GOOD FOOD, BAD WASTE

Some people go hungry while others throw out food: Why is that, and what can we do about it?

Reducing landfills, increasing food security, and helping to fight climate change: These big outcomes are promised results of cutting food waste. Silver cites data to establish our wasteful excesses, especially at home, before offering positive, practical plans to reduce them, like planning meals, using leftovers, and eating less meat. After explaining the concept of food justice, Silver offers a brief list of some governments’ interventions, providing a small counterweight to the pervasive theme of individuals’ responsibility for their own “carbon footprint.” The author does acknowledge that sometimes poverty produces involuntary waste because food can’t be stored or transported. Profiles of diverse child and adult activists are inspirational. Uses for apps and artificial intelligence are touched on; composting instructions are provided. Among many statistics about home food waste, a few don’t match up: Do we waste more produce or more seafood? Kid-size servings of information are portioned out by page or half-page. Bright, cartoonish illustrations and plenty of appetizing color photos showing diverse kids and adults break up the text. The illustrations are amusing and informative: In one image, a stack of burgers represents the scale of U.S. food waste, while Canada’s stack is poutine, Belgium’s is waffles, and France’s is macarons.

A thorough, upbeat look at the problem of food waste proposing some individual responses.