Environmental Justice and Sustainable Purchasing: Food Waste

This segment of Sunday Morning is about food that goes to waste because of required food dating or expiration dates that are stamped even before food turns rancid.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization a third of all food produced worldwide is thrown away. In Europe, this is equivalent to 89 tons of groceries per year. How can we stop this waste? Author and cook David Gross goes on a road trip through Europe, cooking exclusively what others throw away. He meets unconventional top chefs, food activists, scientists and gourmets and forces us to question our everyday consumer lifestyle.

When Rick Nahmias realized that fresh produce in his community was routinely being tossed out for minor bruising or browning, he knew something needed to be done to end the unnecessary waste. He founded Food Forward, a non-profit dedicated to ending hunger by sharing abundance. The organization recovers fresh produce that may otherwise go to waste, collecting from farmers markets, wholesale food suppliers, and even residential backyards. Within the past year, they’ve already fed 1.5 million people across Los Angeles.

Moderated by Jessica Eise, co-editor of How to Feed the World, this webinar describes methods of achieving global food security, and illustrates the connection between developing equal access to food and reducing waste and loss in our food systems. The webinar features co-editor Dr. Ken Foster and contributor Dr. Jerry Shively of Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural Economics, and includes an audience question and answer session.