Waste

The world faces a significant challenge with food—whether it's due to shortages, erratic pricing, or the fact that nearly a billion people are hungry globally. Despite this, staggering amounts of food are wasted in North America and Europe, with farmers, manufacturers, supermarkets, and consumers discarding up to half of it. This discarded food could potentially feed the world's hungry multiple times over. Meanwhile, forests are felled, and almost ten percent of Western greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to producing food that is never consumed. Wealthy nations waste food largely due to negligence, whereas, in parts of the developing world, crops spoil because farmers lack the resources to process, store, and transport them. However, there are potential solutions to this urgent environmental and social dilemma, solutions that might be less difficult to implement than we think. In his exploration, Stuart takes us from Yorkshire to various parts of Asia and meets with individuals ranging from foraging pigs to modern food industry leaders, witnessing both shocking wastefulness and innovative solutions. Through this journey, he showcases both the problem and the actions being taken to address it. "Waste" draws on thorough investigations and compelling new information to illustrate how our current lifestyles have triggered a global food crisis and what measures can be taken to resolve it.