RESEARCHERS at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have published an analysis assessing the country's amount and value of food loss -- food produced but not consumed -- and estimated that the amount of food loss in 2008 totaled $165.6 million, according to Glynn Tonsor, an economist at Kansas State University.
Of this, meat, poultry and fish accounted for 41% of the total waste, he said in his most recent "Connecting Livestock Producers with Economic Research" (CLPER) report. The finding indicates that there are opportunities for the meat sector to reduce this substantial loss, perhaps through adjustments in portion sizes or convenience, Tonsor said.
This article directly embraces the challenge of feeding the growing global population by highlighting that improved productivity, while important, is not the only "tool in the toolbox," he said.
Tonsor's comments, complete with a reference to the full USDA report, are available at www.agmanager.info/livestock/marketing/default.asp by clicking on the CLPER link.
Volume:85 Issue:16