americans waste an astounding amount of food — 27 percent of the food available for consumption

From the May 18, NYT - This is an astounding story. With news of food shortages around the world, this article left me dumfounded. I grew up with parents raised during the Depression and on farms, so using just the food you need and eating fairly healthy has been encoded into me. Still, I know I waste my fair share. Here's the story.

America’s Second Harvest — The Nation’s Food Bank Network, a group of more than 200 food banks, reports that donations of food are down 9 percent, but the number of people showing up for food has increased 20 percent. The group distributes more than two billion pounds of donated and recovered food and consumer products each year.

The problem isn’t unique to the United States.

In England, a recent study revealed that Britons toss away a third of the food they purchase, including more than four million whole apples, 1.2 million sausages and 2.8 million tomatoes. In Sweden, families with small children threw out about a quarter of the food they bought, a recent study there found.

Link to the NYT story, Link to the Blog Wasted Food, Via: boingboing