America wastes nearly half its food

In today’s tough economic times, we frequently talk about conserving energy, cutting down on waste and living more frugally.

Despite these good intentions, a new study in the American Chemical Society’s journal indicates that the food Americans throw out or leave in fields to rot wastes the equivalent of 350 million barrels of oil a year. That’s about 70 times the amount of oil in the BP Gulf oil spill.

Jonathan Bloom is the author of a new book called ?American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly of its Food, and What We Can Do About It.?

He talks with us about how we became so wasteful, where the wasted food goes, and how we can try to improve things.