--- title: Food Waste Could Be Cut Drastically, Report Says description: A new plan offers a roadmap for the U.S. to reduce food waste by 20% within a decade while also creating thousands of jobs canonical: https://time.com/4252941/united-states-food-waste-cuts/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-09T22:03:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:05.595Z article:section: Science og:title: This Could Be the Best Way to Solve America's Food Waste Problem og:description: 'When we waste food, we waste all of the resources it takes to bring it to our plates' og:url: https://time.com/4252941/united-states-food-waste-cuts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Could Be the Best Way to Solve America's Food Waste Problem twitter:description: 'When we waste food, we waste all of the resources it takes to bring it to our plates' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Could Be the Best Way to Solve America's Food Waste Problem > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=ca174758-905f-47c8-8d4e-8b72ae3f168e&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: NASA: A Year in the Life of Earths CO2 [Watch (HLS stream): NASA: A Year in the Life of Earths CO2](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TPdLINk3.m3u8) (3:10)  _Published 2016-03-09. An ultra-high-resolution NASA computer model has given scientists a stunning new look at how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere travels around the globe._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 9, 2016 10:03 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 9, 2016 10:03 PM UTC A [new plan](http://www.refed.com/downloads/ReFED%5FReport%5F2016.pdf) offers a roadmap for the U.S. to reduce food waste by 20% within a decade while also creating thousands of jobs and could save consumers billions of dollars. The report, which comes just months after the [launch of a federal initiative](http://time.com/4037087/food-waste-united-states/) aimed at cutting food waste by 50% by 2030, offers a 27-point list of ways to address the issue that includes everything from eliminating sell-by dates to changing the composition of animal feed. The plan comes from a non-profit and corporate collaboration known as ReFED and drew support from more than 30 organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Deloitte and investment firm MissionPoint Partners. “When we waste food, we waste all of the resources it takes to bring it to our plates—from money to farmland, energy and water,”said Dana Gunders, NRDC senior scientist, in a statement. “The Obama administration and the food industry should use this roadmap to prioritize actions that keep more food on our plates, and out of the trash.” The report divides food waste solutions into three categories: prevention, recovery and recycling. Proposed measures focus heavily on preventing food waste in the first place. For one, the report suggests food companies should adjust packaging to discourage waste. Portions should be smaller and packaging should be designed to prevent food from spoiling. Distributors should invest in technology to eliminate food waste during transport. Prevention methods would help save roughly $8 billion and and prevent 2.6 million tons of food from being wasted, according to the report. **Read more:** [Here’s How To Cut Down On Food Waste](http://time.com/3892206/expiration-dates-food-waste/) Recovery solutions focus on new methods of taking food that would otherwise be thrown away and using it for other purposes before it goes bad. The report also recommends creating tax incentives to donate food, softening regulations on food donations and processing food to extend its life. The study also encourages recycling food once it is no longer edible. Composting and investment in recycling infrastructure could reduce the quantity of food goods that end up in the country’s landfills. Food waste contributes to a whole slew of related problems from food insecurity to climate change. The average American household of four currently wastes more than two million calories of food annually. At the same time, other American families remain food insecure and rely on cheap and unhealthy food. Carbon dioxide produced in the process of growing crops and raising livestock also hastens global warming. Nearly 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. comes from the agriculture sector, according to a [report](http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/sources/agriculture.html) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Problems associated with food waste are only expected to escalate in coming years as the global population soars and climate change wrecks crop production. [Crop production](http://time.com/4170029/crop-production-extreme-heat-climate-change/) in some areas of the world face a nearly 20% decline in productivity thanks to climate change. The new report offers a path to begin efforts to meet the federal government food waste goal. The government initiative—brought through the EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture—offered high ambition but few crucial details. “Let’s feed people,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announcing the goal last year. “Not landfills.” ## Transcript Hi, this is Bill Puttman. I'm a climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. What you're looking at is a super computer model of carbon dioxide levels in the earth's atmosphere. The visualization compresses one year of data into a few minutes. [ MUSIC ] Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas affected by human activity. About half of the carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuel combustion remains in the atmosphere while the other half is absorbed by natural land and ocean reservoirs. In the Northern Hemisphere, We see the highest concentrations are focused around major emissions sources over North America, Europe, and Asia. [ MUSIC ] Notice how the as doesn't stay in one place. The dispersion of carbon dioxide is controlled by the large scale weather patterns within the global circulation. [ MUSIC ] During spring and summer in the northern hemisphere, plants absorb a substantial amount of carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, thus removing some of the gas from the atmosphere. We see this change in the model and the red and purple colors start to fade. [ MUSIC ] Meanwhile, in the Southern Hemisphere, we see the release of another pollutant, carbon monoxide. This is a gas that's both harmful to the environment, and to humans. During the summer months, plumes of carbon monoxide stream from fires in Africa, South America, and Australia, contributing to high concentrations in the atmosphere. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Notice how these emissions are also transported by winds To other parts of the world. [ MUSIC ] As summer transitions to fall and plant photosynthesis decreases, carbon dioxide begins to accumulate in the atmosphere. Although this change is expected We're saying higher concentrations of carbon dioxide accumulate in the atmosphere each year. This is contributing to the long term trend of rising global temperatures. [ MUSIC ] The Orbiting Carbon Observatory- 2 or OCO- 2 will be the first NASA satellite mission. To provide a global view of carbon dioxide. OCO2 observations in atmospheric models, like GEOS5, will work closely together to better understand both human emissions and natural fluxes of carbon dioxide NASA. This will help guide climate models to our more reliable predictions of future conditions across the globe. 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