Food Waste Prevention Week

Approximately 40 percent of all food in the U.S. is never eaten, contributing to significant waste and environmental concerns. Each year, Minneapolis alone throws away nearly 128,000 tons of food.

To highlight the importance of preventing wasted food, the City Council is recognizing April 1-7 as Food Waste Prevention Week. The week aims to raise awareness and inspire community members to take action by preventing wasted food.

"Be a food waste hero this April by preventing wasted food," said Alison Babb, Minneapolis Health Department Homegrown manager. "Whether it's organizing our fridge, composting, or donating to food shelves, we can all do our part by taking some simple steps to reduce the amount of food wasted in our city."

Food for thought

• The average family of four wastes more than $2,500 a year on food that goes uneaten.
• 70% of wasted food at a restaurant is from customers not finishing their plates.
• On average, every person in Hennepin County wastes about 97 meals per year.
• The amount of food we waste is like buying 5 bags of food at the grocery store and leaving 2 behind.
• Each year wasted food in the U.S. produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars in California, Texas, Florida, and New York combined.

Learn how to prevent wasted food

There are many ways individuals and families can limit wasted food:

Learn more ways to prevent wasted food.

City committed to reducing wasted food

The City of Minneapolis is committed to preventing wasted food:

Helping restaurants prevent wasted food

As part of those efforts, the Health Department launched a Prevent Wasted Food webpage and created educational videos to support restaurants to waste less food.

• Minneapolis restaurants create 35,000 tons of food waste each year, which is 30% of the city's food waste.
• Minneapolis restaurants can help through simple kitchen changes, donating to food shelves, and composting.
• 18% of Minneapolis residents don't have access to enough food or affordable food. When businesses donate food, they save money through tax breaks and help the community and the environment.

The videos include:

All videos are in English, Spanish and Somali.

Follow the Minneapolis Health Department

Stay updated during Food Waste Prevention Week by following the Health Department's social channels. Go to our website for public health resources.

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