Comedian John Oliver Takes Issue with Food Waste in America

A recent report from The Natural Resources Defense Council found that 40 percent of the food produced in our country is never consumed. According to that report, we throw away about $165 billion of food each year. "Reducing food losses by just 15 percent would be enough food to feed more than 25 million Americans every year at a time when one in six Americans lack a secure supply of food to their tables," said the NRDC report. "Increasing the efficiency of our food system is a triple- bottom-line solution that requires collaborative efforts by businesses, governments and consumers."

The report prompted comedian John Oliver to dedicate a 17-minute segment to the topic in his show "Last Week Tonight," on HBO. "This is not a story about the food we eat, it's about the food we don't eat, because there is a surprising amount of it," Oliver said after playing snippets from several gluttonous commercials. Read article in Los Angeles Times.