FORBES — World renown chef Thomas Keller once said “Respect for food is a respect for life, for who we are and what we do.” However, currently 40% of the nation’s food goes uneaten — over 66 million tons a year — and the results are widespread, from those who go hungry to a taxation on both the environment and economy.
Growing, processing, transporting and disposing that uneaten food in the United States is costly. Nationwide, this translates to an annual estimated price of $218 billion, costing a household of four an average of $1,800 a year. Adding to that, wasted food takes up more than 20% of the nation’s landfills, where it generates methane, a greenhouse gas that is up to 86 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Now, a team out of the University of California, Riverside (UCR), has found a way to keep that unused food out of the landfills and put it to a more beneficial use.