Food Waste: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Producers, sellers, and consumers waste tons of food. John Oliver discusses the shocking amount of food we don’t eat.
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[@JosephSperrazza]

When my wife was dying, we had no money. I picked up a night-shift job stocking shelves at a Safeway. Every shift, piles of food to be discarded was stacked up all over the back. We couldn't take any of it. Nor was any donated. It was just thrown away. The feeling of working an overnight shift with no sleep and an empty stomach, surrounded by food to be thrown out that you couldn't touch, can't be accurately described. It was a combination of shame and anger.

[@Strangelic]

+Joseph Sperrazza The next time I think that I am having a shitty working day I will remember this post. Thank you for sharing. I hope your life has become less of a nightmare since then.

[@johntitor7989]

Lel

[@yosephjackson6060]

+Joseph Sperrazza that's terrible

[@JosephSperrazza]

+Strangelic Things are better, thanks. I think I was always supportive of the less fortunate. My experience has made me more so. I'm fortunate to have a job these days that, as one part of it, allows me to hire and train a lot of people. It is very satisfying.

[@danielgehring7437]

+Joseph Sperrazza Been there, man. :( The worst was knowing that the only reason you couldn't eat any of the garbage was because the boss thought you might throw it out specifically to eat it... which made no sense when we were already throwing away a dumpster full of food every goddamn night.

[@Baamthe25th]

Here in France, Supermarkets are now obliged to give unsold food to charity.

[@melanie5416]

SpyMonkey3D Didn't France recently add a section in their food markets with the less appealing looking (but perfectly usable) food at a reduced price to reduce waste?

[@roboticrebel8153]

Melanie Baker i dont know about france but in UKRAINE they did that ages ago

[@celoniejuge]

Melanie Baker Yes, the association is called "Les gueules cassées" which could be translated as "the smashed faces / the ugly mugs" or something like that. (www.lesgueulescassees.org/ website in French)

[@Blagno4]

SpyMonkey3D I didn't know that, I just checked and yes you're right! It's making me so happy. To say they just bleach'ed the food..

[@gery49]

SpyMonkey3D It should be like this everywhere in europe. At least it shouldn't be outlawed (like in my country as far as I know). If the logistics is a problem we could organise charities who collect and distribute. An even crazyer idea: the spoiled food should be used to produce biogas and compost.

[@Pandemonium72]

I was dirt poor, worked at a mini mart, and used to take home salads and sandwiches that were to be thrown out. A coworker ratted me out to management, and the next day they started a community food donation program.

[@maramehughes6661]

Hi I’m doing research on food waste can I use your comment as a verbal citation? And could you tell me what organizations you donated the food too?

[@melneth3119]

I wish all stores were like that at IGA the manager chases homeless dumpster divers with a rake. Some people just hate the poor.

[@ChaseVaccaro-ge3gk]

That coworker sounds evil, but that mini mart sounds nice.

[@dreaminginjapan]

I’m glad it was a happy ending! I was about to get pissed that you got fired or something

[@samk7717]

“Getting sued by high powered lawyers representing the hungry” this is that most American thing ever

[@j.fruhling3061]

You mean in the way that this would never happen in a nation, that massively underepresents poor people before the law (not speaking of the law itself...)?

[@leonardpearlman4017]

Well, aside from a supermodel eating the superburger (and so on) ! Which seems like something that wouldn't ever actually happen, if our ideas about supermodels are correct.

[@darkinstinctful123]

This british man is gonna fix america. Top 3 list of things I never thought I would say.

[@3rdGenGuy]

Los Blancos they need to fix their own problems lol.

[@LividImp]

Los Blancos That's cute. I don't think you know how resistant to fixing we are. None, America is going down and we're taking all of you with us.

[@3rdGenGuy]

Livid Imp going down ? The US has the world's biggest and most profitable economy.

[@poohnja]

Los Blancos he is a US citizen.

[@someguy7992]

SANIC Lol if only that was true.

[@tSp289]

I've watched a bunch of these now. Isn't it a little alarming to find out some of the most cutting journalism in the country comes from a foreign comedian, and not a serious news channel?

[@luaysulaiman3912]

+tSp289 What's even more alarming is how screwed humanity is. Really depressing watching human beings screw over one another just to accumulate what I'm sure will just be an increasing number at a bank. There is no moral excuse that can allow some people to just keep on accumulating money to the point that anymore of it renders absolutely useless while other people, who just happen to be unfortunate, work all day long and yet are still not able to afford their daily necessities. Feels like we've reached a point of no return.

[@earthbind83]

+Luay Sulaiman Absolutely true. We need a system of flowing money, i.e. a system where money automatically loses value over time (like the Austrian town "Wörgl" did). Those are fees that can't be avoided, because you either pay them or your bills become entirely worthless. Therefore it would be wise to transfer various other taxes into that fee. This way, money would become a mere tool for exchanging goods and services again. Hoarding can be done with gold, silver, houses, stocks or whatever, but money must stay on the market, because if nobody can pay each other, then unemployment rises even though it shouldn't need to.

[@earthbind83]

HardcoreSolo Well, in my experience that's what most people believe when I tell them about flowing money for the first time, but inflation is entirely different, because it is important where the money flows to. Inflation flows money to the banks, because they are the ones who keep creating money out of thin air, increasing the total amount of money existing, thus causing inflation. Flowing money flows to the government directly as taxes, who can then reinvest it. The total amount of money remains unchanged. Inflation and flowing money are completely different. The former destroys people, the latter prevents unnecessary unemployment. All countries who are in debt have a problem with people hoarding money. And I don't mean honest workers who put their well-earned pennies to the side for when they might need it,

[@earthbind83]

HardcoreSolo Flowing money was a pretty direct translation from a German term This is flowing money: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demurrage_(currency) Hoarding = Saving up WAY more than you're ever going to need. Politicians waste money because if they don't then they get bribed, blackmailed or killed. And the people have to pay the debts the politicians were forced made. Banks loan money to the government and take interest for it, so it's the banks who control the government and not the other way round. But that's an entirely different story.

[@DjJooze]

It always takes someone different to see through the Bullshit just like some immigrants stay off debt

[@alaylaburkhart5940]

I grew up in a food-insecure household and knowing the amount of food the US wastes makes me genually angry. There were WEEKS where all we ate was beans because that was the cheapest thing we could afford, and things like milk and meat were luxuries that my sister and I could only get at school. Thankfully, were in a better living situation but stuff like this really nails home how much the US hates the poor for being poor and it isn't right.

[@ashleymcgee3536]

Having been in poverty and experiencing food insecurity at least once, it does more than bring you to tears. It is traumatizing. Having gone through poverty brain twice, I now have a disordered relationship with food that I have to work on healing every day. I actually started binge eating out of fear that there wouldn’t be enough food. Now that I have food (and we haven’t had food insecurity in four years), I am desperate to hoard it and eat as much as I can. It causes body image issues and hoarding tendencies. Food insecurity has long-term ramifications and having access to whole unprocessed foods during food insecurity is vital to preventing this. But as a country, no one cares.

[@fuldagermany]

What may be considered not acceptable visually as far as fruits and vegetables are concerned can be made into frozen fruits and vegetable. Once they are cleaned and cut up, if they taste good, what they looked like prior makes no difference. Soups can be made from a lot of the vegetables, etc. To just let it sit and rot is a sin. In addition, there are a lot of poor in the world who would love to get this food. There must be a way to make things better for everyone.

[@fuldagermany]

Very wise woman, your mom. Waste is a shame and to be avoided as much as possible. Also, I have found that not buying too much at at a time helps. If one has too much and does not get around to using it while it is in good shape, then one can freeze a lot of stuff and use it in soups, vegetable and fruit blends, stews, etc. I have kale, watermelon, bananas and other fruits and veg in bags to use.

[@fuldagermany]

I feel that is a great idea and they could get volunteers to sort things out in order for that to happen. In particular, seniors who need to be doing something and being of service is healthy, people who run soup kitchens, various churches might have folks interested in doing this type of thing. There are resources, if one bothers to really look. Once the stores had an organized way to get it done and the volunteers to do the work, it would run automatically without the store having to invest much time. It could be a win/win for everyone. Just a thought. Hugs.

[@duncaneigg8819]

Ok let's go with ur plan: but what would be the incentives for volunteers (cuz not enough ppl care enough or there are better volunteer options)? I say when this becomes effective to also add scholarships for volunteering in this effort. To get America to care about volunteering, the job has to be moral, easy, and rewarding. Rewarding shouldn't be part of volunteering but it is, especially for teenagers. That's my two cents.

[@duncaneigg8819]

Jessie SX Exactly, it's a win-win for everyone! The colleges get to see if their applicants are hard working and care about the world they live in, and the students are rewarded with Education that will determine their entire life! Also the markets like you said would look like the good guys, and that creates more incentive to volunteer there! Thnx for agreeing with me!

[@PanicbyExample]

Duncan Eigg i think it's a 'false fear' that people wouldn't contribute to volunteer work... i think the volunteer infrastructure is just so shoddy that people contribute energy through being coerced which brings the wrong people then they aren't really encouraged or challenged while they're there so the process wilters if a self-sustaining process could be put in place i think it would take out a lot of middle-man overhead, that is really what government should be (defeats the point if you get paid too much) : www.volunteermatch.org/ is a good site for volunteer work

[@rabidrabbitshuggers]

This is why so many middle-class people in NYC dumpster-dive.

[@bobbyferg9173]

I honestly don't understand why people like to live in New York so much

[@rabidrabbitshuggers]

Randy Williams Freegans--THAT'S the term I was looking for!

[@athenasrevenge93]

+Bobby Ferg The suburbs aren't so bad.

[@DjJooze]

Suburbs $

[@lonestar98]

do people out there actually eat out of the trash?

[@CrystallynRose]

I just love how the burger was so big that they very badly CGI'd the model "eating" it. Look closely...like what she did was impossible.

[@Widdekuu91]

Yes, she bit behind it, conveniently covering her teeth. Opening your mouth wide enough to bite a gigantic burger, would make your mouth look like a hyena's.

[@3ffinawesome459]

I had to see it again. Too true!

[@giggabiite4417]

that's terrifying lol

[@DavidAbyssal]

Absurdly CGI'ed...horrific...

[@GlennDavey]

I remember this episode well, because my housemates at the time were "dumpster-divers" - people who make use of the perfectly fine "unsaleable" food left out by supermarkets - and it helped me be okay with eating the meals they cooked.

[@BigEZ95]

ALL HAIL JOHN OLIVER AND HIS INCREDIBLE SINGING ABILITY!

[@brandonjoseph4567]

Kerry Wichterich Also his spider fingers

[@BigEZ95]

Brandon Joseph We already hailed his spider fingers. Now hail his majestic voice damn it.

[@crazyluigi6664]

Kerry Wichterich We definitely need to have more veggies in our diets, especially things like that spinach that was there in the first place!

[@foxwolf4608]

Kerry Wichterich And his raccoon imitation

[@bobjobs6461]

Crazy Luigi dame

[@Nooooooooooooooooooooo7913]

I love this man soo much

[@LordMephistoteles]

noooooooooooooooooo i wanna hump him too

[@adrianbulfon8430]

noooooooooooooooooo Hes too good. Only one to hold a candle to Jon Stewart

[@control5744]

noooooooooooooooooo ok

[@EvilLuisito]

noooooooooooooooooo He's not gay so you'll never get to feel his penis inside of you.

[@Nooooooooooooooooooooo7913]

zak15557 I'm a female hun :)

[@nickbarnes685]

Everyone: "Guys, we gotta donate food to feed the hungry!" USA: "lol can't hear you over the sound of my c a p i t a l i s m"

[@sabin97]

in puerto rico(at least within my family and now that i live appart, my neighbours also do it) we have a sort of tradition/custom.....whenever you harvest something, you ALWAYS give some to everyone else. last time i picked like 4 breadfrutis. i gave one to my parents, one to a relative and one to a neighbour. not sold. given. when i harvest a bunch of bananas i cut it in part and distribute it among relatives and friends. and they do the same for me. so we all always eat fresh fruit and vegetable. we do the same with seeds as well. if you find a really nice plant, when you have enough seeds you give(not sold, but given) some to everyone, so they can also grow whatever it is you're growing.

[@scoobertmcruppert2915]

@@sabin97 COmMUnIsT!!! Not in my Merica brother!

[@Silhouex]

@@scoobertmcruppert2915 Ahh yes, America. Where being poor is punishable by death. "What's that patient? You have a tumor but your health insurance won't cover it? ..Get..out..."

[@sabin97]

@@cgore4 it is best to be compassionate and NOT have hungrier people. in a fair system there's no reason for anyone to be hungry. capitalism only feeds the rich. the poor are fed by socialist policies like welfare.

[@sabin97]

@@Silhouex i appreciate the sentiment. but i suspect he was joking by the way he capitalized "communist". it seems like he was mocking the people who defend the savage form of capitalism they practice in usa.

[@dholocronkeeper]

my mom grew up poor, so it was instilled into me from a young age to not waste any food, no matter what. i'm glad to see john covering it

[@someguy2135]

My folks grew up during the Depression. They taught me the same thing.

[@darthjekyll3648]

Me 3 auntie taught me this. I never lost this.

[@hannahmtaylor95]

I love John Oliver's videos but each one throws me into a crisis and makes me feel like I need to dedicate my life's work to solving that issue 😅

[@avalon629h]

I know, right?!

[@Chloe-dv9ns]

Couldn't have described the feeling better myself haha

[@nooberNXC]

I'm already planning my presidency campaign for 2024 (the first election year I can legally be elected president.)

[@StardustLegend]

I mean, we probably should, but holy shit he's throwing so many issues at us XD WHICH ONE DO WE FOCUS ON

[@LucidOne8]

lol good luck

[@thatindiandude4602]

the only thing I have to say is, WOW.

[@knidrew]

Anil Nair I concur.

[@thatindiandude4602]

knidrew The crazy thing is, people fight wars over food :(

[@mattmopar440]

Anil Nair I hate to say it but I do throw out a ton of food I live by myself and dairy products just dont lost very long

[@mattmopar440]

***** everything is In bulk in this country it seems

[@thatindiandude4602]

mattmopar440 Same here. I think I will make more of an effort to reduce waste.

[@bornbredbermudian7643]

When I saw those peaches it pained me so much. After the last hurricane here there were so many oranges, lemons/limes and avocados fallen from their trees. Neighbors who didn't want the fruits allowed others to collect them. They weren't "perfect" looking either.

[@silverXnoise]

I’d much prefer they go to people who are in need of food, that’s clearly the best option in this case, but one thing they didn’t consider is leaving the peaches on the ground at least puts those nutrients and water resources back into the soil, which will beneift the trees and local fauna rather than having a grocery store throw it into a dumpster and sending it to a landfill.

[@jaysleeper264]

Something to keep in mind, most fruit on a tree (especially with stone fruit) will not all ripen on the same day, at the same time. Stone fruit may ripen on a single tree over the course of 2-3 weeks from earliest piece of fruit to last piece of fruit. This gives growers a 10ish day window with optimal fruit maturity. It is costly to send labor through the field and is usually only profitable for 1-2 pickings in that 10-day window. Because of that, growers attempt to pick at the optimal times when the most fruit can be harvested and make it to market. This means the earliest ripening fruit is too ripe to process and must be discarded if it hasn't already fallen naturally from the tree.

[@gaamesso8002]

I live in Sweden, and over here I've noticed that some brands have changed the labels from "Best used before" to "Best used before, but often good after".

[@Onigirli]

Nice

[@KaosEngel]

Many in Norway have started doing the same.

[@acommonman7950]

America, where you're either obese or starving.

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

This is America. There is no in between.

[@roncur]

that's reflects the wealth gap. you're either really rich or really poor.

[@roncur]

that's reflects the wealth gap. you're either really rich or really poor.

[@jriddleeleven]

Right? Me and my fiancee both work full time with a baby on the way. Not poor enough to get foodstamps and not rich enough to rent an apartment with more than one bedroom. and every single person i work with is in the same situation. Except the dude who owns the company. Its pathetic.

[@sickal2365]

It's actually less simple than that. Poor people, particularly children, tend to have higher obesity rates. This is because healthy food is expensive. You can get fast food meal for 3-5$, but to get an actual meal it costs 5-10$ per person. Poor parents are also more likely to have to spend more time out of the house, for various reasons but mostly work, which makes it a lot easier to pick up a quick meal. What tips the odds possibly the most is that children like tasty drinks. In order to fill this need parents often buy cheap soda instead of juice, or milk. All this together actually makes poor people more likely to be obese, and starving. Not exactly a happy message.

[@EdGreshko]

John Oliver, the only comedian that can make me laugh and leave me depressed at the same time.

[@LuqaS15]

Ed Greshko That's the best kind of comedy!

[@BadBonsai]

Ed Greshko we have someone like that in germany too.. theres even an video with english subtitles if u have an hour.. Its called "Volker pispers - History of USA and Terrorism". The effect of him is pretty close to John Oliver.. at least to me. I dont know if u have in english an special word for those kind of comedy... ins "Political kabaret" in germany...

[@LividImp]

Ed Greshko Try some Doug Stanhope

[@FluppiLP]

BadBonsai Ja, das macht Kabaret jedes mal mit mir, speziell von Volker Pispers :D Ich weiß nie ob ich lachen oder weinen soll :D Praise satire as a mean of criticism in today's world. Never loose your critical thinking

[@EdGreshko]

BadBonsai and Livid Imp , thanks I'll give them a try!

[@christophermills9289]

My household after seeing this 5 years ago made efforts to cut back on food waste. It has saved us money and we eat healthier. We should acquire unsold food to go to charity as some sort of tax break.

[@kpof5567]

I once had some business dealings with a 5 star hotels and daily they would throw out carts of beautiful expensive cakes that they couldn't sell. A cleaner (low income) there once told me that he couldn't stand the waste and brought home a couple of cakes himself, it was perfectly fine and absolutely delicious. The next day he received a notice from management saying that if he did it again, he would he terminated. When he questioned about it, they said that the cakes were already *one day old* and could cause someone to be sick, they simply don't want to be sued.

[@BobBob-of7fg]

"hold on John, what if I'm an asshole who couldn't give a shit about America's hungry families or the long term viability of life on earth"Mr. Trump thank you for watchingI died laughing there

[@HexIsme]

+Kevin De Souza I went "Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiit :O :D :O :D"

[@StardustLegend]

+Kevin De Souza I bet one of the dislikes is trump himself X3

[@joejohnson5542]

+Kevin De Souza It is probably the funniest quote from the sketch...

[@olivialim7541]

this was in 2015 even before the race. now it's 2017 and... he's president which makes it so ironic

[@Pecisk]

It was like everybody knew what Trump was before even he was candidate...but elected him anyway, because woman.

[@alexblom9745]

@LastWeekTonight, You should do a show where you look back at all the issues you have raised and whether anything major has changed, for the good or bad!

[@QGR]

For the record, the small business food donation credit was made permanent a few months after this aired as a part of Pub. L. 114-113

[@gettintherejanice6216]

a company started up called imperfect produce was started and it recently has expanded into other foods and is called imperfect foods an covers a lot more of the united states I would say around half geographicly it looks like some of the large areas that are not covered are areas that are less densly populated which makes since. in my area the food is collected from stores to food banks sorted by volenteers and redistributed they have a chart for how long after the date for each type product and a third of all food by wieght that goes out to families in need is from store donations for perspective 4% is from food drives. what is unfit for human consumption is feed gathered for pig farmers except meat which goes to a cat sanctuary. I live in oregon and we are not necessarly tipical of other places around the country and I am not even saying all counties have this type of set up

[@milascave2]

@@gettintherejanice6216 There is something where I live called "Ugly food" which sells cheap boxes of good but aesthetically displeasing food I kept meaning to look into it, but have not.

[@dalittodtfeld2935]

Alex Blom yes I want to watch that please

[@bunzeebear2973]

@@milascave2 Here is the thing, though. Produce comes perfect or less than perfect(ugly) The store prices it ALL THE SAME, not giving a lower price discount for the (ugly) food. So which are you going to choose? The undamaged food of course because you can buy it and stuff it in the fridge and forget about it for a week. If it is slightly damaged then you got to eat it that day because it is still perfectly edible. It just can't be stored(as easily) to eat later.[there are ways to do it that involves working in the kitchen to prep it] which means cutting out the bruise injury and then cutting the peach into slices and put in a bowl(or WORK)] If the damaged or ugly fruit was sold for cheaper IT WOULD BE SOLD.

[@bent6293]

I've been drinking milk WAAAYYY past the "sell by" date for years. Not once have I had a problem. If it smells bad or is chunky, I don't drink it. People think I'm crazy that I trust my nose more than some stamp on the carton that's half worn off by the time it reaches the supermarket's shelves. As Toucan Sam used to say: "Follow Your Nose!"

[@bobsilver3983]

Thats what I always say....open it up...if it smells funny...toss it!

[@salvagemonster3612]

Ohhh good for you! Your trophy is in the mail

[@Onigirli]

Baka... milk can rot without it becoming stinky-dinky or chunky. (Not to defend the false early expiry dates, of course)

[@darthjekyll3648]

I make 🧀 instead.

[@steveconrad1525]

Having lived in a homeless shelter I can say we heard that same excuse (If we give it to you we can be sued)by many an organization. Quick Trip did donate a truck load of sandwiches to the homeless shelters but they were one of the few that would donate food. Groups that feed the homeless on the streets also often admit to being afraid they'd be sued (groups tell these folks they can be sued for giving food to the homeless). I have hear stores say they throw it away out of the same fear (and I have met dumpster divers who will gladly claim that same food as they know it is perfectly good). Harvesters used to get the food that was left over after Kansas City Chiefs games but one person supposedly got sick and suddenly Harvesters stopped picking up the food (all of it was already cooked and consisted of hamburgers, hot dogs, foot long hot dogs and brats with the occasional chicken tenders tossed in. No fries, no popcorn, no buns unless they asked for them). All the food was taken immediately to their nearby warehouse and frozen that night. Nowadays not even stadium workers are allowed to take the food home, it all goes into the trash (well, Kauffman Stadium, home of the KC Royals is a bit looser on employees taking stuff home). Bartle Hall (part of the KC Convention Center) also throws away a lot of food from their concession stands. I am disgusted at how much food is thrown away especially knowing that many of those same workers could use that food.

[@lisahenry20]

To be fair, for some things I understand that it has to be thrown. I remember seeing a news story where apple juice got contaminated because the fruit used was picked from the ground and got exposed to animal feces (I think specifically deer feces), so for some products you have to be careful. Similarly, there's a makeup store which destroys returned products if it's been used before throwing it out, because the customer who returned it has used it, however makeup isn't a necessity and the stores should improve their return policy so customers don't buy something knowing they can return it if they use it and don't like it. However for items that can be sold to customers but weren't and won't last for the next day should 100% be donated or let employees take it

[@salvagemonster3612]

Then thank a lawyer for the problem

[@umasubramanian2683]

The amount of research that goes into his program is amazing.

[@rubaiyatdunno482]

@kie arnab goswami

[@hadesdrums4634]

That is British satire. They know their shit. Look at Black Mirror too. Yes, it is a graphic and sometimes ridiculous show, but it makes sense.

[@katanah3195]

@@hadesdrums4634 I really don't like the Brits. But damn do they do comedy right. Especially burning and criticizing the yanks.

[@AnickaSR]

As serious journalism should do.

[@fahmidarose5389]

In Germany, many cities have a "Tafel". That's an operation that collects food (that would otherwise be thrown away) from shops and restaurants and redistributes it to the poor. People who "qualify" (living on social security, small pension etc.) can register and once a week shop at the Tafel. One shopping bag full of food costs something like one Euro afaik. More should be done about food waste, but that is definitely a good step. And there were even some marketing campaigns by supermarkets for the imperfect fruit and veg. I believe that was done because of harvest shortages, but hopefully it raised awareness as well.

[@o.t.d_ody_the_dreamer]

Who else is on a John Oliver/Last Week Tonight binge watching spree? These videos are very informative.

[@ionlymadethistoleavecoment1723]

Ashani Francis I am

[@matthew_natividad]

how my 2016 summer went

[@jhonquinonestovar4537]

I just sit at work and let the playlist go on. I just need to listen to it. very informative.

[@teaja211]

actually its not that informative. but its super funny and it actually tells truth and touches real problems which is nice.

[@o.t.d_ody_the_dreamer]

tiesiog ba Say what these videos are hella informative. I do t watch the news much or read the paper as much. And Ive learned a good deal of things form these videos.

[@NightridewithNikki]

I work at Panera Bread and every night we donate our breads, bagels and bakery items to various local charities in each area, we also donate food to different organizations.

[@salvagemonster3612]

Yep bread is different than produce

[@bonnylark]

My parents were Senior Gleaners in the 80s. They picked up discarded produce in the fields after the harvest was finished and donated the food to food banks.

[@doricetimko332]

Gleaning should be promoted n welcomed more on all sides

[@cooldude333]

For millennia, humanity struggle to produce enough food for basic survival. Now we waste so much we can fill stadiums. Dang.

[@iluvanimegurl1]

And yet people still struggle for food.

[@851852093114208513]

To be fair, that's the fault of organizations like Green Peace that go to nations struggling to provide food for their citizens, like Zimbabwe, and telling those governments that the food donations they're about to get are evil mutant GMOs that will give them the gay cancer and that they should turn the food down and starve to death instead.

[@Bobelponge123]

Go back to watching CNN fake news

[@idakongensy6355]

and yet, there are millions dying from hunger every year :) f*ck the system

[@Tick421]

"Dog balls are delicious" ~John Oliver

[@jellybeans3970]

Ew

[@snuffywuffykiss1522]

+Joey Scoggins According to my 3 boys, this is true.

[@kimberlyyeokahyii]

I'd like your comment but you have a perfect 100 likes so ya

[@lucasren3605]

Now you have 105 likes.

[@blatant-One]

I hope you never experience poverty.

[@jasmine-ruff-puff9951]

Retail CEOs: It's too dangerous to donate this food to starving people. Also retail CEOs: No you can't have a mask while serving hundreds of people during a global pandemic, that would be silly!

[@freedapeeple4049]

It's not the retail CEOs, it's the insurance companies that don't allow it to be given away.

[@someguy2135]

Remember the meat packing employees in the early days of the pandemic who were forced to stay on the job despite the plants being super spreaders? Be sure to watch John's video about the meat packing industry. Boycott meat!

[@kaitlynfritz1800]

When i worked for panera in college, any baked item that wasnt sold was packed up and given to various organizations that help the hungry. Each org had their own night to come pick it up. It was a small way they gave back and reduced a lot of food waste. Thats the only food company ive ever worked for or heard of that does something like that

[@darthjekyll3648]

My kingdom hall had that.

[@gingerjodie7007]

Here in the Netherlands we have something called "misfits" and it's basically fruit or vegetables that don't live up to the aesthetic standards, they're sold for a cheaper price in some supermarkets.

[@TheMrsannabel]

Ginger Jodie but still the large supermarket chains (in the Netherlands) throw away large portions of biologically produced vegetables, because they are obligated to sell them and people just don’t want them.

[@dananskidolf]

@@TheMrsannabel "Biologically produced vegetables" as opposed to.. magically conjured vegetables? And they throw them away "because they are obligated to sell them"?

[@TheMrsannabel]

dananskidolf hahaha maybe that’s a Dutch thing. No I meant with biologically produced without pesticides or GM. In the Netherlands it is mandatory for supermarkets to have a specific amount of those vegetables. But you can imagine that in discount stores people are not likely to buy them. So most of them are thrown away.

[@dananskidolf]

@@TheMrsannabelAhh I see.. It's rather odd to force availability of 'biological' products (English is organic which is no less confusing) people don't want.

[@tree427]

Shut up chris

[@meghasharmaJ1]

Watching this and thinking about our Indian households. Food doesn't go waste here. Indian moms won't buy and cook more food than needed and if for some reason they cook more than consumed, they will make you eat leftovers till eternity or till they are over -Whichever happens first :D

[@alienkishorekumar]

You are painfully wrong. India does have bad waste and food management, instead of households it's the storage areas where the food goes to waste.

[@worldcitizenra]

alienkishorekumar Your comment raises the issues of storage and distribution logistics in food supply and food security. That is usually ignored by the policy decision makers because it questions that use of technology, chemicals, and modified bio-organisms to increase supply, which seems to be the preferred solution of western (particularly USA based) bio-chemical corporations that have political and economic clout. Another issue, but certainly not the only other one, is corporate enforced expansion of mono-culture foods for export or non-food agricultural products which ends up eliminating land that had previously been available for growing crops for local consumption. Especially in poorer countries that have land and good climate, the result of expanded mono-culture for export is typically increased agricultural output AND less food available for consumption by the country's own population.

[@meghasharmaJ1]

alienkishorekumar for God's sake, READ WHAT I WROTE!

[@alienkishorekumar]

megha sharma Yes, but a home's environmental concern means nothing when you are paying several folds more for the same thing due to stagnation and bad practices of storage? Do you want to be so stupid in ignoring such critical issues? If yes, then don't mind my comment. I'm just pointing out the reality.

[@lofts2399]

megha sharma As it should be! I feel the same way, I get so angry when people in my family refuse to eat leftovers!

[@Aw-ns1qx]

John Oliver's show and all the people who work on it are amazing. I laugh and cry and yell and feel despair and hope all in one episode. I pray we all do better, sooner rather than later.

[@JA238979]

Please consider doing more than praying to a metaphysical entity to solve this problem; it is not working. I am hungry and have to struggle for food. Thank you for your prayers.

[@arcadiaaa1370]

I used to work at Starbucks, and my manager there told me we couldn't take home the expired food at the end of the night because if we were allowed to then employees would start telling customers we were out instead of selling the food so that we would have some left to take home. Maybe if these mega corporations paid a living wage they wouldn't have to worry about their employees hiding food to take home at the ends of their shifts.

[@Tuffsmoygles]

I volunteer at a food bank. Here's a brief guide how long food is good AFTER its sell by date. Non acid canned veggies: 5 years, acid veggies (like tomatoes) 2 years. Pasta, 2 years. Canned meats 5 years. Cereal 18 months. Soup 2 years (tomato based 18 months).

[@RainCheck797]

Thank you

[@opheliaismyname9180]

This is the basis of websites like Approved Food, which sells food past its Best Before. The food tastes just as good, it hasn't poisoned us yet, and it's cheaper than buying it in shops

[@jackpadz6079]

I'm takin' a pic of this! You are a life saver.

[@lazyhomebody1356]

I regularly eat my groceries way after the sell by date, cause I'm cheap, and I haven't gotten sick yet!

[@alanchoichang8336]

ahh.. so that means ricks crew were eating seriously old soup...

[@Bissrok]

If school had been like this show, I think I would have learned something.

[@pipertipurts5211]

I've learned more about history, economics and science watching this show and Adam Ruins Everything than I ever did in pubic school. Makes me wonder why public school is even necessary.

[@lburns7952]

So true. I know the calculus I had to learn and pass has helped me in life so many times..................

[@strawberrypencl]

When will anyone actually ever use algebra or trigonometry unless they're teaching it to daydreaming kids?? If you have a good answer for this, please, PLEASE tell me

[@buckers5264]

Prime Minister Fluffy Rose I agree with you, but you also need to know what you want to do at that point, which some people don't until even after high school.

[@matthew_natividad]

there r some teachers that make school entertaining depending on the subject

[@danielcaceres9971]

“I give you, the new Confederate flag” Ha! It never gets old!

[@ForrestFox626]

He hit the nail on the head with that one!

[@Rastapopoulos...]

My aunt and Uncle in India live in a farmhouse outside the city's limits. They have monkeys visiting in the summers. Before, these monkeys would swarm the neighbouring farms and destroy plantations there. The angry farm owners used to shoot and maim these monkeys with the help of air gun pellets. So, my Uncle started to buy fruits and vegetables that were overripe or dented slightly here and there (which don't fly off their shelves at all) from the city market's vendors (for a very discounted price) and used that leftover farm produce to feed the monkeys. Today, they have a whole army of monkeys that still visit their area but only now, they know where food is available and hence, there is a peaceful coexistence of both of our species there.

[@zachdancy5828]

This was a pretty cool story, thanks.

[@animegirl17]

That is how you win at life

[@Widdekuu91]

Ever since I started feeding the crows néxt to my tomatoes and cucumbers and strawberries, they've left them alone. Even better, after +/- 3-4 years of this, I've taught them how to trade sticks, feathers and screws for the (little bits of old) bread. Last year, one crow/jackdaw brought me a screw with two bolts on it, to trade for the cornflakes. I've kept it, together with the nerfgun-bullet that he brought after that.

[@docdexter5660]

Widdekuu91 brooo I wanna have a symbiotic relationship with wild crows you makin me jealous

[@Widdekuu91]

@@docdexter5660 Haha, you can try the same, I bet they'll eventually start bringing you stuff. Just always place your bread in the same place and take (whatever it is they bring in return, eventually) into your house. You can always throw it away in the bin if it's gross, but it teaches them that there's a trade going on. There's a girl on KZbin that had a whole box full of stuff, she had a huge amount of crows that brought her stuff. And someone in the comments (below her video) mentioned that his crows, after so many years of being fed scraps, have started caring for the humans. One day he had a breakdown and appareantely crows flew to his brother (who was practically his neighbour) and knocked on the window with their beaks. I've also noticed that my jackdaws get restless if I feel sick, but if I make an audiable noise or yell; 'I'm fine! Go away!' they're convinced I'm not dead and they leave. ÓH and I once met a very young jackdaw in the city (my city is tiiiiiiny, I was 3 minutes away from my house) and after I greeted it, it sat nearby on a pole and 'waited' for a treat. I could stand very nearby and gave it some bits of biscuit I had in my bag. It flew away, came back for some more treats (absolutely not shy, but very scared if another human walked past) and that evening (in summer) it went to my roof-gutter, (the exact same one, I know for sure, the little one) and after eating some of the bread, it placed itself in the big waterfilled vase and bathed for an hour or two. The window was open, so I heard him splashing and the 'ticking' of his nails against the vase. Next day there was; 'Kaa-h- Kaa-h' because the rest was upset the (bath)water was all over the place and there was nothing left to drink. xD I've drawn the little jackdaw, floating around in the vase. I only heard him and saw his shadow, but I can imagine how he was happily bobbing in the luke-warm water, enjoying the sight over the city and all the little lights.

[@Panbaneesha]

In Germany, many cities have a "Tafel". That's an operation that collects food (that would otherwise be thrown away) from shops and restaurants and redistributes it to the poor. People who "qualify" (living on social security, small pension etc.) can register and once a week shop at the Tafel. One shopping bag full of food costs something like one Euro afaik. More should be done about food waste, but that is definitely a good step. And there were even some marketing campaigns by supermarkets for the imperfect fruit and veg. I believe that was done because of harvest shortages, but hopefully it raised awareness as well.

[@Poldovico]

Shit, if a "harvest shortage" means "we might have to resort to eating a small portion of the perfectly fine food we usually reject on a purely aesthethic basis", it's not a shortage. It's a rationalization of production.

[@aflamrecab1]

They can't do that in the U.S, it's Socialism,it's evil.

[@amanpadamsey1705]

Amazing, the world must learn from you Germans.

[@piotrd.4850]

More ? 1. shut down sick Common Agricultural Policy or turn it down from 911 to somewhere around 5, for starters ...

[@sebo8703]

Funny You brought that up behause the Tafel does not Receive its supplies from super markets or restaurants. Germany is actually facing quite the same Food waste Problems as other neo liberal countries. Regards from Berlin.

[@jakesorrentino7230]

Thank you John i used your video as one of the references in my final Capstone Project on Data Analytics of food banks. 💯. Crazy how all this information is still relevant today.

[@Onigirli]

"[...] to no longer worrying about getting sued by high powered lawyers representing the hungry" Made me crack up lol

[@mefford67]

This show has turned out to be one of my “fact checking” sources. The research is top notch and the host is an intelligent and articulate person, thanks John👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@anjayl]

You'd be wrong to think every statement in this show is accurate tho.

[@jackpadz6079]

@@anjayl Yeah, it's still satire.

[@Deimos2k5]

He conflates use by and sell by dates. You should definitely not ignore the former

[@joezuu]

@@anjayl Point out the inaccuracies and link sources that prove it please, I'd love to see it.

[@pouncepounce7417]

@@Deimos2k5 Use by dates is silly. Cans where invented to preserve food, and they do that very well. And as long they do not bulge you can be rather sure they are still edible. You sometimes even have use by dates on waterbottles.

[@t.n7648]

You know, even if that food is not looking aestheticaly great, it still could be used in different food products, just make some stupid jam or beer out of it, or put it in other products...

[@themisjustitia2994]

They do that with some things.

[@Shava3823]

But they need to do more.

[@BlackBirdSweep]

I'd drink it.

[@t.n7648]

EB DA GAMER Well, here in Europe is plenty of beers with different flavours, we called them radlers. The original beer was with lemon, however I`ve drunk maybe dozen of other different fruit flavours. Last year I`ve drunk some Belgian or Netherland beer with cherry flavour which was strong as fuck, but delicious too... Besides, there are still poor people, even in west, and I bet that those people could use some state provided food help, these people do not to tend to be picky about how their peach is going to look like. It`s just mind bogling when you read all that crazy shit about how much hungry people do live on this planet and how much of food is wasted on yearly period, meanwhile in war-torn conflict zones are missing basic supplies from food to clothes and drugs... but who cares, I guess ?

[@Shava3823]

The government don't care the big corporations don't care it's all about the money. Tibor Nemcok​

[@Deathtofrogleghorn]

About 10 years ago, my job actually sold “ugly fruit” that typically wouldn’t be sold on store shelves because they didn’t meet standards set by other grocers. These fruits and veggies had some deformalities that would freak folks out and other retailers wouldn’t put out because of this. I still bought the ugly fruit. They sadly did away with it. They also used to donate food close to the expiration date too up until a spiteful customer told corporate on us.

[@neilfleming2787]

what starts it off is the whole "we must have a garbage disposal" when people buy a house. My food 'waste' is basically the crumbs in the bags of bread I buy and apple cores when I have apples. I buy my food on what I know I am going to eat and make sure I use things up that are coming close to their end of life. When I watch US TV programmes the amount of times I see familys NEVER finishing what's on their plates, that then gets into the minds of the younger generations who when do the same thing and so it goes on. When I was growing up (60's and 70's) we ate what went on the plate and were grateful for it, it was rare for anything to get thrown out - leftovers were always available or re-used in another meal. Left overs from sunday dinner were re-used in other meals. Even the remains of a chicken were usually cooked down to make chicken soup and always at christmas we'd have turkey soup available for a couple of days after christmas dinner.

[@aldrichallenbarcenas6740]

In my country, the supermarkets just peels and chops those not aesthetically pleasing fruits and package them into bite-sized pieces for a fraction of its original worth. If they do that, I bought what I can, put it in a freezer and blend it to make a perfectly natural smoothie. In fact, I bought most of what the store had yesterday. I can now make apple and mango smoothies twice a day.

[@aquaaub4445]

As was mentioned in the video, they have to hire more people to chop up said fruit,buy packaging blah blah its not beneficial to a company who's only goal is to make money.

[@Baamthe25th]

Dar How The video says they have to do that to donate it. If they sell it, they can make it viable.

[@AdiJayanto]

Aldrich Allen Barcenas in my country, that diced fresh fruit and veggies usually sold as "salad". If I'm lazy, I just grab that "salad", a mineral water, a sandwich or fried chicken, sit in a park and eat that. Total cost? 50% less than eat in McDonalds.

[@AdiJayanto]

Aldrich Allen Barcenas also unsold "salad" was sold to their (supermarket) worker with discount or as part as their food allowance.

[@aldrichallenbarcenas6740]

Dar How Most of the big stores have a lot of staff. Most of them don't do much besides cleaning and assisting customers (which often customers here can manage themselves). In down times, they chop fruits and vegetables.

[@orangeapples]

So the House passed a bill that was a positive thing. Then the Senate gutted the bill, renamed it, didn't change the number and then passed it.That's congress for ya.

[@lsamoa]

Broken system

[@ineedboostsobad]

THIS is the most key thing of this clip actually. The system is fucking retarded if anything like this is even possible.

[@Tamaki742]

Again, HOW THE HECK WAS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?

[@michaelbanton4605]

It is the same thing that allowed the Afordable Care Act to get through the house. why is it even possible? because senators like circumventing constitutional protections.

[@Parker8752]

Yeah, because fuck the disabled, those too poor to afford insurance and those with pre-existing conditions, am I right?

[@brianpeck4299]

I used this as a source for my school project in 6th grade. Thanks so much

[@sethhorras8519]

His Racoon impersonations! LOL

[@mochike]

I don't get why people would throw away packages and packages of spinach, lettuce, broccoli and _kale_. _Kale_? Dude, isn't that _expensive_ like hell? Why buy it if you're not gonna eat it?

[@vonneely3693]

+Heart of the Stars It is mostly restaurants and grocery stores that throw away food, not individual consumers. Of course you can still blame the consumers, because they are the ones who forced all the absurdly overprotective health laws upon the restaurants & grocery stores that thus force them to throw away so much perfectly good food. For example, in Florida, those sandwiches you see at 7-11? One day shelf life. If someone doesn't buy them within 24 hours of being put on the shelf they go in the dumpster. Having worked at a 7-11 as a teenager, I can say with certainty that well over 90% of them get tossed out because of this. Do they really go bad after only one day? Of course not - I used to dump them into boxes and took them straight to the homeless shelter. They toss them out because the laws, written in fear & completely ignorant to any actual science, make them do it.

[@lampsundae]

+Heart of the Stars I mean like, silver kayle is pretty expensive. Kappa

[@Wolfsgeist]

+Heart of the Stars It's also because people buy to much at once and then have to throw it away, when it actually turns bad. I myself bought two pounds of carrots last week, but they started to mold before I could eat them all.

[@vonneely3693]

Rock Golem Some places have already tried that but it always meets with political resistance. Poor people lower property values. Low property values reduce tax revenues. That's why both parties routinely try to ban services for the poor and are constantly trying to dump their homeless population into their neighbors' yards. All politicians love gentrification as much as they hate the poor. At best they might pretend to care for a photo op during an election cycle, but I assure you that if they had their way everyone in America below the poverty line would end up in gas chambers. They see the poor as vermin, not people, and certainly never as citizens with rights.

[@Lightscribe225]

I tend to but a bag, forget I have it, get another, forget that one and but another, and then find the first bag all rotted...

[@MarushDenchev]

This guy! My country needs a guy like this to open the nation eyes!

[@chriss.9398]

Marush Denchev You are right every country needs a john oliver! Too bad that in a lot of countries they are not allowed to defame or talk bad about certain organizations or governments in those countries.

[@ShakenBake444]

He's like the English John Stewart!

[@ShakenBake444]

***** oh right, he's one of THOSE Jon's, okay

[@RoScFan]

Marush Denchev Every country needs a john oliver

[@alexfernandezgrande8171]

N0 Shrapnel Nay, Jon Steward pushes an agenda, Oliver pushes facts. Only guy who can make comedy about a single topic for half an hour.

[@Monika-bc3dq]

The most ridiculous thing where I live is that you can actually find better looking products in the dumpster than on sale. I don't know if it's just laziness of employees or what but the number of times I saw molded food on discounts or even still on regular sale is just baffling. I go dumpster diving every week and I will never not be amazed in a negative way by how much great, fresh food ends up there.

[@myquest666420]

I just want to say, when I worked produce at Walmart, we donated as much as we possibly could. We did have to throw away a lot of food, but we donated far more than we threw away. Of course I never know whether or not that food actually ended up being eaten by someone who desperately needed it, but we at least tried.

[@daylight8208]

Ugly fruit is great for cobbler, pie, flavored homemade ice cream, or anything other than just eating it whole in its natural state.

[@Poldovico]

It's also great for eating it whole in its natural state! It's not any worse, it's just ugly!

[@kindlin]

@@Poldovico Depending on the fruit, an otherwise non-edible part could now be easily ripp-offable, or the edible parts more accessible. Variation is the spice of life.

[@akivabernstein4723]

Dana Evans you know or you could just eat it.

[@DMills-un1tl]

As a p/t dumpster diver, I pulled out a sh!tload of quality bell peppers one time. I roasted them all and made a killer roasted pepper in olive oil dish that I then put over the sh!tloads of sourdough bread they threw out in the same dumpster. It was divine and FREE!

[@chrisglover7427]

@@DMills-un1tl and urs too

[@froggerthecatlady7962]

My boyfriend and I struggle to eat. And when you work at a food place and the management tells you to throw away all the extra food at the end of the night, it really sucks.

[@criskp6861]

I hope you are in a better situation now

[@ahmad528hz2]

in iran we either recycle the food(turn into chiken food or cow food) or we give it to the people in need there is close to nothin called food waste in IRAN

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

At least you and your boyfriend has sex. Who cares about food, right? Fuck you.

[@BriAngel476]

i would just eat when no one else was looking. find out which managers cared and which didnt. strategic eating got me through that shit mcds job

[@Poldovico]

@@BriAngel476 So on the one hand, the US is wasting that much food. On the other hand, it's making minimum wage employees do the roundaboout equivalent of dumpster diving just to eat. All the while having a massive obesity problem. The American fucking Dream.

[@taylorswan8587]

I used to be in a band that opened for Rascal Flatts once. They got very angry at our drummer for eating some of the catered food, even though it was after everyone else had already eaten and they were about to throw it all out. I did not expect to hear about Rascal Flatts in the story about food waste lmaoooo

[@Paul77ozee]

Who’s Rascal Flatts ?

[@salvagemonster3612]

Yep entertainment shows waste much more. John should have filmed what happened to all the craft service food

[@DebNKY]

I live in Owensboro KY, and I'd love to see Last Week Tonight tackle the Towne Square Mall here. It is a huge building that people are discussing bringing off track betting to. We have a huge homeless population, because there's no industry other than fast food. Thank you

[@theDENIMMAN]

As a Canadian I was shocked to find out how many different types of captain crunch there are...We only have one.

[@kevinvil69]

theDENIMMAN cptn crunch of the month club

[@thescholarlywalrus1138]

Do they have Cheerios in the states? Because we have too many goddamn varieties of Cheerios here in Canada

[@DynamiA3]

theScholarlyWalrus Haha, yes we have Cheerios! It's an American brand, and it's manufactured in New York, iirc. Cheerios has been around forever-quick Google search says 1941.

[@tommydude969]

theScholarlyWalrus yup, frosted cheerios 4 lyf

[@dohrwardtwyatt]

theDENIMMAN I'm from the U.S., and my town must not have many types since I only recognized a few of the types.

[@Korijenkins1414]

My job at a grocery store is painful because of how much expired crap I throw away. At least at my grocery store we give food waste to pig farmers to feed the pigs. I guess they get killed and sold in my same store and then get thrown away too.

[@carultch]

+CHase Gensler Do the pigs end up eating the unusable pig meat? Or do they feed that to a different animal?

[@MrAwsomenoob]

+carultch does it matter? a pig will eat just about anything

[@carultch]

MrAwsomenoob Still, it is unintentional cannibalism.

[@pats12517]

+CHase Gensler Do you get to bring expired shit that ur gonna throw away home?

[@scunts]

+alecdgreat I don't know about where he is, but in most stores in Australia, it is "policy" to throw out the items which are past their shelf/expiry date. Technically you aren't allowed to take that home but some managers will make exceptions using their own discretion.

[@LavenderSunrise]

Coming back after Portland police tried to stop local food bank from dumpster diving for fresh foods for local shelters and wew this hits differently now

[@salvagemonster3612]

And who called the police? The stores. Dumpster diving is considered Theft everywhere. So don’t blame the cops

[@LavenderSunrise]

@@salvagemonster3612 It shouldn't be a crime and that's why I'm also blaming the cops for enforcing stupid ass laws

[@beebee4four]

Anyone else watching this post-Covid and weirded out by the audience laughter? I think I've grown to like the new quiet quarantine version 😅

[@Paul77ozee]

It makes it more serious without people laughing.

[@Onigirli]

Not me. They were a very welcome return

[@frankgerlach5059]

When I started in the food industry, I went first to Chef's school and then to Baking school. We cooked and baked for the students at a college in Washington state. When we sold all the food to the students at a greatly reduced rate, any food left over was given free of charge to nursing homes and people that could not afford to buy grocery's. Maybe this could happen with all the food that is being tossed in this story.

[@pipertipurts5211]

When I first started working in the food industry, my grocery bill went down 80% because I was taking so much food home from the restaurant.

[@captain_nerdrage7091]

Hey John, Would you consider doing an episode that is just a follow-up to a bunch of your major issues over the last couple years? Have any of the issues you've covered had significant improvements since your coverage?

[@per-axelskogsberg3861]

Captain_Nerdrage I would also like follow up stories. It would be amazing if something good happens.

[@123alexkong]

I would vote for this, wish I could ask him personally

[@wilsonguevara6667]

Me too.

[@romigizi]

google "The John Oliver Effect"

[@12martin12rojas]

Not really much change

[@Insomn1s]

When I was little my next door elderly neighbor worked at the farmers market every weekend, one weekend he brought my family a peach each from the farmer who ran the stand next to his. They were peaches that no one would buy because they looked bruised and not as beautiful as the others, but he told us to eat them soon because they were perfect ripeness. We ate them that day and even now, over a decade later, I have never tasted a peach as sweet. Often the fruit that is thrown away isn’t “bad” it’s perfect ripeness and no one buys it because it would go bad too quickly so farmers toss them because they can’t eat buckets and buckets of peaches on their own in an few days before they go bad. The fact that food banks don’t come and take the extra fruit away that week and give them away to people who need them and will eat them is ridiculous and breaks my heart

[@mamabeargardens9439]

I would really love to see an update to this episode to see what might have changed in the last 8 years - hopefully for the better

[@raymundoserna3449]

Hahaha😂 2020 it all that needs to be said

[@rulerofthelight]

I eat exclusively from Walmart Dumpsters. I eat like a vegatarian king.

[@ArtichokeHunter]

***** It's a lot harder to eat like a vegetarian king if you're homeless due to lack of kitchen access. When I went to biweekly freegan gatherings, I didn't meet homeless people, but I met a lot of people who hate waste and don't want to pay for things you can get for free.

[@kevinvil69]

***** library bruh

[@samoanj8081]

***** he is not homeless there are people who dumpster dive for food because you can get perfectly good food in a dumster look it up

[@freddytheshadowninja]

samoanj Still seems beyond sketchy to me... Oh, damn. Proof of point right there.

[@svenslootweg4755]

+Xipo86 Why so judgmental?

[@a.k.4o]

Wait did we all just glaze over the fact that there hiding international policy in food tax bills

[@tss9886]

One word, Republicans.

[@mondhase5915]

Once your politicians start pulling sh*t like that, I think it's time to acknowledge that you're being ruled by the sith empire.

[@donjones9817]

The more I watch her channel the more I realize that people are struggling because other people are living way to comfortably

[@Widdekuu91]

It's not necessarily comfortably, it's unneccessary 'comfortably' and many people living that comfortably have absolutely no idea that it is happening.

[@benjamincantor239]

As someone that works in the perishable area of a large supermarket chain this hits very close. I think he missed a couple things though. First, the stores can’t still sell stuff past the dates as that would constitute fraud. Also, even when there are programs that get donated food from stores to food banks, the people who transport the food either fail to pick it up with much frequency, or do it in a fairly unsafe manner. The guy for our store used to put the case packs of dairy product and frozen items in the pack of his hot van.

[@MbandiComposer]

I live close to the best grocery store in America IMO (Wegmans) and the amount of food they throw out from their hot bar every night (Gourmet indian, Chinese, American etc) is astounding. I actually asked the manager once why don't they have a homeless shelter pick it up and they said they did not want to get sued if someone got sick. I think they just dont want to be bothered

[@johnyungbluth53]

Mbandi Music no, its actually so they don't get sued.

[@Popcultureguy3000]

john yungbluth Or it could be because donating to food banks is pretty expensive, like John said at the end of the video.

[@jerryrivers1981]

john yungbluth It's not really. They probably think they will but they won't because they're covered by the emerson act. Which states "(1) LIABILITY OF PERSON OR GLEANER.-A person or gleaner shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of apparently wholesome food or an apparently fit grocery product that the person or gleaner donates in good faith to a nonprofit organization for ultimate distribution to needy individuals."

[@vineflower]

john yungbluth You don't get sued if you give to charity. Didn't you watch the video?

[@gjune36]

Mbandi Music The employees take some of the food home, but most of it goes to the garbage bin.

[@FreshMelonWater]

There's an event every week that my grandmother goes to where someone takes food that's about to expire from a bunch of grocery stores that they donate to them and gives it out to people who need it. So at least that's being done in our community.

[@amarnathkar]

The amount of food that is wasted from school cafeteria is heart-breaking. Every kid picks up one fruit and 80% of those end up in the trash - perfectly good fruits. At one lunch duty (to allow the teachers to take a break) I counted exactly 50 pieces of fruits thrown out - this was just from 2 classes in an elementary school in a a small South Carolina town. Do the math for the whole US!!

[@James-T-Kirk]

I used to have a Golf Digest subscription growing up when I got into golf. Loved it. Helped my golf game a lot.

[@mikurunrunrun]

Households that end up wasting 1/3 of their food should put 1/3 of their weekly shop in the food donation bin before they even leave the supermarket

[@zachrutledge258]

agreed, so many families just have leftovers that sit in the fridge and rot. why have that much excess, when one of your neighbors may even struggle with food?

[@mikurunrunrun]

I'm not criticizing,I'm just suggesting a possible solution.

[@mikurunrunrun]

I cant afford to buy food that i don't eat so you're right,I don't have any knowledge of the situation.And it's 'make love to' not 'fuck' don't be so crude.:3 *****

[@speedydog3882]

+Mikurunrun I keep running into your comments on John Oliver videos, Miku! I've become quite a fan of this guy because of you

[@mikurunrunrun]

Speedy Dog Speedy! glad you enjoy his vids \o/

[@bonniegrrl]

For the love of God, SOMEONE PLEASE make an animated GIF of John Oliver doing his raccoon impression!

[@zoedormouse4710]

That was a very good segment. Though my fave, well most grateful one, was the one he did recently on transgender issues and rights. He nailed it all in his own special fashion.

[@PieraCoppola]

or his Depardieu impression ;)

[@LeonardSultana]

"The uploaded has not made this video available in your country." Bloody knew it. Screw you, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver A pox on your houses.

[@zoedormouse4710]

Leonard Sultana Check out this, www.allthingsgym.com/bypass-youtubes-video-is-not-available-in-your-country/ It might point you in the direction to let you view it. Hopefully. It's a good segment. Otherwise, google up free vpn to view US content. Granted, the free ones track you but you are only using it for this. Barring all that... Well, if you are using a desktop machine or laptop you can check kickass torrents -kat.cr/ Or ye olde pirate bay (though rumors are since the raid earlier this year that the FBI is running the show.) I normally do not condone torrenting things, but sometimes it's the only way sadly. Bonnie Burton Please delete this torrenting stuff if it's against your posting rules. You won't hurt my feelings, I understand such things. If you do so I shan't ever again post such info or recommendations. Heck, on an anime group on FB that I run I don't let anyone post direct torrent links. If someone is motivated they can find it themselves. I love anime and try every venue I can to legally stream it rather than torrent it. Or if it has an awesome rep and is out on DVD I take the plunge and buy it. Sidebar: I hate geographical restrictions. In this day and age they really are short sighted.

[@GreggGies]

John Oliver for President. If Cruz is eligible, surely to Reagan John is too,

[@swanpride]

In Germany we have: 1. Discounters who aim to get as close as possible to only buy as much food as they can realistically sell.2. The possibility of purchasing "imperfect" fruits and vegetables to a lower price3. Die Tafeln, an organisation which picks up uneaten Food in order to distribute it to people on a low income.4. An older Generation which experienced the post war time and would never just throw something away just because of some date stamped on it (unless it is a "verzehrdatum"...we actually have two kind of dates, the date for at what point something should be still eatable for sure, which can safely be ignored (especially if the date is stamped on something like salt..I mean, really????), but sometimes, ie for meat, there is a date at which point you HAVE to eat it because after it, it's not safe anymore and you shouldn't risk it). Most of us still trust the sight and smell test (though I fear the younger generation is losing this ability). And we STILL have a lot of food waste. I shudder to think how much more the US produces.

[@geoffdearth7360]

I grew up in Iowa in the 1950s. Both of my parents grew up during the Depression. There was zero food waste in my house then. Nor now.

[@Widdekuu91]

I grew up in the Netherlands. My dad still cleans the peanutbutter-jar out with a bit of bread on a fork. A combination of having lived without a lot of food and the natural cheapness that comes with being born in the Netherlands. Either way, I feel ashamed when I throw something away, even when it has gone mouldy and hás to be thrown out, like yoghurt.

[@sabin97]

@@Widdekuu91 if it grows mouldy i throw it out without shame, and make a mental note of buying less next time(waste is waste). but overall i try not to let any food go to waste. there are people on earth who dont have enough food. and every fruit i buy, is one fruit that nobody else will be able to eat, so i better make sure it's not in vain.

[@HerveVillechaize22]

I live in Canada and we eat reasonably sized food portions to avoid gorging and food waste.

[@properuser]

For people who grew up in the hard ship of recession and saw immense suffering would know the pain of naming their kid Geoff. Instead of jeff

[@salvagemonster3612]

Yeah don’t buy that.

[@chivalryalive]

Man!... I used to work in a baseball stadium (cleaning up the stands after games late at night) I nearly cried a tear every time I picked up a full, untouched, meal off the ground to pitch it in the garbage bag I hauled away. -- A bunch of spoiled upper /middle class folks who simply did not care about the food they wasted nor the big dollars they spent for it! I pouted every night knowing that -- Somewhere across America there was someone who would probably fight to have that meal for themselves just to survive! :'(

[@elizabethbeckmann2865]

Thank you so much for the focus on this topic. It highlighted to me that I need to make some changes and be more responsible with my food purchasing and disposal.

[@kentpomares-music728]

I lost it when he said "Oven-Dutching the entire planet!". LoL

[@sarahfrom9683]

"I wanna buy that peach dinner and fuck it." 😂😂😂

[@Strega222]

A pretty good summary of the problem. However, Mr. Oliver should have mentioned what is arguably food waste's single largest contributor, agricultural subsidies that encourage the overproduction of commodity crops.

[@jamesgilpin3135]

C

[@lazyhomebody1356]

True! But look at it from the farmers' point of view

[@gettintherejanice6216]

@@lazyhomebody1356 define farmer. I am pretty sure there are only specific types of farming and crops that are subsidized. corn and soy beans would be commodity crops they are so over produced that corn is excessivly over fed to cows making them toxic because on the bottom line and other corn is turned into frankin foods it is ultered into hundreds of food products then listed at ten or 15 items on a food list and is creating an imbalance in food health if who you are talking about is the farmers that monocrop acres and acres use pesticides and chemical fertilizers and use combines that is a different farmer than who I call a farmer they are both farmers but it is slightly misleading to use the same tittle or people running factory farming of animals

[@lazyhomebody1356]

@@gettintherejanice6216 Agea ago, I wrote a long paper on soybean subsidies (?). I meant farmer as crop grower. I Texas, we would call the other cattlemen.

[@georgenichols7718]

@@gettintherejanice6216 I nominate this guy for the longest run-on sentence in history!

[@comfimonkey]

I've seen this episode before. But I've seen an episode on Asian boss recently about how a Filipino granny sells "recycled food" from garbage to earn a living. Seeing that and then coming back to watch this makes me feel sad to whole new level.

[@FictionWriter95]

Oops All Berries: Is it unnecessary? Yes. Do I like it anyway? Also yes.

[@haquoctienalejandro]

It's really silly to discard fruits just because they don't look good. I live in the countryside and when it's harvest season, I get to buy really cheep fruits because supermarkets in the city wouldn't take the fruits that don't look perfect, the farmers then sell them with cheaper price to the local people. They're usually tastes equally as good as, if not better than, the perfect looking ones.

[@boysponge705]

*cheap

[@neinnein4800]

*Insert harvesting season joke*

[@vertigosun3896]

That's what a jelly person would say xd

[@mixrable1212]

That is true, what I’ve noticed is that bananas that are slightly overripe taste sweeter, but don’t look too bad

[@byme.9183]

My town's major supermarket has an own brand fruit section, filled with imperfect produce, and everything there tastes better! It always sells out! There's a sign saying that everything is healthy to eat, and that "the last product is the proof that everything in that area was amazing ;3" I'm not kidding it had an emoticon!

[@hulmad]

13:16 and there's the problem inherent in your entire nation's way of thinking. "why do anything if i can't make a profit"

[@jesusbannanahammock5767]

well, a business is meant to make a profit. anything else is not business its charity

[@terranu1]

the problem is so much city-living people being afraid of eating less than perfect aestetically fruits, defined as such by the most corporate-greed-funded organizations. I love farmers markets, traditional markets where peasants just come and sell their stuff...and I buy fruits with bruises and all sorts of different shapes and sizes because they're healthier than any of those "aestetically perfect" shit in the hypermarkets. Once I bought a few kilos of cherries and I found out at home almost every single one of them had worms inside..white little buddies. I still ate alot of them because they were too delicious to pass on. I didn't go back to sue the seller and shit like that. Neither did I got cancer from it. Protein is protein.

[@essennagerry]

+Andromedan Council I honestly get a little scared by the aesthetically perfect fruits and veggies.

[@grimmwarden1903]

That's the inherent problem with all capitalistic counties.

[@jlambuth]

Grimm Warden no, that's the inherent problem of people. Capitalism just works on it.

[@cenoviopereira8603]

Peaches fall when they're perfect

[@Curly_479]

My dad got “let go” from a gas station chain because he was taking expired candy and food (which was perfectly fine) to our church and donating it to the youth program and to the local school’s after school youth program (made up of largely kids who were from food insecure families) he was careful to make sure the food was alright (often taking it the day after the sell by date).

[@salvagemonster3612]

It’s called theft what he was doing. Who is he to be the one who it’s ok to steal.

[@Curly_479]

@@salvagemonster3612 it literally was going into the trash. The store had discarded it. It was out of the inventory system and the company had ate the costs by that point

[@megshep]

"Just stop it Tyler. I'm not under 'awwest', YOU'RE under 'awwest'!" JO is my spirit animal 😆

[@Jomander]

I work in my college dining hall and whenever I get a dish washing shift I am shocked by how much people throw away. Like last time I was there at the end of my shift I was cleaning a tray that had a hamburger, three cookies, a unopened package of poptarts, and an apple. Besides the poptarts all of that food had like one or two bites taken out of it. I am always confused on why people would spend so much money on this food to literally only eat a bite out of it and then just throw it away. And that is just one example that isn't even that extreme with me getting that much stuff uneaten commonly enough where I am now for the most part getting used to it. I'm just thankful the college dining hall has a compost so at least something comes out of the food in the end but it is so unfortunate that people spend so much and care so little.

[@janus2773]

because food in dining halls is often times pre portioned. many people would take less if they could.

[@compmojster]

I am shocked that students in your college don't clean their trays and dishes themself. In my country everyone takes their tray to a dedicated place where you throw what you havent eaten to one garbage bin, napkins and stuff go to other bin, you put plates on a stack of plates and trays on a stack of trays. When the table is full someone from the kitchen comes and takes everything in the washing rome where they put it in washing machine and clean it. And this place is usually located so that servers can see you when you go clean your tray and you get a subconcious feeling that they Will see you throwing away a lot of food n.d you simply eat more of it. Belive it or not but they remember when you trow away a lot of food and next time they serve you, they say something like: "You better eat all this time." It is not a problem if you can't eat it because you got a big portion or you simply aren't hungry but it is wrong to say:"That mashed potato tastes like it is artificially made so I will not eat it". Cooks actually make it from potatoes and it is disrespectful to them if it is not eaten.

[@Pennsyltucky84]

I used to work at a regional variety store chain. We weren't allowed to donate food either. To lower waste I'd mark down stuff that was close to the sell by date, and when I threw it out I'd make sure all the food went in it's own boxes, rather than mixed with general garbage. As well as checking/throwing away items the same day every week. Whenever I was walking around and I spotted someone panhandling or something I'd tell them when I was getting rid of stuff.

[@Te3time]

I will never understand why grocery store workers arent allowed to take the stuff that's about to be thrown out?? It would be an actual great incentive for people to work a shitty minimum wage job and literally add 0 cost to the company. When I was stocking shelves they'd at least allow us to pick one (1) item if we happen to find stuff near the due date

[@oisinfennelly3351]

That Trump Joke made my day

[@kylestubbs8867]

Moreso now than when you commented.

[@nicholaswhyte9442]

and before he began running for president

[@RSJohnson-Author]

I admit I get most of my news information from John Oliver. He pulls no punches and breaks things down. I understand more of what's going on and it's entertaining.

[@alfresco4976]

We are getting higher quality, far more in-depth news along with some laughs from Oliver. Other "news" more like op/ed outlets might as well pack their bags.

[@CIARUNSITE]

You should get most news from written sources.

[@kindlin]

@@CIARUNSITE See JO: Journalism

[@samlerf]

Secular Talk is better. John Oliver just did a Venezuela propaganda piece, debunked by "Empire Files".

[@MrTheSetter]

RS Johnson John is great but all your news?