Dana Gunders said it best in a 2012 blog post: “It’s the ultimate irony, really.  We feast to celebrate that our ancestors had enough food to survive their first winter, acknowledging that once upon a time food was something to be grateful for.  Then the next day, we throw half of it away.”

Thanksgiving Food Waste

So many Thanksgiving ingredients end up trashed at various points throughout the food supply chain - from leftover pumpkins in the field to unsold birds stored in the warehouses to oversized portions on consumers’ plates. It’s a waste of our resources, a waste of our cooking time, and quite frankly, a wasted opportunity to put food on the table in food insecure households.

We’ve gathered statistics from a 2014 USDA report on food losses in the United States, and showcased how these percentages translate to the Thanksgiving plate. This year, in the true spirit of giving thanks, let’s be mindful of food that is wasted and thankful for the food we are fortunate enough to enjoy.