United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Congress House of Representatives author aut Government Organization text government publication eng CHRG Congressional Committee Materials 116_house_hearings legislative 2020-12-21 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CHRG-116hhrg42600 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-116hhrg42600/html/CHRG-116hhrg42600.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-116hhrg42600/pdf/CHRG-116hhrg42600.pdf U.S. Government Publishing Office 2020-03-04 monographic deposited born digital 178 digital object pages Y 4.AG 8/1:116-32 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CHRG-116hhrg42600 P0b002ee1aa6529aa 001135856 f:42600.txt DGPO 2020-12-21 2025-08-23 CHRG-116hhrg42600 machine generated eng fdlp HHRG CHRG-116hhrg42600 G HOUSE 116 2 2020-03-04 Serial No. 116-32 THE STATE OF THE RURAL ECONOMY WITH AGRICULTURE SECRETARY SONNY PERDUE OTHERPART CHRG-116hhrg42600 1 On June 27, 2014, Tables 2, 3, and 5 were updated to correct some incorrect values. The errors did not affect summary totals in the tables or report findings. A report summary from the Economic Research Service * --------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Find the full report at www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ eibeconomic-informationbulletin/EIB-121.aspx. ERS is a primary source of economic research and analysis from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, providing timely information on economic and policy issues related to agriculture, food, the environment, and rural America. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- February 2014 What Is the Issue? "Food loss" represents the amount of edible food, postharvest, that is available for human consumption but is not consumed for any reason; it includes cooking loss and natural shrinkage (e.g., moisture loss); loss from mold, pests, or inadequate climate control; and plate waste. "Food waste" is a component of food loss and occurs when an edible item goes unconsumed, such as food discarded by retailers due to undesirable color or blemishes and plate waste discarded by consumers. Food loss (particularly the food waste component) is becoming an increasingly important topic both domestically and internationally. Better estimates of the amount and value of food loss, including food waste, could help serve as quantitative baselines for policymakers and the food industry to set targets and develop initiatives, legislation, or policies to minimize food waste, conserve resources, and improve human nutrition. Reducing food loss would likely reduce food prices in the United States and the rest of the world, though the effects depend on the nature of supply, including import and export considerations. What Did the Study Find? In the United States, 31 percent--or 133 billion pounds--of the 430 billion pounds of the available food supply at the retail and consumer levels in 2010 went uneaten. Retail-level losses represented 10 percent (43 billion pounds) and consumer-level losses 21 percent (90 billion pounds) of the available food supply. (Losses on the farm and between the farm and retailer were not estimated due to data limitations for some of the food groups.) The estimated total value of food loss at the retail and consumer levels in the United States was $161.6 billion in 2010. The top three food groups in terms of share of total value of food loss were meat, poultry, and fish (30 percent, $48 billion); vegetables (19 percent, $30 billion); and dairy products (17 percent, $27 billion). The total amount of food loss represents 387 billion calories (technically, we mean Calorie or kcal hereafter) of food not available for human consumption per day in 2010, or 1,249 out of 3,796 calories available per American per day. Recovery costs, food safety considerations, and other factors would reduce the amount of food that could actually be recovered for human consumption. The study also reviewed the literature and found that food loss is economically efficient in some cases. There is a practical limit to how much food loss the United States or any other country could realistically prevent, reduce, or recover for human consumption given: (1) technical factors (e.g., the perishable nature of most foods, food safety, storage, and temperature considerations); (2) temporal and spatial factors (e.g., the time needed to deliver food to a new destination, and the dispersion of food loss among millions of households, food processing plants, and foodservice locations); (3) individual consumers' tastes, preferences, and food habits (e.g., throwing out milk left over in a bowl of cereal); and (4) economic factors (e.g., costs to recover and redirect uneaten food to another use). How Was the Study Conducted? This report uses data from ERS's Loss-Adjusted Food Availability (LAFA) data series. This data series is ERS's core Food Availability data series, adjusted for spoilage, plate waste, and other food losses and converted to daily per capita amounts, calories, and food pattern equivalents (previously called servings and MyPyramid equivalents). Here, the LAFA data series' underlying loss assumptions are used to estimate food loss at the retail and consumer levels. The LAFA data series is considered to be preliminary because ERS continues to improve the underlying loss assumptions and the documentation of the data series. In August 2012, new estimates for consumer-level loss were incorporated into the data series. Therefore, the relative contribution of the different food groups out of total food loss has changed from previous ERS publications on food loss. The analysis is an extrapolation from the data as of September 2012 and is not based on an equilibrium model. For each food group covered here, we calculated the amount, value, and representative calories of food loss at the retail and consumer levels in the United States in 2010. The value estimates are based on retail prices. Background In 1977, a Report to Congress by the General Accounting Office (GAO) titled "Food Waste: An Opportunity To Improve Resource Use" (GAO, 1977) discussed the U.S. Department of Agriculture's activities related to food loss in the United States, warning that: true Perdue, Hon. Sonny, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C false 42-600 Committee on Agriculture Agriculture ALMA S. ADAMS of North Carolina Alma S. Adams Adams, Alma S. Alma Adams RICK W. ALLEN of Georgia Rick W. Allen Allen, Rick W. Rick Allen RALPH LEE ABRAHAM of Louisiana Ralph Lee Abraham Abraham, Ralph Lee Ralph Abraham CYNTHIA AXNE of Iowa Cynthia Axne Axne, Cynthia CHERI BUSTOS of Illinois Cheri Bustos Bustos, Cheri MIKE BOST of Illinois Mike Bost Bost, Mike DON BACON of Nebraska Don Bacon Bacon, Don JAMES R. BAIRD of Indiana James R. Baird Baird, James R. James Baird ANTHONY BRINDISI of New York Anthony Brindisi Brindisi, Anthony JIM COSTA of California Jim Costa Costa, Jim JAMES COMER of Kentucky James Comer Comer, James SALUD O. CARBAJAL of California Salud O. Carbajal Carbajal, Salud O. Salud Carbajal ANGIE CRAIG of Minnesota Angie Craig Craig, Angie TJ COX of California TJ Cox Cox, TJ SCOTT DesJARLAIS of Tennessee Scott DesJarlais DesJarlais, Scott RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois Rodney Davis Davis, Rodney NEAL P. DUNN of Florida Neal P. Dunn Dunn, Neal P. Neal Dunn ANTONIO DELGADO of New York Antonio Delgado Delgado, Antonio MARCIA L. FUDGE of Ohio Marcia L. Fudge Fudge, Marcia L. Marcia Fudge VICKY HARTZLER of Missouri Vicky Hartzler Hartzler, Vicky JAHANA HAYES of Connecticut Jahana Hayes Hayes, Jahana JIM HAGEDORN of Minnesota Jim Hagedorn Hagedorn, Jim JOSH HARDER of California Josh Harder Harder, Josh DUSTY JOHNSON of South Dakota Dusty Johnson Johnson, Dusty ANN KIRKPATRICK of Arizona Ann Kirkpatrick Kirkpatrick, Ann TRENT KELLY of Mississippi Trent Kelly Kelly, Trent DOUG LaMALFA of California Doug LaMalfa LaMalfa, Doug AL LAWSON, Jr. of Florida Al Lawson, Jr. Lawson, Al, Jr. Al Lawson JAMES P. McGOVERN of Massachusetts James P. McGovern McGovern, James P. James McGovern SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York Sean Patrick Maloney Maloney, Sean Patrick Sean Maloney ROGER W. MARSHALL of Kansas Roger Marshall Marshall, Roger TOM O'HALLERAN of Arizona Tom O'Halleran O'Halleran, Tom COLLIN C. PETERSON of Minnesota Collin C. Peterson Peterson, Collin C. Collin Peterson CHELLIE PINGREE of Maine Chellie Pingree Pingree, Chellie JIMMY PANETTA of California Jimmy Panetta Panetta, Jimmy DAVID ROUZER of North Carolina David Rouzer Rouzer, David DAVID SCOTT of Georgia David Scott Scott, David AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia Austin Scott Scott, Austin ABIGAIL DAVIS SPANBERGER of Virginia Abigail Davis Spanberger Spanberger, Abigail Davis Abigail Spanberger KIM SCHRIER of Washington Kim Schrier Schrier, Kim GLENN THOMPSON of Pennsylvania Glenn Thompson Thompson, Glenn FILEMON VELA of Texas Filemon Vela Vela, Filemon TED S. YOHO of Florida Ted S. Yoho Yoho, Ted S. Ted Yoho XOCHITL TORRES SMALL of New Mexico

false true United States Congress House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture associated name asn Government Organization Alma S. Adams United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Rick W. Allen United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Ralph Lee Abraham United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Cynthia Axne United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Cheri Bustos United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Mike Bost United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Don Bacon United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member James R. Baird United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Anthony Brindisi United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Jim Costa United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member James Comer United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Salud O. Carbajal United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Angie Craig United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member TJ Cox United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Scott DesJarlais United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Rodney Davis United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Neal P. Dunn United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Antonio Delgado United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Marcia L. Fudge United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Vicky Hartzler United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Jahana Hayes United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Jim Hagedorn United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Josh Harder United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Dusty Johnson United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Ann Kirkpatrick United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Trent Kelly United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Doug LaMalfa United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Al Lawson, Jr. United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member James P. McGovern United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Sean Patrick Maloney United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Roger Marshall United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Tom O'Halleran United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Collin C. Peterson United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Chellie Pingree United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Jimmy Panetta United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member David Rouzer United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member David Scott United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Austin Scott United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Abigail Davis Spanberger United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Kim Schrier United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Glenn Thompson United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Filemon Vela United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Ted S. Yoho United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member XOCHITL TORRES SMALL of New Mexico United States House of Representatives committee member United States Congressional Member Perdue, Hon. Sonny, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C witness wit Hearing Witness H.R. 3771 116 BODY H.R. 5038 116 BODY H.R. 5861 116 BODY H.R. 6083 116 BODY Title 7 Section 9052(a) 7 U.S.C. 9052(a) Title 26 Section 170(e)(3) 26 U.S.C. 170(e)(3) Public Law 115-334 Public Law No 115-334 Title 7 Part 1416.402, and 7 CFR Part 1416.402, and Title 7 Part 1400 7 CFR Part 1400 Title 9 Part 317.8, 381.129, and 590.411 9 CFR Part 317.8, 381.129, and 590.411 Title 9 Part 381.126 and 431.2(e), 9 CFR Part 381.126 and 431.2(e), Serial No. 116-32