Jean Buzby

About Jean Buzby

I am the USDA Food Loss and Waste Liaison in the U.S. Department of Agriculture\'s Office of the Chief Economist. Prior to this position, I worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA/ERS) first as an Agricultural Economist and then as the Branch Chief in the Diet, Safety, and Health Economics (DSHE) branch in the Food Economics Division (FED). As an Agricultural Economist, my three primary research areas: food safety, food consumption, and food loss and waste. My food safety research included estimating the costs of foodborne illness, analyzing the legal incentives for firms to produce safer food, and exploring international trade and food safety issues. I have conducted research on food loss in the United States for almost two decades and have published estimates of the amount and value of food loss at the retail and consumer levels in the United States. My first publication on food loss and waste was a 2002 Report to Congress on \"Plate Waste in School Nutrition Programs.\" I was on detail at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 5 months in FY20 as a Senior Policy Analyst in the Resource Conservation and Sustainability Division.

Experience

1. Usda Food Loss and Waste Liaison

   Usda

   Mar 2020 — Present · DC, US

Education

• University of Kentucky

  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Agricultural Economics

• Federal Executive Institute, Charlottesville, Virginia

  Leadership for a Democratic Society

  2016

• Penn State University

  Bachelor's degree, Agricultural Business and Management

• Germantown Academy

  Kindergarden, Grade, & High School

  1967 — 1979

• University of Kentucky

  Master's degree, Agricultural Economics