As noted in my recent post on Ecocentric, food waste is a nexus issue; it illustrates the interdependencies of food, water and energy systems. Given the water- and energy-intensive nature of growing, processing, packaging, warehousing, transporting and preparing food, it follows that wasted food means wasted energy, water and agricultural resources. Approximately 2.5 percent of the U.S. energy budget is “thrown away” annually as food waste. This is equivalent to the energy contained in hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. In addition, 25 percent of all freshwater consumed annually in the U.S. is associated with discarded food — about as much as the volume of Lake Erie.