Food makes up a quarter of Calif. household waste
California Watch wraps up its three-part series on hunger in that state with a look at how much food is wasted and why.
Reporters found that tons of food goes to waste when restaurants dump it rather than donate it to distribution centers, when farmers plow over fruits and and vegetables in the fields and when grocery stores throw away food.
Discarded food represents a quarter of all waste tossed away by California households.
The project, in collaboration with the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC, includes a look at the five largest food retailers and whether they donate to food banks and other distribution centers.
Collaboration brings Calif. hunger into focus
Food insecurity is on the rise throughout the country, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimating that one of every seven American households struggled to put food on the table last year.
A 20-part, multimedia series from the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, in collaboration with California Watch, looks at the problem in that state, finding that the numbers of Californians who are struggling to have enough food is rising at an unprecedented rate.
The stories look at food deserts, how a lack of food affects children’s learning ability, struggling food banks, what it takes to eat on a “food stamp budget,” how food is wasted in restaurants, the difficulties of distributing food to those who need it and much more.
The project was produced over several months by 13 graduate students with contributions from members of the California Watch staff, Annenberg professors and staff, and staff from the Los Angeles Times and KQED’s The California Report.
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