Americans waste 1.3 billion tons of food each year

Americans waste 1.3 billion tons of food each year

VATICAN CITY — Americans throw away 30 percent of their food every year. And approximately 1.3 billion tons of food — one third of the world’s total food production — are lost or wasted every year, according to data provided by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

On World Environment Day, June 5, the United Nations launched an anti-food waste campaign and Pope Francis denounced what he called the “culture of waste” of modern economies, especially when it comes to food. “Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry,” he said during his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“Consumerism has made us accustomed to wasting food daily and we are unable to see its real value,” Francis said, comparing this attitude to the frugality of “our grandparents” who “used to make a point of not throwing away leftover food."