The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States

Jean Buzby (), Hodan Wells and Jeffrey Hyman

No 164262, Economic Information Bulletin from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: This report provides the latest estimates by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) on the amount and value of food loss in the United States. These estimates are for more than 200 individual foods using ERS’s Loss-Adjusted Food Availability data. In 2010, an estimated 31 percent or 133 billion pounds of the 430 billion pounds of food produced was not available for human consumption at the retail and consumer levels. This amount of loss totaled an estimated $161.6 billion, as purchased at retail prices. For the first time, ERS estimates of the calories associated with food loss are presented in this report. An estimated 141 trillion calories per year, or 1,249 calories per capita per day, in the food supply in 2010 went uneaten. The top three food groups in terms of share of total value of food loss are meat, poultry, and fish (30 percent); vegetables (19 percent); and dairy products (17 percent). The report also provides a brief discussion of the economic issues behind postharvest food loss.

Keywords: Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Consumer/Household Economics; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; Production Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39
Date: 2014-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (89)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uersib:164262

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.164262

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