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Why Playing 'The Dating Game' Adds To A Rose-Bowl-Sized Pile Of Trash

Maybe you've heard the numbers. An estimated 40 percent of food in the United States never gets eaten. Americans waste 160 billion pounds of food a year. Every day, that amounts to enough food to fill the Rose Bowl. Twenty-five percent of America's freshwater use goes into the production of food that is then wasted.

Meanwhile, almost 15 percent of American families are "food insecure" at some point in a given year.  A lot of this is pulled straight from a recent report from the NRDC and the Harvard Food and Law Policy Clinic.  The report argues that a lot of our food waste is attributable to confusion of expiration dates and other "use by" labels.  So if you listen carefully today, you'll waste and less and save some money.

GUESTS:

If you're interested in learning more about how dates are determined or if you have a suggestion for how dating standards could be improved - here's how to contact the National Conference on Weights and Measures.  

You can join the discussion. Leave your comments below, email colin@wnpr.org or tweet us @wnprcolin.

Credit Sustainable America

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.