Thanksgiving food waste in the United States reached about 320 million pounds in 2025, according to ReFED. The nonprofit, which tracks wasted food, valued that food at about $550 million, thrown away in a single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ReFED calculated that the same food could have provided 267 million meals for people in need. Turkey accounted for 40 percent of what went to waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of that waste starts in the kitchen, before anyone sits down. In an October 2025 survey that ReFED commissioned from NIQ, more than 90 percent of hosts said they cook extra on purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2025 figure continues a run of similar estimates. ReFED put the 2023 total at nearly 312 million pounds, and its 2025 analysis<\/a> raised it to 320 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across the whole year, the problem is far larger than one holiday. ReFED’s 2026 report counts 70 million tons of surplus food in the US in 2024. That is about 29 percent of the national food supply, worth some $380 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wasted food carries a climate cost long after the meal. ReFED puts the Thanksgiving 2025 waste at 811,726 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Producing that food used about 39 billion gallons of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much of the leftover food ends up buried in landfills. Food accounts for 58 percent of the fugitive methane from municipal solid waste landfills, the Environmental Protection Agency reports. Landfills rank as the third-largest source of human-caused methane in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Measured emissions can also run higher than official numbers. One New Jersey landfill emitted five times its reported methane<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EPA and the US Department of Agriculture share a goal to cut food loss and waste in half by 2030. Their baseline is 328 pounds of food waste per person in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Progress toward that target has been slow so far. In 2019, 349 pounds of food waste per person left the human food supply chain. The EPA states on its 2030 goal page<\/a> that “the U.S. still has a long way to go.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Households carry a large share of the cost. The EPA estimates that a family of four spends almost $3,000 a year on food that never gets eaten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ReFED’s staff advice for the holiday starts before the shopping trip. “Try your best to cook for the number of people that you will be hosting,” said Jeff Costantino, ReFED’s communications director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EPA suggests checking the fridge, freezer and pantry before going to the store. Writing quantities on the shopping list helps, the agency adds. ReFED points hosts to its Guest-imator portion calculator and suggests half or three-quarter batches of side dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Food safety rules decide how long leftovers last. Turkey and other poultry should reach an internal temperature of 165\u00b0F (74\u00b0C), says the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the meal, perishable food should go into the refrigerator within two hours, according to the agency’s leftovers guide<\/a>. That window shrinks to one hour above 90\u00b0F (32\u00b0C).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bacteria grow rapidly between 40\u00b0F and 140\u00b0F (4\u00b0C and 60\u00b0C), the USDA warns. To cool food fast, it recommends shallow containers and smaller pieces of turkey. Breast meat should be sliced, while legs and wings can stay whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leftovers keep for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. For a dinner on Thursday, November 26, that means eating them by Monday, November 30. In the freezer they keep for 3 to 4 months, and reheated leftovers should reach 165\u00b0F (74\u00b0C).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Extra food can find a second use at home. The EPA recommends turning leftovers into soups, stir-fries or sauces. Stale bread can become croutons, and vegetable scraps can become broth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scraps that cannot be eaten can go to compost instead of the trash. Food waste also feeds other projects, from coffee grounds turned into fuel<\/a> to orange peels on a Costa Rican pasture<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Untouched, safe food can go to a local food bank, the EPA notes. Its Wasted Food Scale ranks prevention and donation above composting. Sending food to the landfill ranks last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ReFED had not published a Thanksgiving estimate for 2026 by October 30. The figures here come from its 2025 analysis. ReFED released that projection before the holiday, so it is an estimate and not a weighed total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n National numbers also come from different years and methods. The EPA progress figure dates from 2019, while ReFED’s surplus count covers 2024. The two cannot be compared directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMethane from the landfill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A national goal for 2030<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Plan the meal by headcount<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read More: Centuries-old human waste buried beneath Dutch cities is revealing what families cooked for 350 years, and the real dinner was not the potato-and-meat plate everyone associates with the Netherlands<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Two hours, then the fridge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Soups, compost and donations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
ReFED’s 2026 estimate is pending<\/h2>\n\n\n\n