The Progressive Increase of Food Waste in America and Its Environmental Impact.

The article focuses on a study on the calculation of the energy content of food waste in the U.S. by estimating the difference between the food supply and the food consumed by the population using a mathematical model of metabolism that relates body weight to the amount of food eaten. It mentions how food waste impacts global climate change by contributing to excess consumption of freshwater and fossil fuels, and the emissions of methane and carbon dioxide (CO₂) from decomposing food. The study shows an increase in per capita food waste since 1974, reaching more than 1400 kcal per person per day and accounting for more than one quarter of the total freshwater consumption.