National Household Tracking Survey

How do we know if food waste is increasing or falling in the United States, and whether US goals to reduce food waste over time are feasible? The RECIPES National Household Food Waste Tracking Survey provides quantitative measurements of food wasted at the household level, the single largest source of wasted food in the United States. The survey has been implemented nationally three times a year since 2021, and data are publicly available here.

2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025

About
Prior to the beginning of the RECIPES Network, partners at Ohio State University launched a pilot study in 2020 to adapt a Household Food Waste Questionnaire that had been used in Europe for American households. Such questionnaires are a cheaper and easier way to collect data on household food waste than asking households to keep records of their discarded food, or actually measuring food that has been discarded. The food categories and measurements were adapted for the U.S. context, and the team added a visual guide to help respondents more accurately estimate the amounts of discarded foods. A two-step process – a baseline and a follow-up questionnaire – prepped respondents to keep track of their discarded food over a one-week period. A total of 116 respondents answered both questionnaires; results are published in Adapting, refining and expanding a validated questionnaire to measure food waste in U.S. households by Shu, Roe and Bender.

2021
The refined two-phase online survey was fielded nationally in February 2021 (361 respondents completed both surveys) and repeated in the summer (419 respondents) and December (610 respondents). These data were collected in the second year of COVID-19 pandemic and revealed a drop in respondents reporting preparing all meals at home between February and December 2021.

2022
Three waves of data were collected in 2022 with questions that permit greater examination of the role of consumer attitudes and household behaviors on waste generation patterns and the role of consumer time allocation within the household on waste levels and patterns. Comparisons across the first four waves of collected data (2021 and the February 2022 wave) revealed an increase in reported household food waste as consumers began resuming normal, post-COVID-19 activities, as reported in Household food waste trending upwards in the United States: Insights from a National Tracking Survey (Li, Shu, Bender and Roe). The July 2022 wave added questions exploring the contribution of frozen food to total food waste; results are reported in Frozen food purchasing and home freezing of fresh foods: associations with household food waste (Xu, Ran and Roe).

The November 2022 wave included extensive questions about respondents’ food waste attitudes and behaviors and questions assessing their food management capabilities. This permitted the identification of consumer segments that exhibit distinct patterns of food management and food waste that was published in Segmenting U.S. consumers by food waste attitudes and behaviors: Opportunities for targeting reduction interventions (Li and Roe, 2024).

2023
In 2023, question modules were added focusing on:

• How local regulations that require households to discard organic waste in a separate bin may affect food waste behaviors
• Respondent’s religious and ethical views
• Prevalence and role of plastic packaging when food is being discarded
• Which grocery stores respondents patronize to permit assessment of future store-specific waste reduction campaigns focused on assisting consumers in reducing food waste in their homes
• How time use decisions affect the amount and value of food wasted by U.S. households

2024
In 2024, we added questions to examine whether past military service influences food waste behaviors, and continued the three waves of data collection.

2025
In 2025, we added a Thanksgiving survey to provide insights into the impact of holiday festivities on household food waste. Beginning with the February 2025 wave, we began asking if any household members were using novel anti-obesity medications (e.g., Ozempic, Wegovy) to begin assessing the influence of these pharmaceuticals on household food waste. This wave also introduced new questions designed to assess the price inflation perceived by survey respondents and the tactics they deployed in their households to combat perceived food price inflation, including different approaches to reducing food waste.

In the July 2025 wave, we added questions about comprehension of food date labels and the fraction of waste attributable to interpretation of the date printed on food packages in preparation for evaluating California Assembly Bill 660, which will require uniform date labels on all foods sold in California beginning on July 1, 2026. These data will enable comparison of California with the rest of the country as well as changes before and after the California regulatory change.

For inquiries, please contact Brian Roe, roe.30@osu.edu.