$728.
That's how much the EPA estimates the average U.S. consumer loses every year on food that never gets eaten.
When I saw that number, it genuinely surprised me.
Food is expensive. We all know it. I feel it every time I go to the grocery store.
So the idea that we could spend all that money on food, carry it into our homes, put it into our refrigerators...and then throw hundreds of dollars of it away is pretty hard to believe.
The estimated cost of wasted food
$728
per U.S. consumer, per year
$2,913
for a household of four
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Estimating the Cost of Food Waste to American Consumers," 2025.
I thought we were already doing pretty well
I've actually made a huge effort this year to be more thoughtful about how much food my family throws away.
I've changed the way I grocery shop. I try to buy what we actually need instead of filling the cart with experimental things that look interesting and that I'm convinced we're suddenly going to start eating.
When everyone's favorites are gone, I don't immediately restock them either.
We eat what we already have first.
There may be some complaints about this policy.
But opening a refrigerator full of food and announcing that there's "nothing to eat" is not going to send me running back to the grocery store anymore.
We're eating the food we bought.
And we still throw food away
That's the part I think is worth talking about.
Even after becoming much more intentional, food still ends up in our trash.
Usually, it's vegetables.
I buy them with very good intentions.
In the grocery store, apparently I am a woman who eats a huge salad every single day.
In reality...
I falter. 😂
Some weeks are great. Other weeks I discover a cucumber, a bag of greens or some other vegetable in the back of the refrigerator that I absolutely meant to eat.
And into the trash it goes.
What does food waste actually cost us?
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average American consumer wastes an estimated $728 worth of food every year.
That's about $14 every week in food we paid for but didn't eat.
For a household of four, the estimate climbs to $2,913 a year, or $56 every week.
The EPA estimates that wasted food represents roughly 11% of consumer food spending.
When I started thinking about food waste in dollars instead of wilted lettuce and forgotten leftovers, it hit differently.
Food waste isn't only food going into the trash. It's money we already spent going into the trash with it.
The best place to start isn't the compost bin
I actually used to feel a little better about throwing food away because I composted it.
At least it wasn't going into the trash, right?
Then I saw a snake in my compost.
I have not reopened the compost bin.
So there's that. 😂
But here's something important I learned while researching this.
Composting is useful, but preventing edible food from becoming waste in the first place is even better.
The EPA's approach to wasted food prioritizes preventing food waste before turning to options such as composting. And that makes sense: if we can eat the food we already bought, we don't lose the money, food or resources that went into producing it in the first place.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable Management of Food and Wasted Food Scale.
What I'm doing differently to waste less food
I'm not pretending we've solved this in our house. We haven't. But a few changes have made a real difference.
1. I buy for the family we actually are
This may be the biggest one for me.
There's the food your family actually eats, and then there's the food you imagine your family eating when you're walking through the grocery store.
Those are not always the same list.
I'm trying to buy less of the second one.
2. We finish what we have before restocking favorites
If the favorite snacks or easy meals disappear first, that doesn't automatically mean we need more food.
Sometimes it means it's time to eat the things that are still sitting there.
3. I'm trying to be more realistic about produce
Aspirational produce is apparently a weakness of mine.
Buying vegetables isn't the same thing as eating vegetables.
I'm getting better at buying an amount I can realistically use before it starts looking sad in the refrigerator.
4. Leftovers count as food we already bought
This sounds obvious, but I think leftovers are really easy to mentally downgrade.
We eat at a restaurant, enjoy the meal, take the rest home and then somehow the food we were excited about yesterday becomes the container we're pushing aside to see what's behind it.
But that meal is still part of our food budget.
If I paid for it, brought it home and can safely eat it later, eating those leftovers is one of the easiest ways to get more value from money I've already spent.
Food waste doesn't only affect our grocery bill
The financial number grabbed my attention first, but there is an environmental cost too.
EPA research says food is the single most common material sent to U.S. landfills and makes up about 24% of municipal solid waste sent there.
And when food breaks down in a landfill without oxygen, it produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Which means the best piece of food waste isn't really the one we compost or throw away differently. It's the food we manage to eat instead of wasting at all.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Composting and Food Waste Research.
I'm not aiming for a zero-food-waste household
Maybe some people can pull that off.
We are not currently those people.
Things are still going to expire. A vegetable is occasionally going to escape my attention. Plans will change. Someone will decide they suddenly hate the food they loved last week.
I'm less interested in perfection than I am in paying attention.
Buy a little more intentionally. Eat what we have. Save what we can. Actually eat the leftovers.
If we do those things a little better, a little more often, that's food that doesn't end up in the trash and money that doesn't go with it.
Frequently asked questions about food waste at home
How much money does the average person waste on food each year?
The EPA estimates that the average U.S. consumer loses about $728 per year on food that is purchased but not eaten. That's approximately $14 per week.
How much food waste does a family of four create in dollars?
The EPA estimates the annual cost of wasted food for a household of four at approximately $2,913, or about $56 per week.
What's the easiest way to reduce food waste at home?
Start before the food becomes waste. Buy realistic amounts, check what you already have before shopping, use foods that need to be eaten first, and make a plan for leftovers. Small habits are much easier to maintain than trying to eliminate all food waste overnight.
Is composting better than throwing food in the trash?
Composting keeps food scraps out of landfills and has environmental benefits. But if food is still edible, preventing it from becoming waste in the first place preserves the food, money and resources that went into producing it.
Do restaurant leftovers contribute to food waste?
They can. Restaurant food that we purchase but don't finish is still part of our food spending. Bringing leftovers home, storing them safely and actually eating them can help keep food you've already paid for from becoming waste.
Eating out? Start with the leftovers.
If you've ever thought about bringing your own reusable container to a restaurant but worried it might feel awkward, I wrote a whole guide about exactly how I do it.
Read: How to Bring Your Own Container to a Restaurant →One small habit that helps me
Restaurant leftovers are actually why I created BYOB.
I wanted a reusable container that was easy enough to keep with me, so when there was food left on my plate, I already had somewhere to put it.
It doesn't solve all of our food waste. Clearly, I still need to work on my relationship with salad greens. But it does make saving the food I've already paid for a little easier.
Meet BYOBSources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Estimating the Cost of Food Waste to American Consumers"; EPA Sustainable Management of Food; EPA Composting; EPA Food Waste Research.
Bring Your Own Box,
Rachel
