Estimate what edible groceries your household throws away may be costing. Use your own food spending or track discarded food for a week, then see a monthly and annual pace.
Food bought for home; leave restaurant meals out.
Count edible food thrown away before it was eaten.
An adjustable scenario, not a promised saving.
National food-waste figures combine different households, food categories, and stages of the supply chain. This calculator uses your own grocery spending and your own estimate, or the purchase prices you log. It does not claim that a national average is your household’s actual loss.
Use the cost estimate for edible food that could have been eaten. Peels, bones, and other unavoidable scraps do not represent missed grocery value in this calculation. Preventing edible food from being discarded comes first; composting is a useful route for scraps that remain.
The monthly and annual values are projections from the period you enter. They are not receipts or a promise of savings.
These are practical experiments, not a guarantee that one shopping routine works for every household. USDA consumer guidance also recommends planning and storing food to reduce waste.
Use grocery spending for a typical week or month and estimate the share of edible food you threw away, or track the purchase cost of discarded edible food directly. The calculator annualizes your own estimate; it does not substitute a national average for your household.
Count edible groceries that were intended to be eaten but were thrown away, such as spoiled produce or uneaten leftovers. USDA distinguishes edible food loss from non-edible parts such as peels, bones, and eggshells. This tool focuses on the edible food cost you could potentially prevent.
This estimate is for groceries bought to eat at home. Leave restaurant and takeout meals out because the menu price includes preparation and service, not just the food's purchase cost. You can track restaurant spending separately if you want a broader household estimate.
No. It projects the period you entered across a year, assuming that pattern repeats. The reduction field is a what-if scenario: actual savings depend on what you buy, what you use, food prices, and how your habits change.
Start with what you already have: plan a meal around food that needs using, freeze suitable food, or safely share or donate unopened items. Composting is useful for unavoidable scraps, but preventing edible food from being discarded keeps the food available to eat in the first place.
The calculator follows the USDA distinction between edible food loss and non-edible parts such as peels, bones, and eggshells. See the USDA food loss and waste FAQs for definitions and the USDA consumer guidance for prevention ideas. No national dollar figure is used in the calculation.
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