Food Consumption

Why food consumption matters

Food is a basic need. It supports our health, our families, and our cultures. But the way food is grown, sold, eaten, and wasted also affects people and the environment across Oregon.

Every step in the food system uses energy, land, water, and labor. This includes growing food, moving it to stores, keeping it cold, and cooking it at home. When food is thrown away, all of those resources are wasted. Food that ends up in landfills also creates climate pollution as it breaks down. Preventing food waste is one of the best ways to reduce these impacts. When we waste less food, we save money, reduce pollution, and use fewer natural resources. DEQ supports national and global goals to cut food waste in half at homes and stores and to reduce food loss across the food system.

What we eat also matters. Some foods create more climate pollution than others. Meat and dairy products have higher environmental impacts than many plant-based foods. Eating more plant-rich meals, when affordable and accessible, can help reduce climate impacts and support good health. Food consumption also affects people in different ways. While large amounts of food are wasted, many Oregonians struggle to afford enough healthy and culturally meaningful food. Rising food costs can force families to choose between buying food and paying for housing, healthcare, or other basic needs. These challenges often disproportionately affect low-income households.

DEQ’s work on food consumption focuses on people as well as the environment. By reducing food waste and supporting healthier, lower-impact food choices, DEQ aims to improve wellbeing, reduce pollution, and support more fair and resilient food systems across Oregon.

DEQ’s role moving forward

Over nearly a decade, DEQ has focused on preventing wasted food through its Strategy for Preventing the Wasting of Food (2017). This strategic plan identified projects designed to shift the conversation about food waste and achieve measurable reductions in waste statewide. Building on that foundation, DEQ has prepared resources to help producers and consumers make environmentally sound decisions about the foods they buy and serve.

Education and outreach remain central to this effort. Initiatives such as the Bad Apple Campaign, Food Waste Prevention Week, and the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment are raising awareness and promoting upstream solutions that prevent food from becoming waste in the first place.

DEQ also works with local partners to rescue edible food for redistribution to Oregonians experiencing food insecurity. And when wasted food cannot be prevented or rescued, DEQ supports the most environmentally sound end-of-life options—such as composting, anaerobic digestion, and agricultural use. For more information on DEQ’s work and upcoming opportunities, please see information on our upcoming Action Plan.

Contact

For more information, email:
sustainablefoodsystems@deq.oregon.gov

Key findings

The amount of rescued food that ends up being wasted anyway – both at the rescue organization and by the recipient – is a significant driver of overall life cycle impacts.
The mode and distance of transport also matter significantly to the final impact results. The least efficient means of transporting rescued food was by passenger vehicle.
Diverting food from landfills provides environmental benefits; however the magnitude of those benefits must be considered along with the impacts of food rescue activities. In some cases, the impacts of food rescue activities exceed the benefits of diverting food from landfill.
The impacts of facilities and operations associated with rescue were consistently a small contributor to the overall lifecycle impacts of rescued food.
End-of-life disposition (landfill, aerobic composting, incineration, or anaerobic digestion) of food that is lost or wasted was often a small contributor to life cycle impacts across all categories. However, it became meaningful for instances where loss or waste rates were high.
When including the upstream production of food and distribution, the relevance of food rescue becomes minimal. Upstream production dominates the life cycle impacts.