Study calculates energy lost via wasted food

Americans are known for eating a lot of food. We waste a lot, too. And while we do so, we waste energy—about 1.4 billion oil barrels worth says a new study.

The research, published inEnvironmental Science & Technology, estimates that we could save about 350 million of those barrels if we stopped wasting food.

That's a big if. According to the USDA, about 27 percent of food went uneaten in 1995.

The energy expense is not just about cleaning your plate of every last calorie. After all, much of food gets lost along the way to the dinner table. In March, the USDA reported that the U.S. spent 15.7 percent of its annual energy budget in 2007 for food production. We use fuel to transport food from the store, across the country, and around the world. Petrochemicals also comprise many of the fertilizers and pesticides that grow our food (and feed for livestock) as well as the plastic packaging in which we wrap our end product morsels.

The researchers, from the University of Texas, contend that wasted food represents about 2 percent of annual energy consumption in the U.S., but caution that their findings likely fall short of our actual waste amount. For instance, the calculations didn't include waste on farms or in fisheries, such as bycatch, or waste that occurs during food processing.

The waste data they did include was taken from a USDA report from 1995 that accounts for uneaten food discarded from stores, the food service industry and average consumers. With the nation's growing food production and consumption within the last 15 years, however, waste probably has expanded as well. Even so, some of the study's lowball waste figures are below.

While meat requires the most energy to produce, the authors point out that the foods associated with the most energy loss are dairy products and vegetables because they more often go to waste.

Percentage of Foods Wasted in U.S.
Fats and Oils (33%)
Dairy (32%)
Grains (32%)
Eggs (31%)
Sugar/caloric sweeteners (31%)
Vegetables (25%)
Fruit (23%)
Meat, poultry, fish (16%)
Dry beans, peas, lentils (16%)
Tree nuts and peanuts(16%)

Related on SmartPlanet:

• The Fresh Code: a vanishing barcode warns of waning freshness
• Can U.S. farms produce food without relying heavily on fossil fuels?
• Yes, in my backyard: Vancouver turns scraps, yard trimmings into energy

Image: Flickr_Schilling 2

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com