US | food 40% of US Food Goes to Waste Average family of 4 tosses $2,300 worth per year, says NRDC study By John Johnson Posted Aug 21, 2012 5:49 PM CDT Updated Aug 21, 2012 6:20 PM CDT Copied Customers select produce at a supermarket in Chicago in this file photo. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) The LA Times takes note of a study on American food from the Natural Resources Defense Council with some eye-popping facts and figures on waste: About 40% of food in the US supply chain goes uneaten A family of four tosses $2,275 worth of food each year, which translates into 20 pounds per person each month Americans waste 50% more food today than in the 1970s, and 10 times as much as people in Southeast Asia Supermarket produce aisles are bountiful at a cost: Some $15 billion in fruits and vegetables goes unsold each year Uneaten food is the single biggest component of municipal solid waste in landfills Read the full study here. Read These Next Here's what to expect this week from Hurricane Erin. Not something you usually find while unpacking during a move. Popular author has no plans to stop donating, even if it means jail. Grief-stricken Aubrey Plaza opens up to Amy Poehler. Report an error