Stop wasting food to save energy--study

The study was conducted by the researchers, Michael Webber and Amanda Cuéllar, from the University of Texas at Austin.

They found out that about 1.4 billion barrels of oil equals to nations’ 8 to 16 percent annual energy consumption.

To arrive at this startling conclusion, both researchers analyzed the amount of energy it takes to produce, pack, prepare, preserve and distribute food in the country through out the year.

Commenting on the study findings, Michael Webber, associate director of the university's Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, stated, "As a nation we're grappling with energy issues. A lot more energy goes into food than people realize."

Even the U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated that Americans waste nearly 27 percent of their food.

Research study details
Though, the data on actual food consumption and wastage was scarce and not up-to-date, the researchers analyzed data from years 1995, 2004 and 2007.

To arrive at this startling conclusion, both researchers analyzed the amount of energy it takes to produce, pack, prepare, preserve and distribute food in the country through out the year.

They found that collectively 27 percent of all food items are wasted by Americans.

The products that ruthlessly wasted by American include, tree nuts and peanuts (16 percent); meat, poultry, fish (16 percent); dry beans, peas, lentils (16 percent); fruits and vegetables (23 and 25 percent respectively); sugar and other calorie providing sweeteners (31 percent); eggs (31 percent); grains (32 percent); dairy (32 percent); and fats, oils (33 percent).

Stop food wastage to save energy
Researchers also noted in their report that their findings are based on previous data and might not be very accurate.

However, it’s good enough to tell us how important it is to save food and stop wastage, to save energy.

"Consequently, the energy embedded in wasted food represents a substantial target for decreasing energy consumption in the U.S. The wasted energy calculated here is a conservative estimate both because the food waste data are incomplete and outdated and the energy consumption data for food service and sales are incomplete," wrote study authors.

Casual attitude towards food
Some experts also believe that American's attitude is the main reason why so much food is being wasted on such a large scale.

They believe as there’s no shortage of food, which is cheap. As a result, people do not think twice before tossing food items in trash cans.

"We have a cheap food policy in America. When things are cheap, people don't care so much about wasting it," noted Webber.

The study findings are published in Chemical Society's journal 'Environmental Science & Technology.'