America's Favorite Fruit Reveals The Hidden Truth About Food Waste
Consider the apple. Arguably America’s most iconic fruit, and the one we as a nation consume the most, the apple is a crucial component of our culture (American as apple pie!), diets, and economy.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the apple ranks as America's favorite fruit, beating out other produce legends like oranges and bananas. Last year, the United States produced some 4.36 million metric tons of apples, the fourth largest producer of the fruit behind China, the EU, and Turkey. By one recent USDA estimate, every person eats about 26 pounds of apples a year.
In other words, the apple is, by so many measures, America’s national fruit. And as such, the way we sell, eat, and, yes, waste it is typical of all of our food.
In 2023, millions of apples were left to rot on the ground on purpose across the country. A combination of money — bumper crops, declining exports, retaliatory tariffs — and ugly fruit (made so by hail) hit farmers hard.
