Pulling wilted produce from the fridge to dump in the trash a week after an ambitious shopping trip adds up. With grocery prices up by nearly 30% since 2020, food waste poses an enormous cost for both your household and the environment. <\/p>
\u201cNearly 40% of food waste happens in the home, so it\u2019s important to be mindful,\u201d says Adam Lowy, founder and executive director of Move For Hunger. \u201cUse what\u2019s in your fridge, embrace the \u2018ugly\u2019 produce, and get creative with leftovers.\u201d<\/p>
Ahead of Food Waste Action Week (March 9 to 15), LawnStarter<\/a> ranked the States That Waste the Least Food.<\/p> How did we rank the States That Waste the Least Food? <\/strong>We compared the 50 states based on 37 total metrics. We considered each state\u2019s most recent food waste data by sector from ReFED (a national food waste nonprofit) \u2014 specifically, residential, farm, foodservice, retail, and manufacturing. We also considered rates of food waste recycling and mitigation efforts like food waste disposal bans, food sharing programs, and composting facilities. Want to see the full breakdown? Check out our methodology<\/a>.<\/p> Why does LawnStarter care about food waste?<\/strong> Your food scraps can easily turn into compost, an organic fertilizer to nourish your lawn and garden. Explore more food waste and composting insights in Beyond the Bin: U.S. Composting Stats, Policies, and Roadblocks<\/a>. <\/p> See how each state scored in our ranking below (1 = Least Wasteful; 50 = Most Wasteful):<\/p> Note: While ranking the states, we used the most recent data available. It should be noted that the most recent data released from ReFED captures food waste totals from 2024. <\/p> Contents<\/h2>
Rankings: States That Waste the Least Food<\/h2>