How Many Fruits and Veggies Do We Waste Per Year?

The UN estimates that nearly half of the fruits and vegetables produced worldwide are wasted each year. In the United States alone, 30% of all food, worth $48.3 billion, is thrown away each year. (2) 

We don’t know about you, but that seems like far too much!

What if you could reduce the amount of fruits and veggies that we as a nation are throwing away each year? Would you be interested? 

What if you could do this while increasing your daily intake of nutrition and physical and mental well-being?

Read on to find out what you might be spending on the produce you throw away and what you can do to save a little cash and improve the environment.

How Much Money Do You Waste on Produce?

It is estimated that the average person throws away about $10 of old fruit each week. That amounts to $520 worth of fruit each year. (3) 

And that’s just fruit! Imagine how much money you’re wasting on veggies too! 

Even if you’re buying half the amount of veggies that you are fruit, that still comes out to $780 total between the two. 

And, if you’re health nuts like us, we know it’s a lot more than that...

What Impact Does this Waste Have on the Environment?

So what is the cost to the environment for all of these wasted fruits and vegetables?

Water

It is estimated that around half of the water used to produce food goes to waste. Agriculture is the biggest human use of water. (2) 

Why is this a problem? 

Well, for one, water is a finite resource. We only have so much of it. We certainly don’t want to experience a drought. 

But another reason this is a problem is that when we use too much water it causes some farmers to need to use more drastic measures to get the water they need for their crops. 

For instance, agriculture out in California is beginning to require so much water that some farmers are needing to drill further into the ground to extract more water from deeper aquifers. Unfortunately, drilling like this can lead to disturbances in fault lines, resulting in higher chances of earthquakes. (5) This isn’t good, especially for a place like California. 

What’s another cost of food waste?

Gasoline

Think of all of the food delivery trucks driving back and forth using all of that gasoline. There would be far less of them if we could cut out 644 million tons of fruits and veggies each year, don’t you think?

Cut Down on Your “Foodprint”

We often hear people saying we should cut down on our carbon footprint. Well, let’s try to cut down on our agricultural “foodprint” too.  

If we do, it could save each of us somewhere in the vicinity of $1000/year, and it could also reduce our use of water and gasoline. 

But how can we reduce our “foodprint”? 

One way is by drinking Ruvi every day. You can get 4 of your servings of fruits and veggies, without any risk of them spoiling or going bad. 

Ruvi contains no added sugars or sweeteners, no preservatives, no additives, no funny business. All the fiber too, unlike those fruit juices from concentrate. 

Ruvi also tastes awesome, and even better is that because it’s freeze dried, the nutrients stay intact far longer than fresh fruits and vegetables! It’s a great way of supplementing your daily nutrition so that you and your family can get more vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, and never worry about your produce going bad. 

We fully support you eating fresh fruits and veg. We love ‘em too! But it’s a good idea to supplement your daily fruit and veggies with Ruvi so you can fill in those nutrient gaps. Also, you’ll save money on that extra produce that would otherwise go bad.

When you drink Ruvi, your wallet, your health, and the environment will thank you. 

Save money on fruits and veggies - subscribe to Ruvi. 

Sources

1. “644 Million Tons…” [In title]: What Food is Wasted? Too Good to Go. https://toogoodtogo.org/en/movement/knowledge/what-food-is-wasted
2. Worldwide Food Waste. UNEP. https://www.unep.org/thinkeatsave/get-informed/worldwide-food-waste
3. This is how much money you waste a year throwing away spoiled fruit. The New York Post. https://nypost.com/2020/07/22/average-american-wastes-this-much-money-a-year-by-throwing-away-spoiled-fruit/#:~:text=The%20average%20person%20throws%20away,wastes%20three%20pieces%20per%20week.
4. The Problem with Landfill. Environment Victoria. https://environmentvictoria.org.au/resource/problem-landfill/#:~:text=Landfill%20sites%20are%20pretty%20ugly,toxins%2C%20leachate%20and%20greenhouse%20gases.

5. Almond Milk Is Bad For The Environment And Your Health! UMZU. https://umzu.com/blogs/hormones/almond-milk-is-unhealthy-and-its-ravishing-the-environment?rs_oid_rd=779635349495205&utm_source=ReSci-Smart+blast&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Abbreviated+Newsletter+Template+-+Single+Blog+Post+-+Almond+Milk+Is+Bad+For+The+Environment+And+Your+Health!