Only on products that can be exported or are otherwise fungible, primarily grains. But you'd also have to calculate the costs of shipping excess grain to the comparison of global grain prices, because it's a tad bit expensive to ship tons of grain around the world.
And then you'd also have to calculate the effects of a smaller market on the produce sellers of the world. I'm sure that farmers who export food to the US do so because the prices they get are better; otherwise, they'd be selling it locally. So, if they sold less to America, they wouldn't be making as much money, which wouldn't be feeding into their local economies. And that will hurt people as well.
It isn't as simple of a problem as what you're trying to make it. True, Americans - in general - should probably eat less. But the reason isn't to help global food prices. But, if you're talking about trying to feed under-nourished Americans, that's a different argument.
If you really want to help lower global food prices, the first step would be to stop turning corn into ethanol fuel (ethanol for human consumption is fine). Linking the prices of a cereal grain to the cost of energy is a dumb move.
The economies are inter connected. So you don't really need to export to lower the price abroad. A lower demand for a food item in a big consumer country like US is enough to reduce the food price around the globe.
The surplus thrown away food if saved could be money that could have funded another venture or at the very least spent on holiday shopping in the US. So this is a loss to the American economy.
In general, wasting is a loss to the economy, loss the environment and to mankind.
Waste is bad, true. But where is it happening? The article is thin on that detail. It could be that people are buying food and throwing it away, but how would you even begin to evaluate/validate that number? So I think the study must focus on food thrown out by businesses due to spoilage or other reasons, which might actually generate accounting records to work with.
But think about the food-service industry - it's one of the thinnest-margin industries in the world. They have every incentive to manage inventory as well as possible. So yes, waste is happening, but it's coming from the necessities of operating a business, not scumbag rich people throwing their sandwiches away.
And then you'd also have to calculate the effects of a smaller market on the produce sellers of the world. I'm sure that farmers who export food to the US do so because the prices they get are better; otherwise, they'd be selling it locally. So, if they sold less to America, they wouldn't be making as much money, which wouldn't be feeding into their local economies. And that will hurt people as well.
It isn't as simple of a problem as what you're trying to make it. True, Americans - in general - should probably eat less. But the reason isn't to help global food prices. But, if you're talking about trying to feed under-nourished Americans, that's a different argument.
If you really want to help lower global food prices, the first step would be to stop turning corn into ethanol fuel (ethanol for human consumption is fine). Linking the prices of a cereal grain to the cost of energy is a dumb move.