Going Green - States that Waste the Least Food

 

Trashed groceries add up fast: With grocery prices up by nearly 30% since 2020, food waste poses an enormous cost for both your household and the environment. “Nearly 40% of food waste happens in the home, so it’s important to be mindful,” says Adam Lowy, founder and executive director of Move For Hunger. “Use what’s in your fridge, embrace the ‘ugly’ produce, and get creative with leftovers.” Ahead of Food Waste Action Week (March 9 to 15), LawnStarter ranked the States That Waste the Least Food.

10 States That Waste the Least Food Connecticut Rhode Island Massachusetts Vermont Maryland New Jersey Oregon North Dakota New York Washington   How did we rank the States That Waste the Least Food? We compared the 50 states based on their most recent food waste data by sector from ReFED (a national food waste nonprofit). We also considered rates of food waste recycling and mitigation efforts like food waste disposal bans, food sharing programs, and composting facilities among 37 total metrics. Want to see the full breakdown? Check out our methodology.   Key Insights: California generates nearly 6.7 million tons of farm waste — more than 21X the national average across states with farm sector data. California also discards the highest volume of food in retail and manufacturing. All 6 New England states rank among the top 20 least wasteful states. The 4 with organics recycling laws — Connecticut (No. 1), Rhode Island (No. 2), Massachusetts (No. 3), and Vermont (No. 4) — each showed foodservice waste improvements of -9% or more between 2023 and 2024. North Dakota (No. 8) is the most counterintuitive result in the ranking, with no disposal ban, no statewide food sharing program, and minimal composting infrastructure. Yet it leads in food recycling, with 61.12% of its food surplus being recycled. Livestock feed diversions and composting account for this performance Read the full story here: http://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/ranking-states-food-waste/  Other helpful links: 5 States With the Most Food Waste Diving Into the Data Ask the Experts: How to Lower Your Food Waste Methodology: How We Ranked the States Close the Loop: Grow It, Eat It, Compost It   Why does LawnStarter care about food waste? Your food scraps can easily turn into compost, an organic fertilizer to nourish your lawn and garden.  More from LawnStarter: Beyond the Bin: U.S. Composting Stats, Policies, and Roadblocks Scraps to Soil: Top Cities for Composting U.S. Cities Going Green: Most Sustainable Cities Digging In: 11 Steps to Start a Vegetable Garden How to Water a Vegetable Garden From Seedling to Harvest 15 Inspiring Ideas for Your Backyard Vegetable Garden