CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch) - An Iowa Department of Natural Resources study on food waste in the state found that Iowans on average, throw away 200 pounds of food each year.

The study identified a number of ways that households and businesses can reduce their food waste and in turn, help food insecure households, the environment and the economy.

Preventing food waste by producing, buying and serving only what is needed is the best way, according to the study , to reduce food waste.

Other methods it identified include donating or upcycling food before it goes bad, feeding it to animals and livestock, composting food scraps or putting them through an anaerobic digestion system and applying the product to the land.

Some of these solutions, according to the report, can be

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