Why Do We Waste Perfectly Good Food In The U.S.? | AJ+

Over a third of food in America goes to waste. So in this Webby Award-winning episode, Yara goes dumpster diving - among other things - to show you how much perfectly good food we throw away in the U.S. and what we can do to rescue it.
#FoodWaste #DumpsterDiving #Freegan
PRESENTER/PRODUCER: Yara Elmjouie
SENIOR PRODUCER: Tabish Talib
EDITOR: Holly Nall
CAMERA: Tabish Talib, Yara Elmjouie
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Adrienne Blaine
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ethar El-Katatney
ADDITIONAL EDITING: Yara Elmjouie
BRANDING/LOGO: Mohammad Aklik, Mohammad Kakhi
SPECIAL THANKS: Taeko Itabashi, Pine Street School
FEATURING: Janet Kalish (Freegans), Robert Lee (Rescuing Leftover Cuisine), Margaret Brown (National Resources Defense Council)
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[@glipglobs6679]

Rats in NYC probably eats better than me😭

[@demafi7923]

lol. maybe true :'(

[@SaRa-cs5nc]

lolllll

[@sarahkim1058]

Raccoons too

[@hansschwarz6200]

oh man thats a good one

[@samuel123275]

That's right 😂

[@shhhh6174]

I had an employee stealing food from the inventory to feed his family because he wasnt getting paid enough, and they fired him for taking the food, even though it was being thrown out at the end of the night every night. He got fired for feeding his family with "trash"

[@gamingalex7181]

How sad,:(

[@isabellahu4606]

How's he now? If you know ofc

[@shhhh6174]

@@isabellahu4606 I have no idea to be honest with you. He was devastated when he was fired because he had no other form of income and was barely feeding his family as it was. He cried and begged for his job and we all felt bad because they had it on camera so we couldn't do much. My heart still goes out to him though I have no idea of his current circumstances, sorry 😔

[@isabellahu4606]

@@shhhh6174 I really feel bad for him. He did absolutely nothing wrong, it's very wrong to be fired for that reason. The food would've been thrown out anyway so idg what the employers problem was.

[@shhhh6174]

@@isabellahu4606 exactly. Food that was freshly cooked that same day, perfectly good has to go in the garbage. Why? It just doesnt make sense. Donate it or something. Give the employees the option to take it if they want. Throwing out freshly cooked perfectly good food is an abomination

[@StewieGriffin]

"People don't want yesterday's bread." People buy bread and save them for tomorrow.

[@bballsstarz3377]

so ironic

[@jabbpapi]

BBalls Stårz yet so true

[@phunghungyo6846]

We buy bread to save them for weeks

[@whooshwhoosh3094]

Yeah

[@DaveAmirite]

but in a bakers markets just toss em cus its not freshly made... so sad but homeless are happy

[@tropturd6458]

As a guy from a developing country, this is hard to watch.

[@onesun8841]

@U some times it doesnt matter how advanced the CIVILization is they are not morally civil.

[@areebamirza]

I feel you

[@shiroyasha7324]

Same.

[@MrIcaru5]

So you think your so called developing country dont have any food waste? Lol

[@LifeWithRilla]

@@MrIcaru5 Truth is a lot of countries are very good at handling their food waste brother you'd be surprised.

[@aky19832001]

And you wonder why rats are so huge in NYC!

[@GrinFlash007]

*Don't you body shame Master Splinter!*

[@laylaraed4377]

AHAAHHAAH

[@ceph042]

lol once in nyc I saw a rat and legit thought that it was a cat

[@aky19832001]

@@ceph042 I don't deny it the least bit. I was attacked by a rat as a kid. I lived in NYc and this rat was a mutant. To this day I have nightmares.

[@AlexisMaria]

Real talk lol.

[@yovizx]

Im in college and I very broke. Guess I’ll be looking in the trash for some food.

[@TokenBlackman7]

Dude... I've been there, man. More power to you! You might also want to try going to a local food bank/food pantry.

[@AvgJane19]

You should apply for ebt. I'm in college too and it's definitely helped out.

[@monnieluna1673]

@@AvgJane19 many people are too proud to apply for ebt & they consider people who get it as lazy no matter the reason. They would rather eat out of the trash.

[@frank-gavinmoratalla7942]

Yovani H. I would also suggest looking in your town for organizations that provide salvaged food… here in Los Angeles there are a couple of companies that I'm aware of that get rescued & donated food from restaurants, farmer's markets, grocery stores as well as meal delivery companies… And if you find that there are none maybe you could begin one. The world would be a better place with less food waste and less folks who go hungry!

[@Dear_Mr._Isaiah_Deringer]

I only dine from the most exquisite dumpsters of my locality. Only dumpsters subjected routinely to a thorough power washing regime may fall in my consideration. Afterwards I review my diving experience by stacking up to 5 Michelin tires next to the Dumpster to celebrate excellence in waste.

[@sabrinalayton2835]

I'm lucky enough to work for a restaurant that lets me have 1 free meal every day I work, and the owner lets employees take home the mistake food or food that's going to expire soon. That's how every place should be

[@profgamer1]

Used to work at KFC and i used to steal chicken wings and drum sticks because they always go past their sale time which is only 1 hour and 30 minutes and get thrown in the trash so I always thought my stealing was justified. I always ate mistake sandwiches and unclaimed meals which could have been extra and/or no one showed up to take them for a long time. We were not allowed to do any of that but we used to do it anyway.

[@iilxpamvs]

In my country every restaurant must give their employees 3 meals if they are working full time and 1 meal for part time, basically in the breakfast lunch and dinner times u must provide a meal for those times for ur employees.

[@miirasaika6437]

@@iilxpamvs that's really cool to have that meal rule in your country. May I ask which country are you from?

[@shiroyasha7324]

That's a nice owner. :)

[@LKelz]

you are lucky ! Cuz I know some restaurants they make their employee pay for every meal

[@MCcraft02]

There's an old saying, “one man's trash is another man's treasure,”

[@taskinabdur-rahman3487]

Isn’t food treasure for everyone though? I mean it’s kinda messed up how some people see it as trash.

[@anordinaryfellow2832]

Well said my man

[@chrnogirl]

I remember one of my friends told me when she worked in a restaurant chain that they cant donate the food for because "homeless people could sue" because of the "health hazard". Take that how you will. Her boss was really cool though and put all of the items in a clean trash bag, announcing very loudly "I'M THROWING THIS STUFF AWAY" (wink wink) It was in a clean bag and gently placed on the ground. LEGALLY he did his job and threw everything away and my friend and her coworkers would just go back in and get the perfectly good food to take with them.

[@mastercleanseNOTdiet]

:-D Lol I love this story & glad you shared. I worked at Costco Wholesale for 16 years and it was the same. . . . no giving due to possible food poisoning lawsuit blah blah blah but there was never a cool manager that bent the rules. Always crotchety managers that would see to it it was trashed. I love the (wink wink) it would have been so appreciated. oh well ;0]

[@wilsonyang4505]

There's actually a bill in Congress that allows you to give food without being sued

[@chrnogirl]

I hope it passes...because being afraid of being sued for doing the right thing is beyond idiotic. That is "Mr. Incredible getting sued for stopping the guy from committing suicide" idiotic.

[@azndrumsticks]

The Good Samaritan Law is a thing y'all...

[@chrnogirl]

@@azndrumsticks good samaritan laws are about rendering medical aid, not about feeding food to people in non life threating emergency situations (unless like the person is a diabetic and is in trouble from low blood sugar and feeding them I think would fall under that law.)

[@kimmym410]

Makes me so angry to see such waste. People think I'm strange because I have a veggie garden and fruit trees. When I do go to the store I buy what I need to get through a few days. I don't buy 15 cans of soup cause it's on sale. I might only eat it once a month. I remember years ago when I worked in a fast food place, one of my first jobs. We threw out trays and trays of chicken , burgers, pies and outside we literally had a huge homeless problem. I asked my manager if we could just hand out the leftovers since we closed in an hour anyways? He became enraged and told me to never ask again and if he caught me giving homeless food he would fire me and blacklist me from working there again. So when he wasn't working my closing shifts I took the trash out back and fed all the homeless burgers, fries and chicken. Worked for about a year before the manager found out and fired me.

[@Natadangsa]

You are a hero. You decided to put your livelihood on the line for the unfortunate. My respect for you. I wish there are more people like you on earth.

[@moisesr7805]

you're awesome and your manager was the real trash

[@kaldin111]

i think they do that because it's a stupid law or something

[@maelstrom_8196]

Its the same reason you cant feed animals, they just arent wanted guess and by giving them food they are going to show up more often

[@schmooplesthesecond5997]

I had a similar experience working in a restaurant. Whats with the policy tbh?

[@1lamouna]

My friend works at a Starbucks in NYC. They throwout a ridiculous amount of perfectly good food after closing. I grabbed a couple of pound cakes before the staff took the rest outside. Smh. Obviously it's not the staff's fault, it's just company protocol.

[@alhomsiyyah]

Love your profile pic 😉

[@1lamouna]

​@I daignose you with invalid Sure, but after watching Seaspiracy I def have a whole new outlook on how I view plastic waste and who the main contributors are. Crazy that they place such heavy emphasis on plastic bags and straws when they barely play a role in the grand scheme of things.

[@lalebadali722]

I am working famous at restaurant.Everyday is waste a lottttttttttttt food 😢.

[@crowofcainhurst]

I once stayed in a friend home and her mom threw away a perfectly good loaf of bread just because she recently bought a new one. Like, wtf???

[@robertwalton1054]

I know people like that, I watched a woman throw away 3 untouched and unopened loaves of bread that were not close to expiring just because she bought new bread. I asked her why she threw them away and her response was "because they're not new". I asked if I could have them and she said, " sure honey, if you want my garbage you're more than welcome to have all of it" Now, I stop by their house all the time because her husband said she throws away a lot of food and they don't eat any leftovers at all so I get hurry and try to get them before she throws them in the garbage

[@straycursor5562]

@@robertwalton1054 disgusting lady

[@precisereview]

People with fewer brain cells

[@nissibokungu1288]

In france we got an app were restaurants and bakerys can say :" hey i have this food that is discounted so i don't have to trow it away" type of thing and i think it should launche in the us for less trash

[@maelstrom_8196]

Is there a lot of people going to those places?

[@ananda_adi]

LMAO I definitely want this

[@LuisLopez-fq5sz]

Nissi I wish the US did tha but noooo

[@user-kq2ks9ry7r]

We have it in the UK as well! :)

[@chungj5]

It's launched in the UK too, "Too good to go" but it's not available everywhere sadly :(

[@sy3duck405]

My brother works night shifts at a fast food restaurant and when it closes if theres extras the manager will tell my brothr and the other employees yo give the food to the homeless

[@bluecat6902]

Nice policy

[@diobrando7348]

5:02 our economy is not based on conpassion, it's based on profit.. truest thing i have ever heard 😮

[@tomatosouponthefloor]

dio-sama is based??!?!

[@mnshahab3857]

In a third world country it's considered as a buffet. People should be ashamed for wasting so much. But again it's not new for USA. One country that consumes 25% of the world resources.

[@andi2658]

here's the thing, butthurt idiot this wastage has been done by every major country, especially those with higher standards of living Indonesia is a 3rd world country, it is also one of the nations with high food wastage yes this kind of 'best by' should be reviewed, or regulations need to pass obligatory donation for supermarkets to food banks like the one in France now, but if you pull this to your anti-US rhetorics even though its done worldwide, then educate yourself

[@terramerc733]

@@andi2658 yeah so? Doesn't mean he's wrong

[@amusing6963]

This guy needs his own channel pleaaaaaaase

[@lifehacks2236]

A Musing Hi, i have watched one of your videos. And i liked it very much. When i saw your subscribers I didn’t believe it. You deserves more than that number. Please continue making videos and i hope that when you reach 1 million subscribers. Please tell them that im the one who encourages you. And thanks :)

[@brandchan]

Many years ago I worked at a cookie store in a mall and we froze all our day old cookies and donated them to a homeless shelter. It was less than 5 minutes of work and someone came and picked them up for us. I don't know why more places don't do stuff like like this.

[@Chantwizzle]

Was it George's?

[@yellowRose806]

Panera Bread also donates their breads to food banks, churches, and any organization wants it.

[@meiyidu7175]

brandchan p

[@chaca3813]

I'm so sad, other people, other countries was struggling with money and food. And they waste it. 😑 Even myself can't afford sushi, steak, kale, strawberries. I'm poor😔

[@theworldoverheavan560]

@@HNreport yep

[@suugarush2555]

Those foods are expensive as hell here

[@JazzyCrumbles]

@@HNreport dude, there's poverty and famine everywhere, even in countries that are not war torn. Brazil (my home country), has so many people that go hungry every night, and there's no such thing as a food pantry here, it's ridiculous!

[@nickolascrousillat4265]

Then go out like the rest of us and find it in the trash. How do you think I'm alive? FoOd StAmPs? Heck no. Who lives of 20 dollars of food maybe pasta but I'm not a college student anymore.

[@balvadorian]

Elliza Maury but then how do u afford a phone

[@cocoapuff_x]

I guess that asian girl from Extreme Cheapskates was doing a great thing.

[@stephaniesarahi8956]

Riiiight 😂

[@luzpueblalara4128]

Me too!!!!!!!!!

[@HawkinaBox]

lol

[@freesoul9251]

You guys buy cooked food more often then raw items. In Asians countries we make almost every meal from scratch. This makes us buy things in little quantities and fresh as hell every single day.

[@mordecia1049]

Free Soul same here in ethiopian/eritrean cuisine.

[@chrisgonzalez5883]

Same for mexicaine. Food. All are food is mad by hand

[@lore00star]

Exactly americans buy too much cooked or prepared food... they should cook a little bit more

[@aquareon2347]

ikr. learn from asains

[@sasori144]

In SOME Asian countries, but not all places have small shops and whatnot scattered throughout the area which makes buying things often convenient. If we could we all would obviously.

[@puneetsingh7702]

Freeganism is something that makes sense

[@raz0229]

Right! As a person living in a developing nation, We're grateful for whatever Allah gives us!

[@Amateur_Pianist_472]

ᖇᗩ乙0229 it’s agriculture and high productivity that feeds you, not sky daddy.

[@raz0229]

@@Amateur_Pianist_472 Dont like it? Then, At least, You can respect what other believes!

[@Alpha-gk6hd]

I dont believe in god and i agree with amy but whats the point of arguing

[@JasmineRiceField]

Its proven that having faiths in blessing can boost productivity

[@Churrrr]

Go behind Krispy Kreme at night, they throw away leftover doughnuts freshly baked in the morning 😂😂

[@RecruitMeat]

I used to go behind a place callef doughnut kingdom or castle or some shit like that and they threw away donuts very early in the morning so i would go like 30 minutes after they dump it out and put like 12 donuts into a bag. These donuts were really good and they were big.

[@cherrabenoussama3509]

Hold up are you serious

[@rolexx765]

@@RecruitMeat your nasty

[@elijahhall8889]

@@rolexx765 how is that nasty

[@friendzky4136]

@@rolexx765 dude , i survived with that , we are poor bastard student

[@dizzyfizzy4203]

In NY the cats are scared of the rats Cuz they're sooo huge

[@gaminaaaa779]

In Jakarta, it's size is the same as the cat hahaha

[@Randi82]

Gamin Aaaa agree.. i saw 2 rats ate cat a live

[@williamflores2079]

This is the simple answer:this food waste isn’t going to end until we as the consumers stop bitchin bout the simplest defects in food

[@genericscout5408]

Then that means you'll be eating shitty food at full price anyway. And many restaurants will serve said shitty food, lose customers, and the place across will gain more by throwing away more food.

[@Juan-ng7rs]

Just donate the food, it is better

[@nickolascrousillat4265]

Its cause everyone is allergic to gluten that's why bread is mostly thrown out. Oh ya veggies too since people barely eat them since McDonalds is open.

[@Juan-ng7rs]

@U true,but a lot of people thinks that gluten is bad

[@Juan-ng7rs]

@U I agree, but i can't change their view

[@dewilew2137]

I worked at Starbucks when I was in high school and college and the amazing of perfectly good pastries we threw out in a daily basis was sickening. Trash bags full of food. We were told that we were not allowed to take this good home because of the health hazard, but this food just cane out of the pastry case minutes ago. We would usually take a few items anyway, but it was against company policy.

[@dewilew2137]

Amount*, not amazing.

[@titikyulianti2897]

Dewi Lew why the company make such ridiculous policy? Giving the pastry to the worker will make them happy, and they don't have something to loss.

[@brandchan]

Damn, I worked at a Taco Bell in high school and we ate/took home mistakes all the time. Seems really dumb not to let employees have a pastry or two at the end of the night. Ugh.

[@afroozshaikh2723]

Because if they give it and some one falls ill they will sue the company. And suing is fav their.

[@iggyandhercat1856]

Is there an economical reason for then to do this? Besides Starbucks pastries taste like buttered cardboard?

[@lucyspencer9752]

I've worked at grocery stores in Seattle. If food is moldy or rotten we compost it but if it's still safe to eat we donate it to the food bank. I work in the produce department and we donate over a dozen boxes of food a week in that department alone. Also the bakery donates a crazy amount of super fancy cakes and tarts each day.

[@nenmaster5218]

DONT just comment 'Oh, waste=bad'! Do something! Watch 'Second Thought' adress these Issues, starting with his video 'Is Capitalism even efficient?'

[@Lepsuzzz]

Homeless: I’m going to New York City

[@therealshimo]

I’m sure they’d rather create a reliable shelter or become a tiny entrepreneur if they had the money to travel to new york

[@bballsstarz3377]

well they'll find waste food there

[@ajubragis6435]

What a shiitty world we live in... some people are dying becouse of no food and others are throwing them away.

[@dipfuk]

Ajub Ragis what are you gonna do? Ship it to them?

[@goldenm4784]

@@dipfuk donate them dumbass

[@wanderingoryx3710]

@@goldenm4784 whos paying?

[@MrQhuin]

They will say that they bought the food and paid by their money and they can do whatever they fckng want to the food and that was pissed me.

[@davideko3423]

its not a shitty world, its a shitty america

[@marka1000]

I guess I just learned that I've been a freegan since birth lol. My elders would literally beat the shit out of me if I wasted a single grain of rice

[@ririneedsleep]

Mark Alejo same 😂

[@yogurLAPIZ]

Me too. My mom would make another dish off the rest of food before it goes bad, like put cheese on it and bacon and you will have a new especial dish for sunday. Or mix with egg and cheese and fry it and call it a snack XD

[@user-ng4tf2oq7s]

And that’s how you get fat

[@user-ng4tf2oq7s]

They have this notion where you could starve but that’s not true anymore so you just get fat

[@andykharisma8697]

In my place there is mith told by our parents if we don't finish our food our pet will die, I don't know if it's good or bad, but it's effective to make kids don't waste their food lol

[@1997VG]

In India if we're not sure if our milk is ok or not we boil it. If it splits while boiling we add a little yogurt or lemon to make it split better and then just eat the separate curds cause that's what cottage cheese or paneer is. If it doesn't split while boiling then it's fine, just cool it and drink it.

[@mncalapati415]

France has a good system. The U.S. should do the same.

[@l.k5244]

I see people dumpster diving from my living room window every Saturday in Paris. That's weird.

[@crystalwilliams6164]

A lot of countries have good systems but here in the US politicians and businesses are consumed by greed. Even some people will defend this because they don’t like homeless people.

[@luzpueblalara4128]

Yes, in Argentina Carrefour supermarkets sell stuff at cheaper prices before their due date, sometimes even a month or two before

[@pallaveeramsamy1521]

I live in a small island name mauritius and here everyone has enough to eat as we were socialise to believe that wasting food is a sin So maybe educating Americans is the best solution.

[@tauceti8060]

Mauritius,but you look Indian.

[@pallaveeramsamy1521]

@@tauceti8060 my ancestors are from India Secondly mauritius is compose of people from all over Asia and Africa

[@pallaveeramsamy1521]

@@thebbb. i understand but somehow your view just agrees with how i explained the process of socialisation and its influnce

[@xissyck6753]

@@thebbb. Even if it's not recognized as a sin, being wasteful still is inherently wrong, especially when others could use what you're throwing away. That's selfishness, which, FYI is a sin. btw I think you mean "wouldn't mean anything to them."

[@farzanayesmen5337]

Thats what we believe in our country too.But still foods get wasted because of large weddings, parties and stuff.Also people do not throw food in a nicely packaged way like we see in the video.

[@Jameson77777]

He’s so cute that I probably wouldn’t mind if he took me out for a trash dinner 1st date. Lol

[@cassandragomez5919]

As a health inspector, the reasons that much food could be thrown out is due to temperature abuse, contamination, adulteration, unapproved source....overall unsafe food handling. Just because that steak isn't expired (or opened) doesn't mean it's safe. There are plenty of microorganisms or toxins that don't go away just by cooking it. If it's in commercial trash, there's a reason it's there.

[@BeaveHolio]

thanks for clarifying, we need more people like you.

[@--Paws--]

That guy who made a challenge of living on just $1 in NYC should look into this.

[@Dxco31]

Homeless in newyork should not be starving if they know how to do this

[@anggarar1995]

With this we can do a 0$ challenge for 1 week

[@jacktheninja]

@@thebbb. there is McDonald's

[@konrad8541]

As someone who lives in a third world country, I doubt that I could do this

[@kristincunningham9983]

When I went to NYC for vacation we volunteered and did this!💜 “only for a day but it was worth it”

[@_its_me_pastel_wolfie_4793]

I once gave food to a homeless and he said he wanted money like wut

[@ILoveYou-bv7mf]

Me too, but it was in Italy where they have even places where to go too, but they chose to stay outside so that people could give them money 😭😂 But just steps away, there was someone who would accept anything and he took the pizza, so not everyone is this way, which is great.

[@tessat1693]

Maybe he thought it was poisoned or smth

[@nhupham9829]

Some people may already ate on that day and they have no where to store the food so they cannot accept it cos it will be a waste anyway. Homeless people also have other needs besides food and money will help. I also heard that there are actually jerks that give bad food to homeless people and they got sick after that so some become cautious. I would have not known this until I read Quora and found a former homeless person shared his own story about why he didn't take food sometimes.

[@therealshimo]

_its_me_pastel_wolfie_ Food won’t buy him good meth

[@sonofben3322]

Those people who asks for money instead of food are probably not sincere homeless people trying to survive, instead people associated with drugs.

[@EPIKISOOL]

i remember working in a grocery and throwing away perfectly fine fruits and veggies because they were bruised. I just took them and made wines out of it lol

[@sildarmillion]

Another point worth mentioning is that consumers (for some reason) have a tendency to like fully stocked fridges. And that's why it's hard to keep track of all their food. I, on the other hand, try to aim for as empty a fridge I can possibly have, and I definitely put more in my freezer than in my fridge. I make it a goal to work my way through the food I already have before buying more.

[@twdjt6245]

You're probably right. That happens to me all the time, even in my low income household . (not low enough that we ever go hungry though, obviously). I'll have tons of food in our fridge and freezer but go out buying groceries.....and sometimes I forget I have something & find it when it's already spoiled and have to throw it out....or buy too much of something, use some & the rest gets spoiled. Like right now our fridge is fricking so packed that we often have to take some stuff out to get something.....and that's pretty much always the case with both our main freezer and external freezer. I think the main contributor of that is because we're picky sometimes about what we want to eat that day or that week. Like for example if we're out of one seasoning or one cut of meat or one veggie or whatever it may be...we say...well I want that for dinner so "have to" buy it...and if we can afford to, we almost always end up buying other stuff as well so long as we don't have it already at home (or have it nearly used up at home). I think proper meal planning weekly would prevent a lot of waste....plus we need to be more mindful of learning to make meals of what we already have rather than thinking it's going to be the end of the world if we don't have/make what we're in the mood for that day/week etc.

[@asteri8299]

if you havent already, you should pick up a vaccume sealer, it will reduce the ammount of freezer burn on your food, which reduces the ammount of waste even further. we have a chicken in the freezer thats been in there for 8 months, and theres no freezer burn!

[@purplerose2124]

I really like that idea! I'll try doing that from now on. It just never occured to me to treat things that way

[@em0_tion]

@@asteri8299 Sounds like a great tip, but let's get real for a sec, wtf is chicken meat doing in your freezer for 8 months? You suddenly went vegan or... why is it not eaten yet? :D I would eat the shit out of any chicken xD

[@asteri8299]

@@em0_tion we forgot it was there. we ate it for thanksgiving and it was still good.

[@magicjohnson143]

When I was in the Philippines, I suffered from not eating when ever I want. Then I came to America, it taught me to never ever throw away food.

[@nenmaster5218]

DONT just comment 'Oh, waste=bad'! Do something! Watch 'Second Thought' adress these Issues, starting with his video 'Is Capitalism even efficient?'

[@dexterwhit8565]

hey good job man. I was homeless for quite awhile and saw the waste like you talked about. And later I worked as a Wildlands Firefighter and saw the huge amount of waste that they produced too. Even though we were helping to stop fires. Oh and Robert thank you so much for your help and in such a unique way. It's always nice to see someone who was willing to help us. Though I never met you personally, I was in different cities, I would of liked too. You seem cool.

[@mundanemonday46]

Keep in mind about school cafeterias too. About half the school throws the majority of their lunch away. The trays are styrofoam and the food is packaged with plastic. The vegetables and the fruits that are 1/4 of what is on the tray, when it should be the majority in the plate, is thrown out because of the blemishes. It drives me insane knowing this and that. Yet so many of us are undereducated, not educated seriously enough, or often forget. I do have a solution. But it’s not realistic, so I guess I wouldn’t call it a solution but we should stop with plastic altogether. And use reusable items. For example, stop using plastic cups and styrofoam plates, and purchase “hard” (porcelain, metal, etc.) plates, utensils, and cups. Bring your own thermo water bottle. EVERYWHERE. Then we can transition into the water drought situation, since we would already be focusing on plastic reduction, meaning the majority of plastic would be taken out of the bodies of water on earth.

[@wanderingoryx3710]

Children want pizza, oreas and sody pop.

[@mundanemonday46]

Wandering Oryx Yeah, but you rarely ever find that on your lunch tray, unless you bought it from the snack bar or from your home. It’s a lot better for their health if we give them (vegan) tasty and healthy food that are calorically dense.

[@MaliohammadDesigns]

@edji kiminowa Giving them vegan food isn't healthier in anyway. You can give them a healthy food that tastes good using a lot of things like chicken.

[@mundanemonday46]

MAliohammad Designs you do realize vegan food consists alot of fruits, vegetables, and grains right? Contains proteins, minerals, and nutrients. Yes animal byproducts may get help you protein, calcium, and few nutrients, but they also do contain things like carcinogens and hormones that feed diseases. So yes, veganism is essentially healthier. But it does have its junk food sides like zero carb pastas, Oreos, etc.,.

[@MaliohammadDesigns]

edji kiminowa Eating non vegan food by no way means eating animal products only. You can have a balanced meal. Other thing is "real" milk, it is really good for the kids and taste much better than the fake milks out there. Also good luck getting the good type of iron from vegan food (hint: myoglobin is the biggest source for it, not some plants) Also meat won't kill you, if you eat shit ton of it you will get some bad things, but every thing is moderation is fine....

[@NewBlueTrue]

Well, I’m guessing companies don’t want to donate all of that unsold food, because they want consumers to come and spend their money. Maybe these companies fear they will lose money on sales if they hand out unsold food. Still messed up though. People still need to eat regardless of whether or not a profit is being made.

[@yespleease5102]

That's capitalism for ya

[@lil_weasel219]

They wont lose because they still paid for the unsold items. And they are throwing them away

[@lil_weasel219]

They should sell it sith a discount

[@cristinaljones]

This is a beautifully put together video. Very informative!

[@tykaji9415]

As someone who used to work at a Pizza Hut, I cannot thank you enough for making this video. The amount of dough I threw away was ungodly. Restaurants waste so much food it's actually appalling. In America, there needs to be meaningful change brought to restaurants and grocery stores. Nobody should be going hungry considering how much food there is in this country.

[@empressmacaron4737]

Truth.

[@user-pq6hy4hx8n]

As a Filipino who has been into America. I still cant fathom why my people adore America as an ideal country. It's horrible beyond measure. It's culture alone parallels our Filipino Values. Throwing away good food is a big no-no. Good food turns into leftovers for a reason, it's practical, efficient and saves budget. Cold Pizza for example. Consumerism is an impractical and unhealthy practice in the US. Filipinos and majority of Asian culture refuse to throw away good food for conservation; leftovers and scraps are used as feeds for livestock and household pets. Ive been into a shit ton of house parties where untouched pasta and pastry directly goes into the trash, it pisses me off. Consumerism is the problem. Media and advertising has propelled americans to waste valuable resources. Only a small percentage of americans donate leftovers and I shit you not, most donated food are being exploited. Shame.

[@fullofmistakes3203]

Yeah i agree too. I worked at a fastfood chain before and they were foods that were untouched. Like wtf?! And it goes directly into the trash. Why even buy food if you can't eat it? Anyways, lets hope people learn from this.

[@rcordh5657]

my mom usually only cut Bad stuff (mold,black spot etc) on fruits. she never waste anything. she never waste any food and become angry when i throw away my food. never got sick, today i live on my own and miss her so bad my parents got divorce and i move away from home. sometimes i just throw away food because i'm too full to eat alone, i feel guilty but i can't donate it either i live in the country where there is no place to donate leftover food. and all food portion is huge for one person

[@jaysss6636]

But we filipinos don't throw too much food we just adore the ua because it's a paradise compared to the philippines before the independent of the philippines the country is rich with The us and that rich after independence our population slowly growing and economy slowly declining that's why some pilipinos want to go to the philippines if we didn't ask for independence were probably one of the states of the us

[@user-pq6hy4hx8n]

Joshua Plays your elementary English and the context of your response sickens me.

[@manko6739]

yeah, i think most country in asia have those principle. Sadly in my own country those values started to fade. Native upper class household that rich and almost never felt hunger, always waste food, even go as far as throwing lunch leftover because dinner have different menu.

[@GiancarloEspositoItaliGC]

I am a free market type of person but i mean this should be something we should all strive for helping the less fortunate

[@wanderingoryx3710]

Yea, Steve Jobs should have donated money for that

[@Natadangsa]

Free market is good, but we need to balance it.

[@wanderingoryx3710]

@@Natadangsa isn't that just fascism?

[@Natadangsa]

@@wanderingoryx3710 No, that is not Fascism. I follow the Mohammad Hatta style of Democratic Socialism.

[@wanderingoryx3710]

@@Natadangsa is that some sort of Sharia Socialism? Will genital mutilation be legal then?

[@kristinaasimova601]

Guys, thank you SO MUCH for your work! Great videos!

[@yas-ob4hd]

i love this video. thank you

[@monstermushmush]

I never waste food unless it smells bad or is moldy

[@RoMayDrako]

I lived off of food banks growing up. Got parasites from under cooked pork but never once thought ill off the donation center. Food was food, and what food was given was appreciated even if expired. I'll still eat food if it's past it's best by date. Just wish stores didn't charge more for smaller portions because us single people it doesn't pay to buy in bulk.

[@Alpha-gk6hd]

Sell by date isnt an expiry date so eating past that date means nothing- might not taste the same but should be safe anyway

[@peticrown6135]

That meal they came together and prepared looks soooooo yum 👀💗❗

[@breakhart]

bakery and supermarket all around the world mostly does the same thing, thrashing the unsold product, even the employee not allowed to bring those back home. its kinda standard operating procedure in those places. I think its between PR stunts of "good sale" or just giving impression of "no free meal"

[@HariKrishna-mi6is]

Why it's not viral. Its need to be

[@respectknuckles428]

Because they rather toss it than give to the poor because they can't make profit.

[@TahaAlZadjali]

True - it's never was a issue of lack of information..

[@rayisnumbaone]

True to an extent. If they donate it, they open themselves up to be sued because when you donate food, you're saying it's fit for consumption. If someone gets really sick, you can be held liable. Hell, I'm only a small time family law attorney and my hourly rate is 180. How much do you think a top notch attorney for a major corporation charges an hour? Food for thought.

[@korosensei4384]

@@rayisnumbaone How is that an issue when there is literally law from 1996, showed in this video, that says that donator is immune to lawsuit if he donates it "in good faith" ? The donator and non profit organization that distributes the food are both protected because of that law, its literally showed in the video.

[@rayisnumbaone]

Because it still costs money to defend a suit even if the law and facts are on your side. You still have to draft responses and investigate via discovery, which all costs money. Judges typically don't award attorney's fees if the suit was not frivolous or it's not an enforcement action. Oh, you're one of those that misuse the word literally as if it replaced the word "seriously" in the English language. "Its (sic) literally shown in the video" ...Well it couldn't have figuratively been shown...please stop misusing literally. I, too, am a millennial, but we can all do better.

[@korosensei4384]

@@rayisnumbaone And who is gonna sue a business worth millions for possible food poisoning ? A homeless person ? A guy that barely has enough to cover his bills and has to occasionaly eat donated food ?? It goes both ways, people that sue also need money, and there has been no case of that happening. As you saw in the video, there are companies that donate food, and if they can do it, there is no excuse preventing others doing the same, except profit and apathy disguised as victimhood from possible lawsuits. Also, I dont understand how you can hang onto my missuse of a word on internet, where most people you will talk to are not native english speakers, myself included.

[@bangtanjungkookie2331]

Growing up in an Asian house hold my parents taught me to never waste food. All vegetables that were nearly spoiled were put into stock, stir fry or fried rice. Even when eating out all the leftover were always taken home.

[@PaithanNL]

In the Netherlands all the food will not be trown away, but go to foodbanks for poor people. But a poor person must first to be accepted and may only for three monts use that foodbank and then have to make a new apply. Students with high college deph are strangely not accepted. I think that is because otherwise there is not enough food to give. In the south of the Netherlands shops also lay apples and bananas with a slight color for free to take in the shop. Also to help poor people and also to make fruit more populair. But yeah far right wins more votes every time here, so don't know it this systems stays. The far right also is denying climate change and the urgent need to do something about it.

[@HitomiNoRyu]

I work at a bakery within a supermarket and it pisses me off whenever food waste comes up.

[@mercury6998]

Me too everyday we throw away perfectly good food and alot of customers get mad at me when they see me doing it, but there is nothing that I can do about it. It is against the rules to give it away for free or to take it home. And we store our trash inside so other people can't get it. It's disgusting and wasteful.

[@crazyleg2006]

Where are you from, Venus? and where do you work?

[@mercury6998]

@@crazyleg2006 I'm from the netherlands I work in a supermarket called 'jumbo'

[@crazyleg2006]

Venus it’s a damn shame that it all goes to waste.

[@isabellahu4606]

@@mercury6998 oof ik wist niet dat ze dat daar deden. Echt stomme regels.

[@narata1541]

I worked in the hospitality business and I hated to see all the uneaten food go to the trash after a large event/party. Thankfully, my boss did too, and eventually let me and the rest of the staff eat it. Seriously, sometimes I had good steak! 😋

[@houghwhite411]

I know that is how hospitality works. It's nice to see your boss is understanding

[@saldi3543]

This is One of the most amazing and heartwarming Videos on youtube.

[@bluedude6991]

Dude, That is so cool! Also, I am absolutely loving the energy in your videos.

[@user-cm9ft5bg7i]

Selling it for a discount would be a good idea

[@DensDaPens]

Here in the Philippines there's a bakery chain that goes 50% off on every bread left on the store an hour before they close. The line gets crazy at times, but they sell out everything in 20 minutes or less.

[@norika2965]

Dennis Galabo I’m curious if they’re still making profit of those breads that are 1/2 off?

[@user-cm9ft5bg7i]

Dennis Galabo I guess they're scared of getting sued.

[@yapgimkwee8842]

my country have 50 percent off sushi. still have leftovers

[@inofmotion]

Then whose fault is it, if the government (FDA) itself disapproves and levies fines on lenient expiry dates? Why can't it be left to the customer and consumer? Between restauranteur and the person needing that discounted food?

[@kalanaherath3076]

Should've told Stephen Colbert to promote this on his show

[@colin7moon]

this guy is so clever in storytelling and is so so genuine, it's actually quite inspiring,

[@finnrose3833]

whoa this is so good. thanks for the video you made. I really enjoy it and this video gave me information about food. I mean now I have new perspective about food oh gosh

[@headhunter895]

Why not put out community refrigerators on the streets, just like dustbins, so that people and restaurants can store their unwanted extra food for the homeless and poor. I have seen community refrigerators on some cities of India and Germany. In India I am even seen community storage area for old used clothes along with the refrigerators for food items for the poor and homeless.

[@mathias147]

head hunter Won't happen. Health safety issue. Plus it's not astethically pleasing.

[@wanderingoryx3710]

People would steal the fridge

[@effff327]

This comment needs to go viral

[@EsotericBibleSecrets]

If you put out a refrigerator in America, someone will steal it and take it home, and there will be no legal consequence, as the refrigerator was "thrown away"

[@sun-ox3bt]

Esoteric Emissary they can make it a law in the country,put cctv. Whoever does funny stuffs will get arrested. Easy.

[@armstrong2450]

Each grain in your plate had life. They were threshed and cooked for you to eat.

[@xissyck6753]

threshed, isn't it? but yes, life should be treasured and appreciated :)

[@thebabscast5154]

Beautiful

[@semco72057]

I was in the Air Force and saw so much food thrown away each day I worked in a food service facility. I also worked for the Arkansas Department of Corrections and saw the same thing. There was vegetables which was plowed over in the fields and food cooked in the kitchens which could have been given to charities which could have used them, but instead thrown away and eaten by hogs.

[@karensusee5010]

Ty for Makin the pt we have here in the usa

[@emperorpanda3018]

this video makes me feel good for eating my 8 month expired instant noodles

[@421cookies4]

Are you still alive?

[@wmmv2019]

I've been living healthy and eating greens,fruits, seeds and nuts. I avoid fast food and less soda consumption for about 5months now. Yesterday i ate perfectly good instant noodle that i normally eat from time to time, my intestine rejected it and i bloated so bad i threw up. Now i'm like.. i guess no more instant noodle for me 😐🤔😏

[@porkyminch4143]

94liners Namhope, well your dead! Rip.

[@wmmv2019]

@O T N Not yet... my friend is. But i try my best to eat only fresh ones and more fish and white meat. I see my skin gets better, no more pimple and generally just better health. You're right about my stomach - it doesn't want anything with preservatives.

[@wmmv2019]

@@porkyminch4143 RIP me *rested after yoga* 😏🤧

[@BuddyL]

05:50: "Our economy is not based on compassion; it's based on profit." 🇺🇸 throws out food as a sign of braggadocio: we brag of being "the richest💰 country in the world", so we discard perfectly good materials just to show we can - textbook First-World Problem... Then we have the nerve to wonder why so many go hungry?🤔 How proud.

[@chownful]

It has nothing to do with "braggadocio". The food distribution system is simply not set up to ensure everyone is fed a bare minimum, but that's been the case for long since the USA even came into being. Right now there's not much you can do to quickly, and at low cost, to send old food to places where it is desperately needed.

[@BuddyL]

@@chownful Because that system favours the wealthiest, who are few and don't want to share. They believe that giving even the smallest amount is akin to becoming poor themselves. And no, the US hasn't always been that callous: FDR's Social Cintract proved tgat one is indebted to their fellow citizens, leading (conservative Republican) Eisenhower to tax the richest at 92% (www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-tax-rates). That's why everyone lauds the '50s: the country was so wealthy (after TWO World Wars, no less) because the richest had to pay their fair share. THAT is the easy answer. That also explains why those in power refuse to implement it.

[@respectknuckles428]

FACTS

[@monnieluna1673]

We're not the richest country in the world.

[@marer1000]

BuddyL Nice joke, we became the richest country in the world because most developed countries were decimated by the war and we were able to become a manufacturing distributor for the world exporting all sorts of goods. Taxation has nothing to do with GDP get your facts straight.

[@yousefmedhat5460]

I live in Dubai, this doesn’t happen often because many people here come from very poor countries and respect food and don’t throw it away if it’s good

[@nursenikki513]

That was the most eye opening video I have seen in a long time.

[@null-1]

This video deserves more views

[@tauqeerkhan360]

Best video Yara 😊❤️ yup there should be laws about not dumping good food and feeding the poor who cant afford a meal..

[@zw9423]

Very inspiring and this is what a lot of people in the U.S. need. U.S. was a well developed country since a century ago and people are way due taking things for granted. People are forgetting the tough times and that's sad because their ancestors went through that, people in other parts of the world are going through that, but some people are just too close minded to see. They are accustomed to only recognizing the shortage of resources in Africa when they're trying to make jokes, but never really think about any of this. Really interesting perspective video ty

[@barbarahales4569]

OMG This is fantastic! Keep up the good work!

[@williamjuneau1135]

I love it. Freegan life!¡

[@MsBhappy]

Great segment

[@nasrinakther6907]

In islam wasting food is a great sin.Because think for your one day meal a animal or a plant have to give their life.so throwing food is a insult to the creation of the god.So no one should waste food.😊

[@shakirmustakimsecondchanne6144]

Are you Islam? Because i am 😁

[@profgamer1]

This is exactly what I thought about while watching the video. I always feel bad for throwing away rotten food

[@practioneroflain1175]

No one gives a shit about your religion

[@jehandarayan3027]

@@practioneroflain1175 you don't have to be rude about it lol

[@practioneroflain1175]

@@jehandarayan3027 he's trying to make people think islam is a religion of peace and goodness, which is completely false because islam is propably the most warmongering religion of all time.

[@Ryuto0816]

Remind me my first year living in America as a high school student. I often saw kids picked their FREE lunch then threw all to the trash without touching them because they didn't like the foods.

[@CantStandTories]

Yara, please do more videos on food waste! I’d especially like to see videos about the environmental impact of it. Thank you!

[@moumabanik8006]

You know, in my country (India), we generally are taught that food is another form of god. So that we respect our livelihood and don't waste foods which can help another malnourished person who is in need of that food. So I literally cringed the whole time seeing this much wastage of food in a so called first world developed country. P.s- sorry if my English is not upto the mark as english is not my first language.

[@askeemee6530]

Yup, we're in Asia have culture not to waste food, if we have spare food just share with your neighbors, your friends, families

[@exposurevisual4624]

Mouma Banik yep same with us, love india from indonesia ✌️😘

[@wanderingoryx3710]

So who is the god of shit? Because theres so much of in in the streets.

[@shivjuicinwr142]

Don't you view some river as a god. How'd that turn out?

[@crazyleg2006]

I love that concept, Mouma.

[@JellybeanHouseNewfoundland]

We have six children at home, and we try not to waste any food at all, partly because we often run out of money in our food budget before the end of the month and partly because we know there are many, many people out there who are much worse off than we are and we are so grateful for everything we have. We live in a small town so we don't have the apparently endless opportunities for "dumpster diving" that you have in NYC (although I want to do more of that), but we are able to grow many of our own fruits, herbs, and vegetables, and we keep chickens for eggs. Anything that we really can't or don't want to eat goes to the chickens, and whatever they leave behind gets composted and used to fertilize the gardens. We don't even have to peel vegetables nearly as much as we do. In our house, we eat all our potato peels, apple peels, and so on--even the fuzzy peels of kiwi fruit aren't that bad. Strawberry leaves are perfectly edible and you won't even notice you're eating them if they're in a smoothie. Most people don't know that you can even put tomato leaves in a salad. I don't eat my banana peels, but they get composted. Orange and other citrus peels I chop into thin slices and dry by hanging them in a mesh produce bag in my kitchen (no electricity needed!); then I add them to smoothies, stews, and baked goods. The seeds of many fruits and vegetables are edible, as well. We forage for wild edible plants and mushrooms and try to make use of any food that we are given by friends. We use stale bread for French toast or old-fashioned steamed puddings. I even re-use my cooking oil and save the water I cook vegetables in to make soup the next day. My kids say I'm amazing at making delicious dishes out of leftovers.

[@maryamzeba9595]

A big respect and warm hearted to all the people out there who even utilise the good food from trashes with out any hesitation and donate them❤️ lots of love from india 🙏

[@100firestar]

This reminds me of pagpag in the Phillippines but cleaner and self regulated

[@rcordh5657]

100firestar pagpag is really a waste. its not a good food that being thrown up, pagpag its just a trash that left from somebody plate and get looted on the trash landfill. its beyond dangerous

[@Whatnobodyshows]

As Indians we would never do that! We just don't believe in expiration dates lol jk If we have something which isn't bad and we wouldn't eat it we usually feed it to street animals

[@allisonburgers6939]

That's not true . You're an Indian

[@Whatnobodyshows]

@@allisonburgers6939 sorry??

[@sean.3812]

@@allisonburgers6939 yeh that isn't true

[@Whatnobodyshows]

@@Sirvalian ahh...ya we have that problem in our country but we can't just get " rid" of them.

[@dianaechevarria80]

Yeah I bet lol

[@ianzhang975]

The video shopping job is really well done

[@leonbooberri3329]

this inspires me so much

[@ouvekkostiva]

I remember the first time seeing a bakery throwing 2 large bins of bread out at the end of the day, it was pretty shocking. (that was a decade ago in Brisbane)

[@alventuradelacruz522]

In my country wasting food is like a cardinal sin here, p Bakeries normally use old bread to make a dessert known as bread pudding, is really cheap since is make from old bread and nothing goes to waste

[@stankssmile5865]

Only in USA have I seen a perfectly made burger thrown in the trash just because they forgot to add a cheese slices that I requested, my Yelp amused the girl taking my order.

[@mmt1575]

This was a great video!!

[@phunghungyo6846]

You guys are doing a good job. Keep it up.

[@harrishartman_]

Wow. The best is, think before buy or purchase the food. Best of the best, share your food. ^^

[@freakyv3492]

Harris Hartman the point here is they threw good food, unexspired food and brand new 1 day old bread . They should give it to homeless people or let their worker bring those bread home instead of throwi it away

[@himeno9767]

Can you guys say *"hi"* to the camera? Woman: *_Hello_* *ABSOLUTE* *MAD* *LAD!*

[@abhinandpaulm8858]

Im so much relieved after after watching this video❤️

[@karenterrell8843]

Excellent video!!!