Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on LawnStarter.
No matter how much turkey you gobble up this Thanksgiving, more food could end up in the trash instead of your belly, depending on where you live.
About 30% to 40% of the national food supply goes to waste each year, 200 million pounds of which comes from Thanksgiving turkeys alone. But some states contribute more to that total than others.
Ahead of one of the tastiest (and waste-iest) holidays, LawnStarter ranked 2022’s States That Waste the Most Food.
We compared the 50 states based on how much food they waste, how much they repurpose, and what measures they have in place to reduce food loss.
Following are the states where people waste the most food, starting with the worst.
1. Arizona
Overall score: 82.91
Food wasted rank: 4
Repurposed food rank: 1
Mitigation efforts rank: 17
2. North Dakota
Overall score: 78.13
Food wasted rank: 12
Repurposed food rank: 3
Mitigation efforts rank: 8
3. Hawaii
Overall score: 77.54
Food wasted rank: 16
Repurposed food rank: 2
Mitigation efforts rank: 12
4. Nevada
Overall score: 77.12
Food wasted rank: 11
Repurposed food rank: 7
Mitigation efforts rank: 7
5. Oklahoma
Overall score: 76.68
Food wasted rank: 15
Repurposed food rank: 6
Mitigation efforts rank: 6
6. West Virginia
Overall score: 75.79
Food wasted rank: 19
Repurposed food rank: 8
Mitigation efforts rank: 4
7. Wisconsin
Overall score: 75.73
Food wasted rank: 5
Repurposed food rank: 4
Mitigation efforts rank: 24
8. Georgia
Overall score: 74.90
Food wasted rank: 6
Repurposed food rank: 13
Mitigation efforts rank: 20
9. Montana
Overall score: 74.33
Food wasted rank: 25
Repurposed food rank: 9
Mitigation efforts rank: 10
10. South Dakota
Overall score: 74.00
Food wasted rank: 33
Repurposed food rank: 10
Mitigation efforts rank: 1
11. South Carolina
Overall score: 72.77
Food wasted rank: 21
Repurposed food rank: 16
Mitigation efforts rank: 9
12. Wyoming
Overall score: 72.75
Food wasted rank: 31
Repurposed food rank: 12
Mitigation efforts rank: 2
13. Mississippi
Overall score: 72.50
Food wasted rank: 29
Repurposed food rank: 15
Mitigation efforts rank: 3
14. North Carolina
Overall score: 72.35
Food wasted rank: 8
Repurposed food rank: 17
Mitigation efforts rank: 23
15. Kentucky
Overall score: 70.96
Food wasted rank: 26
Repurposed food rank: 22
Mitigation efforts rank: 15
Methodology
We ranked the 50 states from most wasteful (No. 1) to least wasteful (No. 50) based on their overall scores (out of 100 possible points), averaged across all the weighted metrics listed below.
- Share of Wasted Food (Out of Total Food Surplus)
- Quantity of Wasted Food (Tons)
- Value of Surplus Food
- Share of Recycled Food
- Quantity of Recycled Food (Tons)
- Share of Donated Food
- Quantity of Donated Food (Tons)
- Presence of Food Waste Disposal Bans
- Presence of Food Sharing Program
- Share of Households with Residential Food Collection Programs
- Number of Food Banks
- Number of Composting Facilities
- Number of Anaerobic Digestion Facilities
- Number of Food Waste Solution Providers
Sources: Food Rescue US, ReFED, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and US Composting Council.
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