RedBeard_the_Great
RedBeard_the_Great t1_ja7vts7 wrote
Reply to comment by [deleted] in ELI5: why do grocery stores in the US keep such a large inventory? Aside from being prepared for episodic panic buying like toilet paper or bottled water, is there an economic reason to do this? How much of the food ends up going bad? by DrEverythingBAlright
Could you share your source for a third of all food at grocery stores getting thrown away? It would be interesting to see their breakdown (ie. produce vs canned goods).
I also wouldn’t be surprised if a third of all total food gets discarded in the US if they include agriculture and restaurants (like the chickens that die from avian flu and food that doesn’t get finished due to oversized portions), but it seems odd that notoriously low-margin grocery stores would be that wasteful.
RedBeard_the_Great t1_ja7xk0b wrote
Reply to comment by [deleted] in ELI5: why do grocery stores in the US keep such a large inventory? Aside from being prepared for episodic panic buying like toilet paper or bottled water, is there an economic reason to do this? How much of the food ends up going bad? by DrEverythingBAlright
Thanks, that was quite eye-opening! The USDA does say that 31% loss is at the “retail and consumer level,” so it makes way more sense to me knowing that consumers and restaurants also contribute to that figure.