Virginia ranks 7th in nation for annual money lost to food waste

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - New data from Trace One, a product lifestyle management company, shows Virginia ranks 7th in annual money lost to food waste per household.

The data from Trace One comes from a few different statewide sources, including reFED.org’s Food Waste Monitor, the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.

These state-level statistics represent the residential sector only, meaning they do not include excess food allocated to the food service, farm, retail, or manufacturing sectors.

“Food waste is everyone’s issue,” University of Virginia Third Year Student Ibraheem Qureshi said. “It’s not just something that one singular person can solve, but if we all just take a little step now, hopefully we’ll be able to create long, lasting change in the future.”

Qureshi is Vice President of UVA’s Food Assist Program.

“Food Assist is an organization on grounds that does its best to make sure that food that might be wasted in other places can be donated to places in need,” Qureshi said.

According to the data from Trace One, the average Virginia household loses more than $2,400 to food waste per household.

That’s a near 22% increase from the national average.

“Every time you buy something, you don’t use it, you’re gonna we’re putting money down the drain, especially as produce costs and stuff increase and those things that spoil faster,” Qureshi said. “We see that, students and just community members see an increasing waste going into the trash.”

Often times people may think they’re getting a deal when buying in bulk at the grocery store.

UVA Associate Professor Sibylle Kranz says that’s not always the case.

“There is a lot of research from various sources that shows that a lot of the additional food that wasn’t used originally actually ends up being wasted,” Kranz said. “At point of purchase, it looks like it was a great savings and a good deal, but if the food is then not consumed, then it’s waste.”

Kranz says that really only scratches the surface when it comes to food waste, and the biggest thing is making sure households understand just how impactful their food waste can be.

“I think raising awareness in the population just how much food waste is a burden on their pockets, on their financial resources, but also, generally speaking, on resources, because all this food needs to be produced somewhere,” Kranz said. “I think raising awareness would be a first step.”

Kranz says to keep in mind this data is based on state-wide averages.

She says for more accurate information, researchers would need to go into households and weigh food waste themselves.

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