In the United States alone, surplus food is responsible for 4% of U.S. GHG emissions, 14% of all fresh water use, 18% of all cropland use, and 24% of landfill inputs.*
Food waste is the number one material in landfills, based on EPA estimates.*
In 2019, surplus food was valued at $408 billion. Of this, 70% - $285 billion - was due to food waste.*
The food industry lost $250 billion with restaurants and other foodservice businesses shouldering the greatest burden.*
23 million tons of food waste occurs at the consumer-facing business level.*
If all of our country's surplus food was grown in one place, this "mega-farm" would cover roughly 80 million acres, over three-quarters of the state of California.
