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  • MUSIC

  • GRANT GERLOCK: There's a problem with America's food system.

  • It's not how much food we make.

  • It's how much we end up throwing away.

  • Pound for pound, more food goes into landfills

  • across the country than any other single source of waste.

  • The more food we throw away,

  • the bigger the problem becomes.

  • GAIL TAVILL: When you put food in a landfill

  • it creates methane gas, which is massively more potent

  • than carbon dioxide in terms of

  • climate change and greenhouse gases.

  • GERLOCK: But more people are realizing -

  • all that food waste could be a valuable resource.

  • KARIN PAGE: I mean, every farmer I work with is so generous,

  • and they would rather have their food feed people

  • than even feed the chickens or compost it.

  • JACOB HICKEY: If we can just pull that stuff from

  • our industrial sites and our grocery stores

  • and also our school cafeterias

  • then we can pull that out of the landfill.

  • GERLOCK: They're writing a recipe for change,

  • so the food that's being thrown out doesn't all go to waste.

  • DAN NICKEY: People are getting on board.

  • People are wanting to know where their food comes from.

  • At the same point they saying, okay, where does it go.

  • MUSIC

  • GRANT GERLOCK: There's more food available in the U.S.

  • than ever before.

  • But we're also throwing more food away.

  • The amount of food Americans waste

  • has been on the rise for decades and that has serious

  • economic and environmental consequences.

  • We begin our food waste story at the end of the line

  • - the landfill.

  • GERLOCK: You put it on the curb.

  • It goes away.

  • Never to be seen again.

  • Of course it all goes somewhere.

  • The good thing?

  • It's taken away and you don't have to think about it,

  • or smell it, again.

  • The bad thing?

  • If you don't have to think about it,

  • you probably don't.

  • But once you start digging into it, you find out -

  • what you throw away and where it goes,

  • does make a difference.

  • There are those who do have your garbage on their minds.

  • Jack Chappelle is one of them.

  • He sorts garbage.

  • States and cities hire Chappelle's consulting company

  • to look through their trash and tell them what it's made of.

  • JACK CHAPPELLE: You want to know how long the landfill can last,

  • what materials you can get out of it,

  • what materials you can take out of the waste stream

  • that makes the landfill last even longer.

  • GERLOCK: Chappelle finds that a lot

  • of what we throw away doesn't have to be.

  • It could be recycled.

  • Nationwide more than 8 million tons of glass

  • goes in the landfill.

  • 24 million tons of cardboard and paper.

  • CHAPPELLE: You still find an awful lot of bank statements

  • and checks people tear up.

  • Uh, tin cans.

  • GERLOCK: Then there's food.

  • CHAPPELLE: In the country you get more peelings,

  • you get more vegetables.

  • When you're in the city

  • you get a lot more fast food containers

  • with half eaten food in them.

  • A lot more pizza boxes

  • GERLOCK: The Environmental Protection Agency

  • estimates that, Nationally, about 20 percent

  • of what goes into the landfill each year is food.

  • Add all the food together from L.A. to New York

  • and America throws away nearly 35 million tons each year.

  • 35 million tons.

  • That's almost 100 Empire State buildings, made of food.

  • Enough food goes uneaten in the United States in one day

  • to feed the Denver metro area for 10 weeks.

  • More than 2 million people could eat

  • from New Year's to St. Patrick's Day.

  • DAN NICKEY: We just have so much of an abundance of food

  • that we don't realize the value of it.

  • GERLOCK: Dan Nickey from the Iowa Waste Reduction Center

  • works with businesses to cut back on

  • what they throw away, including food.

  • Nickey says waste happens at every level of the food chain.

  • NICKEY: You have food that is in warehouses that expires

  • and they throw it way.

  • Maybe they made a mistake

  • and it doesn't have the flavoring they want.

  • They don't want to sell it, so they throw it away.

  • I think it's part of the culture today

  • that compared to when our parents grew up.

  • Now we don't look at food as a resource,

  • we look at it as a given.

  • GERLOCK: From farmers to consumers, fruits and vegetables

  • make up a third of the food loss in the U.S.

  • Dairy products cover another 20 percent

  • of what goes uneaten.

  • When you look at the amount of food going unused,

  • the costs add up environmentally and financially.

  • First let's look at the money.

  • NICKEY: 40 percent of all the food in this country,

  • never makes it to the table.

  • At a cost of 165 billion dollars.

  • GERLOCK: And that's just in the U.S.

  • Globally, food losses add up to 750 billion dollars.

  • Behind those dollar signs is a significant

  • environmental threat when food is buried in a landfill.

  • NICKEY: You're going to have generation of methane gas.

  • Methane gas is a greenhouse gas which

  • is a contributor to global warming.

  • GERLOCK: As a greenhouse gas, methane is 20-25 times stronger

  • than just carbon dioxide.

  • One thing landfills are able to do is capture the methane

  • before it escapes into the atmosphere.

  • It's happening at hundreds of landfills across the country.

  • The landfill in Lincoln, Nebraska started

  • collecting methane gas in 2013 and sending it here

  • to a generating station where the gas

  • is now burned to make energy.

  • TOM DAVLIN: That pipe comes from the landfill.

  • The landfill is located about a mile and a half west of us.

  • After gas is processed and cleaned then we compress it,

  • we send it through the pipeline underground

  • into the building and then into the engines.

  • The average home uses 1000kwh per month.

  • So in an hour we can supply enough energy

  • to supply 3200 typical Nebraska homes.

  • GERLOCK: 32 hundred homes powered by gas

  • from food and other organic waste.

  • For Dan Nickey, that kind of system may be a good

  • backup for food that's already underground,

  • but it's not the solution to the problem because food

  • is still taking up valuable landfill space.

  • And, he says, there are better things to

  • do with the food we don't eat.

  • NICKEY: We need to stop thinking of it as a waste.

  • Even though it's maybe not used for its intended purpose,

  • it still is not a waste because it still has value.

  • It's only a waste if we put it in a landfill.

  • GERLOCK: And that is the last place he says it should go.

  • GERLOCK: Why does so much food go to waste?

  • One reason might be that it's so affordable

  • it's considered disposable.

  • Americans spend about 10 percent of their incomes on food.

  • That's the smallest percentage

  • of any country in the world.

  • But it's not that way for everyone.

  • 49 million Americans sometimes have trouble

  • putting food on the table.

  • Much of what is currently being wasted

  • could be used to feed families.

  • Randy Mason introduces us to some people hungry

  • to help make that happen.

  • KARIN PAGE: "Spread out all the way to the end and

  • people can have their own little patch."

  • RANDY MASON: On a mild Saturday morning in June,

  • a team of volunteers arrives at this small farm

  • in Kansas City, Kansas, ready to glean.

  • That is, gather the unharvested lettuce and

  • other crops that might otherwise never be picked

  • and waste away in the fields.

  • PAGE: "If you fill your bags to the top,

  • but you can tie it shut, that's three pounds.

  • So this is like three pounds right here!"

  • MASON: Another day, it could be a cornfield near Baldwin City.

  • Bill Conaway: Gleaning is biblical.

  • Thousands of years old, so we're getting back

  • to some of the basics.

  • MASON: Or maybe a patch of beets and greens

  • in Platte City, Missouri.

  • PAGE: When we're gleaning,

  • they'll say you can have this row here,

  • and we take everything,

  • and it's after they're done selling that crop.

  • So it could be that the mustard is close to bolting

  • or has already bolted.

  • I mean, every farmer I work with is so generous,

  • and they would rather have their food feed people

  • than even the chickens or compost it.

  • LINDA OUSLEY: We started with a non-profit

  • called the society of St. Andrews.

  • I actually opened that office in 2008.

  • And over the next six years we salvaged more

  • than 15 million pounds of food to feed people,

  • fifteen million pounds!

  • MASON: Though Ousley might on occasion, secure a

  • donation of potatoes or some other crop by the semi-load,

  • the bulk of what they collect still

  • comes the old fashioned way,

  • one fruit or vegetable at a time.

  • Food that's been left behind,

  • largely because of aesthetics.

  • CLAY JARRETT: We've been to farms where they have

  • squash this big, but that's too big

  • to go on grocery store shelves

  • so you pick everything that's ugly or blemished,

  • but still great edible food.

  • (Water being sprayed on vegetables)

  • PAGE: I don't care what it is, whether it's a

  • strawberry or a beet or mustard right out of the ground.

  • It's so good.

  • (Crunching)

  • MASON: And nutritionally good for the most

  • food insecure portion of our population as well.

  • PAGE: When people do food drives,

  • they're getting cans and boxes,

  • they're not getting fresh produce.

  • And everybody loves fresh produce.

  • To me it just completes the whole fun cycle of this.

  • Violin playing

  • MASON: Even crops that make it out of the field

  • don't all make it to consumers.

  • Farmers markets like this one on the square in

  • Fayetteville, Arkansas, showcase lots of great

  • locally grown produce, but by Saturday night,

  • much of what hasn't been sold may well be tossed out,

  • a troubling thought when you consider

  • 1 in 7 Americans may be underfed.

  • Don Bennett's Tri-cycle farm is one of

  • several grassroots groups in Fayetteville,

  • determined to take an active role in dumpster diversion.

  • DON BENNETT: We do our part in our neighborhood

  • and distribute close to about 3-4 hundred pounds

  • of food each Sunday.

  • MASON: And at the University of Arkansas,

  • another aspect of food waste is being addressed -

  • leftovers from restaurants and cafeterias.

  • It is in a sense another kind of gleaning program.

  • Five days a week, a student group called

  • "Razorback Recovery" is saving salads, sandwiches,

  • and baked goods from dining halls, retail sites,

  • and events on campus and taking them to

  • Fayetteville food pantries.

  • CLAIRE ALLISON: The food's already there,

  • it's already made it to the right standards

  • and kept at the appropriate temperature.

  • And so instead of it being pitched into the dumpster,

  • they just put it in our fridge

  • and we take it out to the agencies who need it.

  • MASON: The school's food service provider had some

  • serious concerns about liability--What if their

  • leftovers were mishandled and someone became ill?

  • Nicole Civita, a faculty member at the university's

  • food law program, says that is a common concern,

  • but one that was largely laid to rest

  • by a federal law passed in 1996.

  • NICOLE CIVITA: The Bill Emerson Act does a very

  • good job of balancing food safety interests and

  • food recovery interests.

  • MASON: In a nutshell, the Emerson Act exempts those

  • who donate apparently wholesome food, in good faith,

  • from being sued as long as the food goes

  • to a qualified non-profit that feeds the hungry.

  • Years after the law was passed

  • many are still unaware it exists.

  • That led Civita to create a food recovery guide.

  • CIVITA: As soon as we published it,

  • my phone started ringing on a regular basis with

  • inquiries from people all over the country

  • who wanted to promote food recovery.

  • And were glad to have a tool that they could use

  • to go to a business and say "I know you're afraid of this.

  • I know you think you're going to get sued,

  • but here's how we do it in a way that protects you."

  • MASON: Which leads to the kind of place

  • where most of us get most of our food.

  • The kind of place where 40% of what starts out

  • fresh ends up getting thrown out,

  • though much of it is still edible.

  • Grocery chains across the country are looking at ways

  • to knock that number down.

  • A pilot program at this Harps store in Fayetteville

  • began setting aside and sharing food

  • than can no longer be sold, but can still be eaten.

  • BRANDON WASHINGTON: It takes just as much time as it

  • would to actually put it in there and go dump it

  • as it would going to the table-same amount of time.

  • One's actually helping somebody and one's not.

  • MELISSA TERRY: Our goal is to be proactive and see if

  • we can shrink that 40% one store at a time,

  • and then once we get our systems together we'll be

  • able to scale it up in a way that truly makes an impact.

  • We want everybody who's involved with this program

  • to be like "Why wouldn't we do this?"

  • MASON: By recovering the food that's not sold and

  • gleaning the food that's not harvested,

  • food gets a second chance to do what it does best,

  • feed people.

  • VOLUNTEER: "Alright, thank you very much."

  • GRANT GERLOCK: If food can't reach people,

  • it doesn't have to be destined for the landfill.

  • Even though composting leaves and grass clippings

  • is commonplace, composting food isn't.

  • Only 5 percent of food waste headed for the landfill

  • is diverted for composting.

  • NICKEY: A lot of communities now have these bins

  • where you can throw your leaves and sticks in, right?

  • What's happening to that stuff?

  • Composting.

  • Why can't we throw our food waste in those same bins?

  • Another solution for the homeowner

  • instead of throwing it in the trash.

  • GERLOCK: Just a handful of communities collect food scraps.

  • But Ryan Robertson found those scraps could be a

  • valuable resource, and there are people out there

  • finding ways to put food waste to work.

  • RYAN ROBERTSON: Food waste is more than just

  • the leftovers people toss out;

  • there's waste in the creation of food as well.

  • Some companies have found ways to reuse and recycle that waste.

  • Take Prairieland Dairy.

  • There's a lot of manure coming from their 1400 cows.

  • But that manure, combined with waste from another

  • Nebraska food manufacturer, makes good compost.

  • Prairieland diverts about 2000 tons of food waste

  • from the county landfill every year for composting.

  • A substantial amount for an operation of this size,

  • but not much compared to the 35 million tons of food waste

  • that goes to landfills nationally.

  • But diverting that food fits with their motto -

  • Don't waste anything.

  • JACOB HICKEY: The cow gives us our 3 M's;

  • milk, meat, and manure.

  • So we take advantage of all three of them.

  • ROBERTSON: That third M - manure - is why Prairieland started

  • its composting program.

  • It's the byproduct of dairy production.

  • Another kind of food waste.

  • Composting speeds up the natural process

  • of the break down and decay of organic materials.

  • With time and a little maintenance,

  • a nutrient rich material is made-perfect

  • for yards and gardens.

  • But it takes more than manure to make good compost,

  • which is why Prairieland adds yard

  • and food waste to the mix.

  • HICKEY: We found out that about 85 percent of the stuff

  • that goes to the landfill is compostable,

  • so if we can just pull that stuff from

  • our industrial sites and our grocery stores and

  • also our school cafeterias, then we can

  • pull that out of the landfill and reduce the

  • landfill by up to 85 percent.

  • ROBERTSON: To divert food from the landfill,

  • Prairieland is partnering with one of

  • the nation's largest food manufacturers,

  • ConAgra Foods, based in Omaha.

  • At ConAgra's Crunch-n-Munch popcorn facility in Lincoln

  • the kernels that don't pop up quite right,

  • the Old Maids, are separated out

  • and sent to the dairy's compost piles.

  • GAIL TAVILL: In a manufacturing environment,

  • there are always going to be certain level of losses,

  • yield losses or incidence of failure

  • that are going to generate waste.

  • ROBERTSON: Gail Tavill is the Vice President of

  • Sustainability at ConAgra.

  • Her job includes finding where the company is wasteful,

  • and trimming the fat.

  • TAVILL: When we set our goal it was to divert

  • at least 75 percent of materials from the landfill.

  • Today, we're over 90 across the board,

  • and we have a handful of facilities that actually

  • don't fill a landfill with anything.

  • TAVILL: "We segregate those out,

  • put a "For Donation Only" label on it...

  • ROBERTSON: Tavill says ConAgra has partnerships with

  • organizations all over the country to recycle food waste,

  • or what she now refers to as by-products.

  • In a ConAgra tomato processing plant in California,

  • seeds and skins, are being turned

  • into highly nutritious feed for animals.

  • Even the water in the tomato,

  • which makes up about 80 percent of the fruit,

  • is also extracted and used for irrigation in nearby fields.

  • TAVILL: It just makes sense to recirculate that water

  • vs. having it go out of the stack in terms of steam.

  • So it just makes sense to capture water,

  • especially in a state that is prone to drought.

  • ROBERTSON: But every operation produces some waste.

  • After all, some things just can't be eaten.

  • Research engineer Ivan Cornejo at the Colorado School of Mines

  • is finding different ways to utilize food waste.

  • IVAN CORNEJO: The process starts by collecting food waste

  • from different sources.

  • And then what we do with this,

  • we process it to extract the minerals.

  • ROBERTSON: Cornejo has a big idea to reduce food

  • down to its building blocks.

  • But he's not making compost.

  • CORNEJO: I started working in the ceramic group,

  • and then I started working more on the trash to glass concept.

  • ROBERTSON: You heard that right.

  • Cornejo and his colleagues are turning trash, into glass.

  • Cornejo led the team that created gorilla glass,

  • the material used to make the screen on your smart phone.

  • And now, from his lab in Colorado, Cornejo is

  • looking to organic waste as the mining operation of the future.

  • CORNEJO: You find significant amount of silica

  • or silicon sources from things like wheat, rice husks...

  • ROBERTSON: Once the food waste is reduced to minerals,

  • Cornejo mixes the ingredients for glass

  • and super heats them in a ceramic crucible.

  • The process isn't ready for industrial scale,

  • but in the lab Cornejo can make glass with more

  • clarity and purity than most sold on the market today.

  • It may seem far-fetched but Cornejo says it could

  • be that kind of innovation that

  • inspires the next generation.

  • KIDS: We went to the Colorado School of Mines

  • to visit a professors called Doctor Cornejo and

  • he takes these food waste and turns them into glass.

  • And so we're helping him out by collecting these for him.

  • CORNEJO: The new generation has a much

  • better philosophy on sustainability than we had.

  • When I was a kid, sustainability was not an issue.

  • They find this like a kind of very weird thing

  • but yet they find this very easy to understand

  • I think this could be the spark that is

  • needed to revitalize the glass science

  • and the ceramic science in this country.

  • ROBERTSON: Whether it's composting or mining for minerals,

  • Cornejo says he's looking forward to the day

  • when repurposing food waste is second nature.

  • GERLOCK: Cutting back on food waste

  • means changing people's habits.

  • That's one thing they've learned at the

  • University of Iowa Hospitals where they serve

  • an average of 10 thousand meals per day.

  • Food scraps and compostable packages are separated

  • and sent to the city compost pile.

  • Leftovers are shared with a local food bank.

  • It's working, but it takes extra time and effort.

  • LAURIE KROYMANN: It's like saying you want to eat healthy.

  • It takes extra work.

  • It takes some thought.

  • It takes some planning.

  • Same thing with reducing food waste.

  • You know, not choosing more than you can eat.

  • Bringing your products back down to compost them.

  • It's just a daily habit.

  • I think people want to do it, most people do it.

  • The other people are working on it.

  • GERLOCK: If a hospital can change the way it thinks

  • about food, maybe it's possible to make changes

  • closer to home.

  • One family is taking a new look at what they eat

  • and what they throw away.

  • SHERRI ERKEL: "Now, you want to dump in the beans?"

  • GERLOCK: The Erkel family does a lot of cooking at home.

  • They try to be careful about what they eat.

  • But, they also watch what they don't eat.

  • SHERRI ERKEL: My name is Sherri Erkel.

  • My husband Kyle.

  • Our daughter Asa, she's five and a half,

  • she'll be starting Kindergarten.

  • We live with Kyle's parents, Pat and Joyce Erkel.

  • GERLOCK: The Erkels are food waste guinea pigs.

  • They're one of around 50 families recruited

  • to measure food waste.

  • It's part of a study being done by Iowa City's

  • recycling department with the

  • Environmental Protection Agency.

  • Recently each of the families added a new gadget

  • in the kitchen to track how much food they throw away.

  • Sherri Erkel has a special name for it.

  • The green bucket of judgement.

  • SHERRI ERKEL: Every single thing that is

  • anything that had to do with food or could be food

  • so even like bones, everything,

  • because you're putting in edible and non-edible

  • and you throw it in the bucket.

  • Then at the end of the week you have to weigh it

  • and so we have a, you take your scale...

  • GERLOCK: Estimates vary, but the average American family

  • tosses out anywhere from 15 to 25 percent

  • of the food they buy.

  • That adds up to around 1500 to 2500 dollars per year

  • based on what the average family of four spends on food.

  • SHERRI ERKEL: So that's just food on our plate we didn't eat.

  • So we've thrown away 4 pounds of food in 2 days.

  • So.

  • Judgement.

  • (Laughs)

  • JANE WILCH: They're seeing it pile up.

  • They're seeing it collect.

  • And at the end of the week seeing how much

  • they actually produced.

  • ROBERTSON: Jane Wilch is leading the study in Iowa City.

  • She says it's eye-opening for families

  • to actually see what they've thrown away.

  • WILCH: So I think that's a good mechanism to

  • bring about that consciousness about food waste.

  • Because they're seeing themselves produce it

  • which I don't think that existed prior to this.

  • GERLOCK: At the end of the study the families will

  • turn in data showing how much food went unused.

  • In the meantime, they're looking for ways to cut back

  • on what goes in the bucket.

  • A few basic tips can help anyone reduce food waste.

  • Plan out what you're going to eat.

  • Make a shopping list and stick to it.

  • Use the food you bring home.

  • And eat your oldest food first.

  • The Erkels now plan every meal in advance.

  • It's on a calendar for everyone to see.

  • To stay on schedule, they prepare food ahead of time

  • and use the freezer to store meals for the week.

  • SHERRI ERKEL: Kyle grilled a bunch of meat on Sunday for the week.

  • So, we put it in the freezer

  • and then we just pulled it out today.

  • We're going to make fajitas tonight.

  • Peppers we freeze too

  • because otherwise we forget about them,

  • and they get rotten in the middle.

  • So we just chop up a bunch at once

  • and use them for everything.

  • GERLOCK: There's also a special spot in the fridge

  • for food that's about to go bad and needs to be eaten.

  • SHERRI ERKEL: I boiled some eggs to eat,

  • cause those are quick protein, for like on your way to work.

  • And last night we didn't eat all of our broccoli,

  • Asa didn't eat all her broccoli

  • so we put it here, but instead of a like in a container where I

  • can't see it, where it will get shoved to the back,

  • I put it in open and so its down there so I know I can put it

  • in my lunch tomorrow because I don't want it to go to waste.

  • GERLOCK: For food to last as long as possible in the refrigerator,

  • learn about the labels you see at the grocery store.

  • Confusion about labels is one reason

  • food ends up in the garbage.

  • When you see a date on a food container,

  • you might think of it as a deadline.

  • But food scientist Harshavardhan Thippareddi

  • says best by, use by, and sell by dates

  • are added voluntarily by food processors.

  • They estimate a food's shelf life, that is,

  • how long the lettuce will be crisp

  • or how long before the milk begins to sour.

  • HARSHAVARDHAN THIPPAREDDI: The producers put that label

  • on there to provide the best eating experience

  • for that product, not because of safety issues

  • beyond that time period.

  • GERLOCK: Many people think the dates show how long

  • the food is safe to eat and throw out good food

  • just to be on the safe side.

  • But Thippareddi says only one food is required by

  • law to carry a date for safety.

  • Baby formula.

  • Otherwise, if you're happy with how food tastes,

  • Thippareddi says you shouldn't throw it out

  • just because of the date on the package.

  • The old saying - when it doubt throw it out -

  • can be wasteful advice.

  • THIPPAREDDI: If you know how you refrigerated

  • the product or kept the product,

  • you can use it for until that time period

  • or maybe beyond that time period because all those use by,

  • sell by dates are for shelf life not for safety.

  • GERLOCK: What it all boils down to is buying what you

  • need and eating what you buy.

  • It may be new advice for recent generations.

  • But it used to be part of the culture.

  • Even part of the war effort during both world wars.

  • Joyce Erkel was born during the Great Depression.

  • She says saving food was part of growing up.

  • JOYCE ERKEL: Well, when I was a kid you recycled.

  • And you know your parents didn't throw away anything.

  • Your coffee grounds went in the yard to help with worms,

  • you know, if you wanted to go fishing.

  • SHERRI ERKEL: We really learned a lot from his parents

  • and another thing they do.

  • Like Joyce always eats with a smaller plate,

  • so like you know you're going to fill whatever plate you

  • have so using a smaller plate you're less likely to waste.

  • JOYCE ERKEL: I never throw away food.

  • Never.

  • If I have corn and green beans or peas

  • I keep it and use it in a soup.

  • It's just a habit, you know.

  • And it's a good habit.

  • GERLOCK: And when it comes to food, it pays to have

  • good habits because wasted food is really wasted money.

  • (Plates being scraped)

  • GERLOCK: Food waste is piling up.

  • Millions of tons go into our landfills

  • and put off harmful greenhouse gases.

  • But more people are looking for ways

  • to take a bite out of the problem.

  • DAN NICKEY: It's not a waste if we find a

  • responsible alternative method for its use.

  • GAIL TAVILL: If it's being diverted to animal feed

  • or composting or some other higher value than landfill,

  • it's really not being wasted anymore.

  • GERLOCK: Rather than go to waste,

  • food could become a kind of natural resource.

  • Leftover food could be mined for minerals or

  • added back to the soil it came from.

  • JACOB HICKEY: The greener idea is coming around

  • so we believe that we're going to get a lot more

  • companies that are wanting to send their

  • stuff to the compost site rather than to the landfill

  • GERLOCK: Even though farmers are growing more food,

  • we're also throwing more away,

  • while millions in the United States go hungry.

  • LISA OUSLEY: Waste is recognized in the produce industry

  • as part of the business.

  • While there is going to be some waste,

  • we can help prevent a lot of that waste.

  • Why waste perfectly good food just

  • because no one wants to bend over and pick it up.

  • GERLOCK: Too much food that families buy

  • ends up in the garbage.

  • Making the most of food at home cuts back on waste

  • and perhaps even grocery bills.

  • SHERRI ERKEL: Planning your menus,

  • prepping more food at home ahead of time,

  • the more you take care of your food on the front end,

  • the less you'll be likely to waste it.

  • NICOLE CIVITA: It's in part getting people to

  • find the love for the leftovers.

  • And that there's a difference between food

  • that maybe looks a little shabby and food that's unsafe.

  • GERLOCK: In the end, food is worth too much

  • to just toss it out.

  • And the more people realize that,

  • the less it will go to waste.

  • MUSIC

  • Captions by Finke/NET Television, copyright 2014

  • MUSIC

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