about wasting that styrofoam container." Jesus Christ.
    • SeaweedWater, on 05/19/2008, -7/+18She called you Jesus Christ?
      • TheCash, on 05/19/2008, -1/+24Was it in quotes?
      • matthewf01, on 05/19/2008, -0/+7Maybe he's quoting jesus christ?
        • mrderp123, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2OP didn't include a year, so he's out of form for citations by the guidelines of most style journals.
        • TomTruelle, on 05/19/2008, -1/+1god, you guys are nerds...
        • CobaltBlue, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Are you calling those guys god?
        • B3nno, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Since when is god a bunch of guys? That in TomTruelle's opinion happen to be nerds?
    • IllBeBack, on 05/19/2008, -1/+3It would be awesome if restaurants could reduce the sizes of the portions so that we don't have to leave half of the food on the plate.
      • TheCash, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Chili's, TGIF, and Applebees recently started doing this publicly, but I've worked for three restaurants as a server, and all of them allowed us to put in half orders on 90 percent of the entrees. You just have to ask your waiter. It's the first thing I recommend if a diner seems iffy on the portion size, though I admit that not all restaurants or waiters do as good a job of informing customers of this service as I do.
      • Chassit, on 05/19/2008, -1/+2Umm, no that would suck.
    • greenlight2001, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3When I worked as a busboy a while back ago, I would stick all the left over meats into a take out box and brought it home for my dogs. Man did they love seeing me come home...
      • TheCash, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3I do the same thing, but I've been cutting back lately because my mutt is getting a little on the hefty side.
      • BuzzedMonkey, on 05/19/2008, -0/+0Yah my friend does the same thing, only he will bring completely untouched food for himself. Its amazing what people will leave on their plate, like an entire serving of garlic mashed potatoes, or, once, someone left a steak on the plate because they were vegetarian. That one is really odd because you would expect someone to NOT ORDER the thing they know they wont eat. so stupid.
    • WannaBeSquare, on 05/19/2008, -3/+2If you were really that poor, you wouldn't have a living room, or a window for that matter :p
  • Tunguska, on 05/19/2008, -3/+13At least they aren't eating it, because that would be another story in itself.
    • hexydes, on 05/19/2008, -0/+7This is a very good point. The fact of the matter is, unless you go shopping seven days a week, you have to try and predict your eating habits for the next week (or whatever period you go shopping). Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn't. For things that expire...what are your options? You can:

      a. Eat the spoiled food (disgusting, get sick)
      b. Over-eat before it spoils (not good for you, we have an obesity problem in America)
      c. Throw it out.

      Which of those three options sounds like the best idea? Yes, it would be great if we could predict with pin-point accuracy exactly what food we will be willing and able to consume over a given period of time, but the fact of the matter is, we simply can't. Would it be great if there was some magic tube you could put your about-to-spoil food into that you didn't want that could be piped to Africa or poor parts of the United States, etc? Yes, that would be fantastic; unfortunately, here in the real world, it doesn't work that way. As such, you're faced with the above choices, and honestly, wasting a bit of food is probably the best of those choices.
      • Enfilade, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3How about option D:

        Make less food.

        If we stop ridiculously over producing we obviously wouldn't waste as much. We would also be doing the environment a huge favor.

        To address you option B - producing less would hopefully lead to smaller portion sizes. America's waste and weight issues are rooted in portion size. Either we eat the ridiculously large portion and get fat, or throw it away and waste it. The simple answer to both issues is to produce less food.
        • hexydes, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3I was approaching this from a holistic standpoint, not on a per-meal basis. Sometimes for example you buy 2lbs of hamburger meat from the store, but only end up using 1.5lbs of hamburger meat. What then? Yes, it would be great if you could simply know how much on the dot you would need, but that isn't usually the case.

          Or what if I want to buy milk. I know I only need a half-gallon of milk during the week. However, the store is completely sold out of half-gallon containers of milk, and I have to either buy no milk, or a full gallon. Well, what if the milk spoils before you've used it all up? You're back again at either having to drink more milk than you want, throwing milk away, or drinking spoiled milk. This happens to me all the time, and I just throw it away because I don't need that much milk, and I'm not going to drink something that is spoiled.

          You're living in an idealist's world. Yes, on a per-meal basis you can certainly choose smaller portions, but unless you're going out to eat for every single meal of every single day, you have to make choices that account for a longer range of time than one meal, and as much as we'd all love to not over-estimate, that's usually just part of the game. Nobody likes getting to day five of the seven day week, only to find out that they need to make another trip to the store. And if you want to argue that people are lazy, how about the fact that you'd need to use your polluting car to get to the store?

          At any rate, the entire premise of this submission is flawed because the submitter decided to make an agenda on how "wasteful" Americans are, when the article actually counted home, businesses, and restaurants, all into one lump (when homes make up the smallest portion of that wasted food).
    • rory2267, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1think, 1 pound of food for every adult in america, every day. what could that do for people in africa, or other people staring around the world
    • TruthforAll, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1How about composting the food? Technology has allowed us things like an indoor composter where you can turn all of your organic and paper waste into rich fertile soil in 2 weeks and use it to fertilize plants and more food that you can grow yourself. Re-using everything as nature does and growing it yourself is the way to go.

      http://www.composters.com/compost-bins/automatic-i ...
  • mohabias, on 05/19/2008, -18/+2but its only so many dollars more, I MUST BUY A DEAL, who cares if i won't use it. (btw, i'm not even jewish!)
    • SQLserver, on 05/19/2008, -2/+4Cheapness and a Racial slur in one comment!
      • dorkino, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2Redundancy, too
      • greenlight2001, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2Since when did 'jewish' become a racial slur? Oh, you meant racial stereotyping.
  • killbert24, on 05/19/2008, -29/+7There is more than enough food to feed everyone in the world. Too bad most of the food gets thrown away by self-absorbed, materialistic citizens while people eat sand and starve in other countries, as well as some poor parts of America.
    My grandparents used to force me to finish my meals no matter what, because back when they were growing up-- people actually placed value on food and knew it was a precious commodity. Now we just take it for granted and think it is our god given right to go buy 50 lbs. of tuna at Costco or whatever else.
    I think we need another great depression or bout of massive starvation so we can get a little perspective about our current state of mass over consumption.
    • Envark, on 05/19/2008, -0/+14How is consuming more than necessary (i.e. finishing all your meals, regardless of hunger) any better than throwing away food?
    • diadem2, on 05/19/2008, -2/+12It's not a question of quantity, it's a question of logistics. Even if this food wasn't thrown away, how could it get to the people who need it; either outside this country or in it?

      Waste and starvation are two seperate issues. It's entirely possible to keep that waste and still feed the poor. Likewise, not enjoying life becuase other people aren't enjoying life won't help anyone either.

      The only reason to be pissed at people wasitng in this case is jealosy.
    • mike17032, on 05/19/2008, -8/+9Food tends to spoil rather fast, you ***** retard.

      Oh and that whole "clean your plate" mentality that stupid uneducated grandparents tried to force on their defective offspring is one of the reasons most people cant see their toes anymore.
      • kittynipples, on 05/19/2008, -3/+8Grandparents tell you to clean your plate because they actually grew up i a time when you couldn't afford to be wasteful with the food you did get. The problem isn't that you clean your plate, it's that the plate has twice as much food on it as it used to.
      • IllBeBack, on 05/19/2008, -2/+1Well, if you didn't put so much ***** food on your plate to begin with and instead only took a reasonable portion size, you would be able to clean your plate like your apparently stupid grandparents told you to.

        Who is the stupid one? Maybe you should listen to your grandparents and add in some of your own common sense, dillweed.
    • sivartrenrag, on 05/19/2008, -1/+3Thank you for the advice, Mr. Ivory Tower.
    • vinceish, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1We can buy 50 lbs. of tuna at Costco if we want to. THIS IS AMERICA. Get used to it. We're well-off here. A side effect of an amazingly high quality of life is taking things for granted. Be happy about it.

      It would be impossible for us to just donate our stupid food to everyone in the world. How would the food be screened for its safety? How would the food be transported? Who would take control of the logistics mess that this would cause?
  • Shendelzare, on 05/19/2008, -18/+5Well once Obama is elected Americans will all be eating Government rations anyway.
  • HaloZero, on 05/19/2008, -1/+6I don't throw out any food, so I'm an outlier. Whoo
    • krusader3z, on 05/19/2008, -2/+2Not my problem.

      What, should I box up my food garbage and ship it to the poor countries? The obvious answer is this is impossible.

      So throw away whatever you want, you paid for it, it's yours to do with as you wish.
  • Nhmarine, on 05/19/2008, -11/+3I throw away twice that amount! I also weigh 500 pounds and am a virgin with manboobs!
    • WilliamDavis, on 05/19/2008, -1/+2You're still well within "normal" range.
  • empirefalling, on 05/19/2008, -17/+9Add to this the energy waste and pollution that occurs from US Industry, the US attack and occupation of other countries and you have a peoples that can destroy not only themselves but an entire a planet. America needs to change and soon.
    • mike17032, on 05/19/2008, -6/+4Yes, we need to get rid of people like you that are spreading their defective seed in our gene pool. Not that I think you ever have a chance of getting laid without paying for it, but even hookers have kids sometimes.
    • heartless_, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4Someone obviously hasn't been to China recently, or half the countries in Europe who are wasteful in their own ways. But it's nice to think about Europe as the holy grail, and who may be a bit ahead of other parts of the world, but only thanks to America taking the steps necessary for a global economy to exist in the first place.
    • kroni, on 05/19/2008, -1/+4The world would be a better place without USA. Way better.
    • IllBeBack, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Nature will balance out our flaws.
  • GoKings, on 05/19/2008, -5/+60Buried for misleading title... This isn't just families, and therefore the numbers are incredibly skewed. Interesting chart though.
  • FizzanoMatrix, on 05/19/2008, -1/+13Where are these facts from, JimBelushi.edu
  • GamerX, on 05/19/2008, -4/+5mmmmm wasted food...

    * drools *
  • tama00, on 05/19/2008, -19/+6wtf is a pound?
    get with the metric system you losers.

    Say it with me, 'kilogram'....
  • dojonz, on 05/19/2008, -2/+44The chicken is burnt, no wonder they threw it away.
  • sandygmaharaj, on 05/19/2008, -5/+6and then blame India's booming economy for rising prices.
    • mike17032, on 05/19/2008, -1/+5No, we blame people in India ***** out a baby every other year when they cant feed the ones they already have.
    • drastik21, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1India economy is booming? No wonder every one has to risk their lives and ride on top of trains. The government really has the transportation problem figured out.
    • ricepicker4000, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1India has the most cattle in the world but in their religion they can't eat cows, hmmm whats the problem there?
  • mr5150, on 05/19/2008, -3/+3had a good look in that pic and not a twinky to be found...dugg for truth.....had I of seen one, i would have called BS but that looks about right to me.
    • archerOFloaf, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1High gain growl at a low cost. The 5150 truely is a fine amp.

      Buried for skewed numbers.
  • AussieJames, on 05/19/2008, -2/+13I work at a large restaurant chain and I am still shocked at all the food we just throw away. It is simply appalling and a huge waste of resources and I swear sometimes I wish I could just defy my managers and just take the food home where it would be put to use.
    • FREETHINKER2008, on 05/19/2008, -0/+11Do it !!!
    • webtweakers, on 05/19/2008, -0/+11Yes, why exactly couldn't you?
      • IllBeBack, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1I assume that they don't want him to because he might sue them if he ever got sick from eating the food that they were going to throw away.

        /Admiral Obvious?
      • godfather2729, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Because he would not be purchasing food from them anymore.
  • JMellissa, on 05/19/2008, -9/+8Not I. I almost NEVER throw out any food. If it starts going bad, I scrape off the bad stuff and eat what is left.
    • tcpip4lyfe, on 05/19/2008, -4/+5gross
    • teh_spazz, on 05/19/2008, -2/+1I hope you enjoy digestive enzymes from fungi in your body!
    • carbonatedh20, on 05/19/2008, -2/+1Thats disgusting
    • inn0, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3Absolutely! People are so damn picky, and it's symptomatic of the overabundance (unevenly distributed, granted) of food in this country - very few people know what "hungry" really means. I've definitely cut mold sides off cheese and bread before.
  • WoundedCow, on 05/19/2008, -1/+20Not with two teenage boys!...hell, even the cockroaches and ants can't find scraps after my boys are through.
  • anogenic, on 05/19/2008, -1/+22Stores & restaurants are the real problem. In my country one of the largest grocery chains sells the food which is going to be thrown away at half price at the end of the day. I think this is a great move for both the environment and people who cant always afford the food they want, this should be done everywhere.
    • aladrin, on 05/19/2008, -0/+5When I last worked at a grocery store, I was appalled...

      Wait, no, they gave away the food to charities at the end of the day. Restaurants may be a problem (I'm sure some of them give the leftover food away, if it's still safe) but grocery stores here have ties with charities to deal with this issue.
    • lisaawesome, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3I worked at a WalMart grocery store and dear lord the amount of ***** that gets thrown away is insane. They overstock produce and meats that will never get sold before spoiling. They allow customers to return food but we had to turn around and immediately throw it away because it can't go back on the shelf (which I understand for a lot of things but not for a goddamn can of green beans). If an employee is willing to eat the food being thrown away they are expected to pay full price. The store I worked at even stopped marking down deli chickens to half price just before closing because the managers felt too many customers were taking advantage of the half price. So now all the leftover chickens are thrown away. It's a lot of asinine behavior that encourages waste.
  • eroticpie, on 05/19/2008, -2/+10I don't think it would be much different in any other industrialized nation (european countries, austrailia, canada, etc.)
    • yedrellow, on 05/19/2008, -1/+3You leave us out of this; why would you bring truth to a perfectly good American bashing article?
  • Reedan, on 05/19/2008, -1/+12Man, the 'bury as inaccurate' button sure has been getting a workout this week.
  • moikai, on 05/19/2008, -1/+122 pounds of fluid milk? that's sick.
    • WilliamDavis, on 05/19/2008, -0/+12Well, I'm not going to throw away the solid milk.
    • macbookhair, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1A gallon of milk weighs about 10 pounds... so its not really THAT serious.
  • wiirdo, on 05/19/2008, -0/+14Oh i get it...Florida wastes cheese, Maine wastes milk, and Californians are big wasters of Rotisserie chicken.
  • TetchyTony, on 05/19/2008, -5/+0That's not an 'American' family, that's probably a latter-day 'US-ian' family.
    • Chassit, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Actually not only is it not modern (from 1995), but is specifically qualified as the food wasted by "US Retailers, food service businesses and consumers" Man it isn't even an article, too lazy to even read the caption?
  • jefuchs, on 05/19/2008, -0/+6Who wrote that title? The link said something entirely different. Businesses waste that much food. Families don't. Before I started reading the text I was wondering who the hell these families are, and how many garbage cans must they have!
  • byleth, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4Freegans FTW!
  • 955701, on 05/19/2008, -4/+3I'm not nearly as concerned about that as I am about the plastic around that food. I wonder if the folks brow-beating us for our waste bothered to recycle or reuse every food container shown in that picture after they finished taking the picture. I also wonder, did all of that food get eaten? Including the 4 packs of sardines?

    I'm tired of people lumping everyone into the same pile of "Americans" and calling us all *****. Human behavior is what it is, you can trade our "wastefulness" into the oppression of another country or the blatant disregard for life of a third.
  • makbryan2, on 05/19/2008, -0/+29This is ridiculous- if they showed what the actual thrown out food looked like, nobody would think anything of this.
  • tcorlen, on 05/19/2008, -1/+29The food I throw out doesn't look like the food in the picture.
  • DesertTripper, on 05/19/2008, -9/+4What do you expect - from kindergarten on, the "if you don't finish it now, you have to throw it away" mantra is echoed through school cafeterias nationwide, and furthered in places like buffets where you are not allowed to take uneaten food.

    I'm always horrified at the large quantities of food people leave on their plates at restaurants. It's like they could care less that they are about to pay almost 10 bucks for that plate of food they are throwing away.

    Not only that, but the vast amounts of energy that were used to grow the food, process it and bring it to market are wasted as well.

    "Land of plenty" behavior like this is yet another reason why the US is so hated around the world.

    I'm afraid the old-time"if you don't eat your veggies, no dessert" is a thing of the past.

    • IllBeBack, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2So then why don't restaurants have smaller portions available so that there will be less food left on the plate that is apparently horrifying you?
      • nephilimx, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Alot of restaurants do have 2 sizes.
    • lisaawesome, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2It seems like a lot of people are leftover phobic. My sister refuses to take home anything from when we go out to eat when she never gets close to eating half of what she has ordered. There's no way I can finish the massive meals you get at most restaurants but I love taking it home and looking forward to that 2nd meal later. When I go out to eat with someone like my sister, I jack their leftovers and get a totally free 3rd meal later. It works out nicely for me but I'm not always there to rescue the leftovers! I don't understand how you can reject all that food that you just spent 10+ dollars on. Talk about throwing money away.
  • rtphokie, on 05/19/2008, -0/+27This isn't an American only practice, everyone throws food away, Canadians, Europeans, and the rest of the industrialized world does as well.

    The biggest source of this isn't consumers it's restaurants and retailers. It's not because of arrogance and waste either. It's food safety laws and the fact that consumers demand for quality for what they are paying. The process food has expiration dates for a reason.While many cities have programs which distribute leftover food from restaurants and produce and other fresh items that doesn't look good enough to sell from grocers, not every city does either because of local laws or economics prevent it.
    • mustang460, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1while I do agree with you, there is a large reason why we have so much waste, and its due to convenience

      many restaurants and bakeries prepare food ahead of time rather than on demand, this causes a ton of waste, as much of it won't be eaten, also many restaurants use only the most visually appealing parts of the food and toss out the rest to make their food more presentable

      groceries, instead of stocking food on demand/use they stock, well everything so customers have a huge selection, this means a lot of the food will not be purchased, and will be thrown out


      we could cut back dramatically on how much food is wasted in the US, however we would lose the size of grocery selection, and convenience of speedy pickups at restaurants/bakeries
  • nevpayne, on 05/19/2008, -1/+3That picture would almost certainly feed 3 of me for a working week...parts of it even longer.
  • koft, on 05/19/2008, -7/+5I don't toss food out in my place unless it's totally spoiled. Even if there is mold on veggies, i'll cut it off and eat the rest.
  • Beefsupreme88, on 05/19/2008, -6/+7The US is the only nation that "wastes" food... right?

    Anyway there is no point in trying to defend our country, all Europe thinks we are big fat SUV driving warmongers. True ignorance.
    • HypocriteDigg, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1And you hate France. What's your point? There are idiots all over the world, especially on Digg.
  • JasonCox, on 05/19/2008, -1/+4My parents always used to throw food away; this isnt the case at my apartment!

    (this may also explain the spare tire...)
  • Naieve, on 05/19/2008, -2/+2They probably got together with the people who did the Lancet study to take notes on their methodology.
  • edebolt, on 05/19/2008, -3/+3I like to throw a few raw eggs at my neighbors house every few days. Makes me happy. Is that so wrong?
  • goddess101, on 05/19/2008, -2/+2could easily feed this family for a month
    http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626 ...
  • drapelyk, on 05/19/2008, -9/+3Quit complaining about gas prices and buy only what you will eat.
  • mrogi, on 05/19/2008, -9/+1If the average American family threw out a lot more food instead of eating it...they wouldn't be so goddam obese.
  • R75700, on 05/19/2008, -3/+2and yet we will still throw these things out...

    Letting everyone know what they already know is hardly the problem.
    Maybe try telling this to chain restaurants, who buy in bulk, stop throwing out things for no reason. and then enforcing it.

    hmmmm.........
  • SubaruPowah, on 05/19/2008, -4/+1I guess I'm more conscientious than the average American family. But from looking at this, it's not a hard thing to do.
  • BufordT, on 05/19/2008, -2/+29Buried as inaccurate, no one knowingly throws away bacon.
    • teh_spazz, on 05/19/2008, -2/+1If I ever saw a man throwing out bacon, I'd kindly ask him to turn his testicles in to the nearest boxing gym.
  • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 05/19/2008, -2/+37Buried as inaccurate. This is food thrown out by "US Retailers, food service businesses and consumers." Do you seriously think a family of four throws out 22 pounds of milk a month?
    • GhostFreeman, on 05/19/2008, -3/+2No, but my coworkers HAVE thrown out perfectly good sushi. Amongst other things.
    • knucklebusted, on 05/19/2008, -0/+622 pounds of milk is 5.5 gallons. I don't buy but 2 gallons a month and it gets fed to the dog if there is any nearing expiration. The dog also eats anything we have left over with glee. My daughter's hamster gets the lettuce and carrots that get old.

      Before anyone says anything about the dog and people food, she is 14 and plays like a puppy so I know it hasn't hurt her. That makes her 98 in dog years!
      • bigkeeperrabbit, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1How is 22 pounds of milk 5.5 gallons when 1 gallon of water weighs 8 pounds? More like less than 3 gallons.
        • cphelps, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Actually it depends on the type of milk. Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon and milk is slightly heavier, but you are still closer to the actual number.
      • Lenbot, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Ya same with my dog it's a theory that perhaps dogs that are not pure bred and fed human foods which are not chalked full of good things actually make them live longer.
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