Why Wasted Food Should Bother Us More Than It Does
Industrial food has made modern life worse in one specific way. It has cut us off from what our food costs, and that disconnection shows up every day as waste. Roughly a third of the American food supply goes unsold or uneaten, and when that food is meat, an animal died for a meal nobody ate. That should bother us more than it does.
I think about this more than most people might expect. Few of us ever see where our food comes from, how it was raised or what it took to bring it to the table, and that distance shapes how easily we let it go to waste.
Why Has Modern Convenience Made Food So Easy to Waste?
Convenience hides the cost of food, and people tend to discard what they do not see the cost of. Most of us buy meat already cut, wrapped, and priced by the pound. The animal it came from is out of sight, along with nearly everything that happened between the farm and the grocery shelf.
When something costs us very little effort, we tend to value it accordingly. A package of chicken forgotten in the back of the refrigerator rarely registers as a loss. It feels like a small inconvenience, a few dollars gone and a quick trip to the trash can.
How Much Food Does the United States Actually Throw Away?
About 31 percent of the U.S. food supply went unsold or uneaten in 2023, according to ReFED’s 2025 food waste report. ReFED, a nonprofit that tracks food waste nationally, puts that at 73.9 million tons of food worth roughly $382 billion. Households account for the largest share, around 35 million tons a year.
The USDA reached a similar figure in its own earlier estimate, which put retail and consumer food loss at 31 percent of the food supply in 2010. More than a decade apart, the two measurements tell the same story.
Why Does Wasted Meat Deserve Particular Attention?
Wasted meat represents a life spent for nothing. Behind every pound of it is an animal that was raised and killed so that someone could eat. When that meat ends up in a dumpster, a creature died so we could live, and we threw the result away.
Produce and bread matter too, and the resources behind every wasted food add up. Meat carries a weight of its own, though, because the cost includes a life, and that is the part of the problem I find hardest to set aside.
What Does Gratitude Have to Do With Food Waste?
Gratitude begins with understanding what something cost, and food waste is usually a sign that the understanding has slipped. I grew up in a blue-collar family, and one thing I carry from that upbringing is an awareness that things cost something, whether or not the cost shows on the receipt.
My faith points in the same direction. I believe what we are given is meant to be received with gratitude and used with care, and food is among the most basic gifts there is. If we're grateful for our food, that gratitude should show in how much of it we throw away.
Giving has always been part of how I try to live this out. Every year, Atlantic Tech runs a holiday campaign that delivers toys and essential supplies to families in need here in Cheyenne, and I support organizations that provide housing and care for young people facing homelessness. Those commitments started long before the company found its footing, and giving before success remains one of my strongest convictions. When I think about the families working hard to keep food on the table, the amount the rest of us throw away is hard to accept.
Would a Well-Run Company Accept This Much Waste?
Very few would. I spend my working life thinking about precision, about using what we have well instead of accumulating more than we need, and at Atlantic Tech, restraint is part of how we try to build. Buying more than a household will eat, cooking more than anyone will finish, and discarding the rest is a pattern of excess that few of us would tolerate in a business.
None of this calls for a lecture, and none of it requires perfection. The habit of throwing food away is so normal that it rarely gets questioned, and the habits that go unquestioned are usually the ones most worth examining.
What Can Households Do to Waste Less Food?
The most effective steps are ordinary ones. Households can buy closer to what they will actually eat, plan meals around what is already in the refrigerator, and use the whole of what they bring home. Supporting local farmers and ranchers helps as well, because it shortens the distance between the people who produce food and the people who eat it. Here in Wyoming, where ranching remains part of daily life, that distance is shorter than in most places, and it is worth keeping that way.
Businesses have a role, too. Grocers, restaurants and food companies can donate surplus food, discount items nearing their sell-by dates and order more carefully so less goes unsold. ReFED has reported signs of progress on that front in recent years, even as overall waste remains stubbornly high. Those efforts go furthest when the people buying food value it enough to use what they bring home.
Why Is Respect for Food a Daily Practice?
Respect for food is one way we show how we treat everything entrusted to us, including our time, our resources, and the people around us. Any definition of success worth having includes work that serves something larger than ourselves, and small daily choices are where that begins.
The next time a package of meat expires unopened, I hope it gives each of us pause. A life was spent to put it there, and treating that with a little more care seems like a modest thing to ask.
Frequently Asked Questions About Food Waste
How much food is wasted in the United States each year?
ReFED estimates that 73.9 million tons of food went unsold or uneaten in the United States in 2023. That equals about 31 percent of the national food supply, with an estimated value of $382 billion.
Who wastes the most food in the United States?
Households do. ReFED attributes about 35 million tons of surplus food a year to consumers, from uneaten groceries at home and plate waste at restaurants, at a cost of roughly $261 billion, or nearly $800 per person.
Why does Peter Kazan care about food waste?
Peter Kazan, founder and CEO of Atlantic Tech, sees food waste as a failure of gratitude and stewardship. His blue-collar roots and his faith shape his view that food, and meat in particular, carries a real cost that convenience has hidden.
What is a simple way to reduce food waste at home?
Buy closer to what the household will actually eat and plan meals around what is already in the refrigerator. Those two habits address the most common reasons food spoils before anyone eats it.
