FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Tackling Food Waste - The Facts

by Rebecca L. Lucore

April 2, 2025

So many sustainability discussions center around waste. Waste can come from garbage, consumables, electronics, materials, and more. Those discussion also include ideas around how to be more circular or how to pivot consumers to “consume” less. Food is part of that waste conversation as well, but there is one difference. We can’t stop our food consumption. We need to eat to survive, but we can change the way we produce, distribute and eat food. There are large amounts of food waste that still exist in this country, and when many families don’t have enough to eat, that is not sustainable.

Diving into the Data

In February, a U.S.-based nonprofit called ReFED that works to advance solutions to food waste, released From Surplus to Solutions: 2025 ReFED U.S. Food Waste Report, featuring the latest data on the progress, trends, and remaining challenges in reducing food loss and waste in the United States. 

Here are the reports key findings (as published by ReFED):

• Even with increasing food costs, consumers continue to generate the largest amount of waste. Between uneaten groceries at home and restaurant plate waste, consumers waste close to 35 million tons of food annually, costing them $261 billion, or nearly $800 per person.

• While food producers and businesses generate 21.5 million tons of surplus food annually equating to $108 billion in lost revenue, momentum to address waste is building, with 20% of the top 65 food businesses across foodservice, retail, and manufacturing having specific, time-bound food waste reduction targets.

• More than $900 million was invested in food loss and waste solutions in the United States in 2024 by public, private, and philanthropic sources. However, despite the significant environmental impact of food loss and waste, only 4% of the $600 billion in global annual investment for climate mitigation and adaptation goes to food and agriculture generally, with an even smaller portion funding food waste initiatives.

• A $16 billion annual investment over a ten-year period in the 45 food waste solutions that ReFED has modeled could create a net financial benefit of $60.8 billion - a 3.8x return - while diverting 20 million tons of surplus food from the landfill and avoiding 79 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Tackling Food Waste in the Region 

When it comes to addressing food waste in the Pittsburgh region, 412 Food Rescue is leading the charge. Founded on the belief that good food belongs to people - not landfills, the nonprofit is dedicated to redirecting perfectly good, unsold food to people who need it most.  “In the U.S., we generate enough food waste to end hunger four times over,” said CEO Alyssa Cholodofsky. “If we can help businesses reduce their overall waste through better donation tracking, it's a win for everyone.” She also noted that businesses that donate regularly - such as leftover food from meetings or events - tend to improve their ordering habits and reduce excess waste over time.

Community partnerships, especially within the food industry, are essential to 412 Food Rescue’s mission. “Giant Eagle has been a longtime corporate partner,” Cholodofsky shared. “They donate from all their corporate locations and work with our Food Rescue Hero licensees in Erie and Cleveland. They've also teamed up with the Pittsburgh Penguins, donating $10 for every goal stopped by Pens goalies during last season and this one. On top of that, they’ve volunteered, provided financial support, and shown up as tremendous allies in the fight against food waste and hunger.”

412 Food Rescue’s impact is made possible through the collective power of food donors, nonprofit distribution partners, volunteers, financial supporters, and staff. Together, they’ve kept more than 35 million pounds of good food out of landfills. That’s equivalent to 29 million meals delivered and over 70 million pounds greenhouse gas emissions prevented, across more than 200,000 individual food rescues.

Pittsburgh Brewing Company, (PBC) an iconic local company who produces some regional well-known beer like I.C. Light, has implemented processes that are seen across their industry to be addressing waste in more collaborative ways.

On a weekly basis, PBC sends 70,000 - 80,000 pounds of spent grain to local farms to be used as animal feed.  In addition, Director of Brewing and Quality Assurance Brandon Mayes explained, “We use clean spent grain to make our very popular dog biscuits that we sell in our retail store.  And we forged a great partnership with another local name brand Mancini’s Bread.  They receive around 100 pounds of clean spent grains weekly to make their rolls.”