CLEAR Conversations: Food Waste and Climate Impacts

From the farm to the fridge, reducing food waste conserves resources, saves money and helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—that was the message from experts at ReFED on a recent episode of CLEAR Conversations. They also explained why addressing food waste requires solutions across the entire food system and how individuals can make a difference.

“Food waste isn't just a disposal problem,” said Angel Veza of ReFED, a national nonprofit focused on reducing food waste. “It's that opportunity to really build a more efficient and resilient, resource-efficient food system.”

Food waste may seem like a small problem. A forgotten container in the back of the refrigerator, produce that never makes it onto a dinner plate or groceries tossed because of a confusing date label can feel insignificant in isolation. But when those everyday decisions are multiplied across households, businesses and the global food system, the impact becomes much larger.

Food waste is not just a missed meal or wasted money. It also represents the loss of the land, water, energy, labor and other resources used to produce food — along with the greenhouse gas emissions associated with growing, transporting and storing it. When discarded food ends up in a landfill, its decomposition can generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

On this episode, of CLEAR Conversations, host Tracy Sellers spoke with Veza and Minnie Ringland, also of ReFED, about the environmental consequences of food waste, emerging solutions across the supply chain and easy steps consumers can take to help address the problem.

Their message was clear: Reducing food waste is an opportunity to make better use of the food we already produce while addressing one of the less visible contributors to climate change.

The climate cost of wasted food

The scale of the problem is substantial. According to estimates discussed in the conversation, approximately 29% of food in the United States goes unsold or uneaten each year. Globally, food loss and waste represent a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.

The environmental impact begins long before food reaches the trash can. Growing food requires land, water, fertilizer, energy and labor. Those resources are still spent even when a crop is never harvested, a product goes unsold or a meal is discarded. Food waste also contributes to methane emissions, particularly when organic material decomposes in landfills.

“Methane is one that's much more potent than carbon dioxide,” Ringland explained, noting that reducing methane emissions can deliver relatively rapid climate benefits because methane remains in the atmosphere for a much shorter period than carbon dioxide.

Food is a particularly important part of the landfill methane equation. Ringland cited U.S. Environmental Protection Agency analysis indicating that food accounts for at least 58% of landfill methane emissions. Keeping edible food from becoming waste — and diverting unavoidable food scraps from landfills — can therefore play an important role in reducing emissions.

For ReFED, that means looking beyond disposal to understand how food waste can be prevented throughout the system.

"We're not just looking at one part of the food system, we're looking at how all these pieces need to work together to really move the needle," Veza said.

Solutions start before food reaches the store

Food loss can begin on the farm, where growers face a variety of challenges that can prevent otherwise usable crops from reaching consumers. Low market prices, high labor costs and cosmetic standards can make harvesting and selling certain crops economically difficult. Produce that is nutritious and perfectly edible may be left in the field simply because there is no viable market for it.

In 2024, approximately 17 million tons of produce became surplus in the United States, according to figures shared by Ringland. More than 80% was left unharvested, while only a small percentage (1.6%) was donated. Addressing this problem requires more than asking farmers to find a way to use every crop. It also means creating the infrastructure, technology and funding that make harvesting and selling surplus food practical. 

 “Angel sits on our capital team, and manages our Catalytic Grant Fund, which is a re-granting program where we host open calls focused on a variety of topics, and then we support a cohort of food waste solution providers with funding that is intended to kind of unlock additional follow-on funding,” Ringland explained.

“We’re working to help turn those opportunities into action,” Veza said. “And so, from my perspective, I see a lot of this through that capital and innovation lens, lots of promising solutions out there, but having a good solution isn't enough, right? You need the right capital, customers, policies, and partners around it to really scale, so I think a lot about ReFED is that Connector and Catalyst, where we're bringing this great data, the people, the capital, and the solutions, to help create those conditions for meaningful change.”

Veza highlighted two examples supported through ReFED's grantmaking work.

Fieldwork Robotics is developing autonomous harvesting robots, initially focusing on raspberries, which are delicate and labor-intensive to harvest. By helping growers recover more of their crops, the technology could reduce losses while improving farm productivity and profitability.

“The idea is just simple,” Veza said. “If you can automate harvesting, you can help these farmers get more of their crop out of the field and to market before it’s lost.”

Another organization, Retaaza, purchases surplus food directly from local farmers and distributes it through channels such as mobile markets, produce prescription programs and nutrition boxes.

“So instead of asking, how do we just deal with this on the fly, they’re asking, how do we create a market for it?” Veza said. “And they’re creating these different sales channels.”

As Veza explained, reducing food loss is not just about improving farming practices. It is also about building better systems around farmers so more of what they grow can be sold and consumed.

Turning food byproducts into valuable resources

ReFED is also exploring opportunities to reduce methane emissions in beef and dairy supply chains. Some approaches focus on improving system efficiency to avoid producing food that ultimately is not needed. Others look at the potential to turn agricultural surpluses and byproducts into feed additives that can reduce methane emissions from cattle.

"We think of food as waste once we're done with it, rather than recognizing it as a resource that still has value, right?" Veza pointed out. "So the goal isn't to always just figure out what to do with waste after we create it, it's to really prevent that value from being lost in the first place."

California offers another example of how food system efficiency can create environmental benefits. As Sellers pointed out, agricultural byproducts, including almond hulls and cottonseed, can be used in cattle feed rather than discarded. Finding productive uses for these materials can help reduce waste while making better use of existing agricultural resources.

These approaches illustrate how waste prevention and agricultural innovation can work together.

ReFED's grantmaking efforts also examine downstream solutions, including composting and other forms of organics recycling, that can divert unavoidable food scraps from landfills. Expanding these options requires addressing practical barriers such as infrastructure, accessibility and cost.

The goal is to prevent waste wherever possible and make better use of the material that remains.

Clearer food labels can help consumers waste less

Food waste is not limited to farms, grocery stores or restaurants. Households collectively account for approximately one-third of the nation's surplus food, according to ReFED's analysis.

One contributing factor is confusion over food date labels. Many consumers interpret a date printed on a package as a strict safety deadline, even when it is intended to indicate freshness or quality. That confusion can lead people to throw away food that is still suitable to eat.

California's Assembly Bill 660, passed in 2024 and effective July 1, 2026, establishes standardized food date-label language intended to reduce this confusion. The law distinguishes between labels communicating product safety and those indicating when a product is at its best quality. And that distinction matters because a quality date and a food-safety instruction do not mean the same thing.

Ringland said research conducted with Johns Hopkins University found that consumer confusion about food date labels had increased compared with a similar study conducted in 2016. 

“It showed that the population is even more confused about date labels than they were ten years ago,” Ringland said.

Part of that confusion revolves around the fact there isn’t a federal standard for what a date label actually means on food items. Consumers should still follow food-safety guidance and discard food that has spoiled or been stored unsafely. The goal is not to take unnecessary risks, but to avoid throwing food away simply because a date label has been misunderstood.

Small changes at home can add up

Although food waste is a system-wide challenge, individuals have opportunities to make a difference.

Veza recommends starting with a simple question: Why does food go to waste in your household? For some people, the problem is forgetting what is already in the refrigerator. For others, it may be buying too much, storing food improperly or failing to plan meals around ingredients that need to be used soon.

A few strategies include:

• Create an “eat first” area. Keep foods that need to be used soon in a visible, designated spot in the refrigerator.
• Plan before shopping and meal prep. Check what you already have, make a shopping list and buy quantities you can realistically use.
• Store food properly. Appropriate storage can help extend freshness and prevent spoilage.
• Use leftovers. Plan meals that incorporate leftover ingredients or freeze extra portions for later.
• Understand date labels. Learn the difference between quality guidance and food-safety information.
• Track what gets thrown away. Identifying recurring patterns can help you adjust shopping habits, portion sizes and meal planning.

“Don't just try harder to waste less,” Veza said. “Just figure out where the breakdown is in your home and then build a system that makes it easier for you.”

There is also a financial incentive. Ringland said ReFED estimates that the average consumer spends approximately $760 each year on food that goes uneaten. Shopping with a list, freezing food and making better use of leftovers can help households retain more value from the food they purchase.

Data and collaboration can accelerate progress

Individual action is important, but lasting progress also requires coordination among farmers, food manufacturers, retailers, restaurants, policymakers, investors and organizations developing new solutions.

That is where ReFED focuses much of its work. The nonprofit provides data and analysis on food waste in the United States, works with food businesses on reduction goals and helps connect promising solutions with funding and partners that can support their growth.

Its Insights Engine, available through ReFED's website, includes tools such as the Food Waste Monitor, a solutions database, a directory of solution providers, an Impact Calculator and a policy finder. Together, these resources help users understand where food waste occurs, which solutions are available and where investment or policy changes could make a difference.

"The Food Waste Monitor tells the story that we've been tracking this data since 2016: what are the trends? How does it split across sectors and food types? What are the causes of food? Food waste, where does it end up?" Ringland said. "The Impact Calculator helps folks estimate the impact of the surplus food in their own operations at that kind of ground level."

Making better use of the food we produce

For Ringland, reducing food waste is also a personal commitment rooted in lessons she learned growing up in a Taiwanese household, where finishing meals and eating leftovers were part of everyday life. As she learned more about climate change and the environmental footprint of the food system, reducing waste became a tangible way to contribute to a larger solution.

Veza's path was different. After working with low-income students and later in professional kitchens, she saw firsthand the contrast between the abundance of food in the restaurant industry and the limited access some families have to nutritious meals. That experience inspired her to pursue broader solutions to food waste.

As the podcast wrapped up, Sellers thanked Veza and Ringland and reminded listeners that while climate change may seem like an overwhelming problem, each of us can play an important role in addressing it.