Household Food Waste Trending Upwards in the United States: Insights from a National Tracking Survey

AAEA members publish new research in JAAEA

New research “Household Food Waste Trending Upwards in the United States: Insights from a National Tracking Survey” published in the open access Journal of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, finds a 280% year-over-year increase in household food waste.

Brian Roe, and Ran Li from The Ohio State University, Yiheng Shu from Jiangnan University, and Kathryn Bender from the University of Delaware, administer a national tracking survey to discover trends in household food waste in the United States and what factors might be associated with any trends.

The authors say, “Food waste increased 280% between early 2021 and early 2022, which corresponded to an increase in eating meals outside the home. The increase in food waste militates against meeting the U.S. goal of reducing food waste by 50%. As the country transitioned back to normal, busier routines, food waste increased, despite rising food prices, which should make people more hesitant to waste food. ”

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ABOUT AAEA: Established in 1910, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the leading professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching, and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health, and international development. The AAEA publishes three journals, the Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (an open access journal), the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, as well as the online magazine Choices and the online open access publication series Applied Economics Teaching Resources. To learn more, visit www.aaea.org.

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