These States Waste The Least Amount Of Food Per Capita

Food waste has been a serious issue in America for some time, with billions of pounds of food going uneaten, spoiling, or thrown away annually, according to a study done by the USDA. It's estimated that around 31% of all food is wasted in our country, whether it's on the supply end, like pests, mold, and growing issues, or on the consumer's end, like throwing away leftovers and buying more than they need, resulting in throwing away or the spoiling of the extras. 

There are tons of ways we can reduce food loss, according to the USDA, including buying less at a time to reduce waste in the home, donating extras to hunger relief programs, repurposing food as animal feed, finding industrial ways to repurpose food, such as turning it into "compost and worm castings, bioenergy, bioplastics, and clothing." It's true that some areas in the U.S. have less food waste than others, but the state with the least amount of food waste per capita is a bit surprising.

It might seem a bit surprising to learn which of the states in our country are the best and worst at creating food waste, but Oklahoma wasting the least comes as a shock to us. According to a study by U.S. Packaging & Wrapping LLC, Oklahoma wastes an average of $743.58 worth of food per capita annually, the lowest of all 50 states. Other states with low food waste per capita include Utah, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Arizona, and Ohio. 

The state with the highest food waste per capita is Vermont, which wastes an average of $1,374.24 worth of food annually per capita. Other states with high amounts of food waste include Maine, Hawaii, Alaska, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming. It is interesting to see how the midwest and southern areas of the country seem to do better at reducing food waste, while the northwest and northeast regions appear to have more of an issue with food waste. Luckily, there are plenty of creative ways to use leftovers and reduce food waste to help prevent so much food loss.