According to a truly shocking investigative report by the Guardian, Americans "throw away almost as much food as they eat" -- or half of all food produced in the country.
Suzanne Goldberg, the Guardian's US environmental correspondent found that much of this was due to the cosmetic standard of produce, and a “cult of perfection”:
Vast quantities of fresh produce grown in the US are left in the field to rot, fed to livestock or hauled directly from the field to landfill, because of unrealistic and unyielding cosmetic standards, according to official data and interviews with dozens of farmers, packers, truckers, researchers, campaigners and government officials.
This has a catastrophic effect on the environment, and the cost of food that goes up due to the enormous amount of produce that isn't deemed sellable. Continues the report:
That lost food is seen increasingly as a drag on household incomes – about $1,600 a year for a family of four – and a direct challenge to global efforts to fight hunger, poverty and climate change.
The wasted food is thrown into landfill and is a huge source of methane -- a gas far more dangerous greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. It is estimated that food waste accounts for roughly 8% of global climate pollution -- a truly astonishing amount that dwarves other major industrialized countries' entire emissions.
Each year 1.3bn tonnes of food, about a third of all that is produced, is wasted, including about 45% of all fruit and vegetables, 35% of fish and seafood, 30% of cereals, 20% of dairy products and 20% of meat.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/13/us-food-waste-ugly-fruit-vegetables-perfect
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2015/aug/12/produced-but-never-eaten-a-visual-guide-to-food-waste
http://thedailybanter.phoenix.prod.saymedia.com/2016/07/new-statistic-on-food-waste-is-horrifying/