Food waste costs corporations, consumers

Up to 40 percent of food grown, processed and transported in the United States is never eaten, yet 1 in 8 Americans – 1 in 5 Arkansans – suffers food insecurity. The average four-person family wastes $1,500 a year on food.

Food waste in manufacturing and packaging costs corporations $2 billion each year – plus $15 billion for farmers – while dumping 52 million tons of waste in landfills.

Arkansas food and beverage industry leaders – including Tyson Foods, Walmart and Conagra Brands – are seeking to eradicate food waste by changing policies and rethinking how to use previously discarded foodstuff. Learn more here.

– Brandi Hinkle, Arkansas Economic Development Commission