Editor’s Notice: This story initially appeared on LawnStarter.
Regardless of how a lot turkey you gobble up this Thanksgiving, extra meals may find yourself in the trash as an alternative of your stomach, relying on the place you reside.
About 30% to 40% of the national food supply goes to waste annually, 200 million pounds of which comes from Thanksgiving turkeys alone. However some states contribute extra to that complete than others.
Forward of one among the tastiest (and waste-iest) holidays, LawnStarter ranked 2022’s States That Waste the Most Food.
We in contrast the 50 states based mostly on how a lot meals they waste, how a lot they repurpose, and what measures they’ve in place to scale back meals loss.
Following are the states the place individuals waste the most meals, beginning with the worst.
1. Arizona
General rating: 82.91
Food wasted rank: 4
Repurposed meals rank: 1
Mitigation efforts rank: 17
2. North Dakota
General rating: 78.13
Food wasted rank: 12
Repurposed meals rank: 3
Mitigation efforts rank: 8
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3. Hawaii
General rating: 77.54
Food wasted rank: 16
Repurposed meals rank: 2
Mitigation efforts rank: 12
4. Nevada
General rating: 77.12
Food wasted rank: 11
Repurposed meals rank: 7
Mitigation efforts rank: 7
5. Oklahoma
General rating: 76.68
Food wasted rank: 15
Repurposed meals rank: 6
Mitigation efforts rank: 6
6. West Virginia
General rating: 75.79
Food wasted rank: 19
Repurposed meals rank: 8
Mitigation efforts rank: 4
7. Wisconsin
General rating: 75.73
Food wasted rank: 5
Repurposed meals rank: 4
Mitigation efforts rank: 24
8. Georgia
General rating: 74.90
Food wasted rank: 6
Repurposed meals rank: 13
Mitigation efforts rank: 20
9. Montana
General rating: 74.33
Food wasted rank: 25
Repurposed meals rank: 9
Mitigation efforts rank: 10
10. South Dakota
General rating: 74.00
Food wasted rank: 33
Repurposed meals rank: 10
Mitigation efforts rank: 1
11. South Carolina
General rating: 72.77
Food wasted rank: 21
Repurposed meals rank: 16
Mitigation efforts rank: 9
12. Wyoming
General rating: 72.75
Food wasted rank: 31
Repurposed meals rank: 12
Mitigation efforts rank: 2
13. Mississippi
General rating: 72.50
Food wasted rank: 29
Repurposed meals rank: 15
Mitigation efforts rank: 3
14. North Carolina
General rating: 72.35
Food wasted rank: 8
Repurposed meals rank: 17
Mitigation efforts rank: 23
15. Kentucky
General rating: 70.96
Food wasted rank: 26
Repurposed meals rank: 22
Mitigation efforts rank: 15
Methodology
We ranked the 50 states from most wasteful (No. 1) to least wasteful (No. 50) based mostly on their total scores (out of 100 potential factors), averaged throughout all the weighted metrics listed under.
- Share of Wasted Food (Out of Whole Food Surplus)
- Amount of Wasted Food (Tons)
- Worth of Surplus Food
- Share of Recycled Food
- Amount of Recycled Food (Tons)
- Share of Donated Food
- Amount of Donated Food (Tons)
- Presence of Food Waste Disposal Bans
- Presence of Food Sharing Program
- Share of Households with Residential Food Assortment Applications
- Variety of Food Banks
- Variety of Composting Amenities
- Variety of Anaerobic Digestion Amenities
- Variety of Food Waste Resolution Suppliers
Sources: Food Rescue US, ReFED, U.S. Environmental Safety Company, and US Composting Council.