These States Waste The Most Groceries And Restaurant Meals

Most of us feel pretty guilty about wasting food.

Yet as much as 40 percent of the food produced in America goes uneaten. Many restaurants are reluctant (for no good reason) to donate leftovers. Consumers turn their noses up at expired foods that are perfectly edible. And, let’s not even get started on produce that’s considered “ugly.”

Clearly we can all do a little bit better when it comes to sparing healthful and suitable food from ending up in landfills. These states are the biggest offenders when it comes to wasting groceries and meals from restaurants, according to a recent survey of 2,000 households conducted by Hloom, a company that provides resume templates to professionals and analyzes issues that are important to its customers.

In the graphic above, states are grouped by region, and the color-coding reflects each region’s statistic, not that of each individual state.

Here are the states that waste the most groceries, and the percentage that goes in the trash:

10. Minnesota: 10.89 percent

9. Connecticut: 10.96 percent

8. New Mexico: 11.58 percent

7. Indiana: 11.69 percent

6. Ohio: 11.7 percent

5. Tennessee: 11.81 percent

4. Maryland: 12.14 percent

3. Alabama: 12.15 percent

2. Nebraska: 12.18 percent

1. Mississippi: 14 percent

Here are the states that waste the most restaurant meals, and the percentage that goes in the trash:

10. Ohio: 8.72 percent

9. Kansas: 9 percent

8. Maryland: 9.2 percent

7. Tennessee: 9.22 percent

6. Iowa: 9.37 percent

5. Connecticut: 9.96 percent

4. Nebraska: 10.12 percent

3. New Mexico: 10.67 percent

2. Delaware: 10.71 percent

1. Mississippi: 11.6 percent