John Oliver walks us through the details
John Oliver has a knack for explaining things, and this week he does a great job deconstructing the mind-blowing problem of the sheer volume of food being wasted in America every day.
Considering there are 50 million Americans living in "food-insecure" households (meaning they are not sure where their next meal will come from, and/or are having to skip meals due to lack of money), it's nothing short of shocking to see the huge volume of food that grocery stores and farmers waste every day.
There are a lot of factors involved in this waste. Our insistence, as citizens, on eating only the prettiest fruits and vegetables is certainly a big factor. Farmers can only afford to pick and transport the best-looking crops. Food which is sub-par in appearance is often just left on the ground to rot, because if it gets a lower grade (again, due to appearance), it can't be sold for enough money to balance out the cost to produce it.
Another is the bizarre, complicated, and almost entirely arbitrary system of food expiration dates. These dates are set by the manufacturer, and are generally meaningless. However, stores can't keep food that's past date on their shelves because no one will buy it, so they have to throw it out.
And finally, the reason why these foods are thrown away instead of being donated to food banks: a complicated (and again, almost entirely arbitrary) set of politics which has gutted the tax benefits of food donation. (Many businesses are also worried about their legal liability if they donate fresh food, but this turns out to be the business version of an urban legend.)