Final answer:
In 2017, over 40 million tons of food waste in the US ended up in landfills, making up 15.2% of all trash. Consumer culture in the US leads to significant food waste, contributing to the largest part of municipal solid waste and methane emissions.
Step-by-step explanation:
More than 40 million tons of food waste were generated in the United States in 2017, with 15.2% of this waste ending up directly in landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Sierra Club highlights how social and cultural values influence food production and consumption; in the United States, a consumer culture leads to the discarding of substantial amounts of food, totaling around $165 billion in 2014. This not only contributes to the largest component of U.S. municipal solid waste but also substantially adds to the country's methane emissions. On the flip side, much of the food produced in the US does not directly feed humans but instead goes to feed livestock, with less than 20 per cent of the energy from crops such as cereal grain eventually being consumed by humans in the form of meat, eggs, milk, and cheese. Educational initiatives and infrastructure improvements are necessary to address these issues of waste and promote sustainability.