American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It) [Hardcover]

Before you even read my review of American Wasteland, I urge you to buy it. Or reserve it at your library. Or put it on your Christmas list. Just find some way to get your hands on it. Because it is truly the most compelling, entertaining, and inspiring book I've read in a long time.

I'm amazed by how comprehensive this book is. Bloom explores food waste at every step of the supply chain: from farms to processing plants to supermarkets to restaurants to cafeterias to the average American home. The amount of food that's wasted in America each and every day-while millions go hungry-is astonishing. Meanwhile, ridiculous amounts of methane are releasing into our atmosphere because of the literal tons of food in our landfills.

Bloom spent several years studying food-waste in depth, and it shows. He worked at McDonald's, a supermarket, and Orbit Energy. He traveled to Britain to meet with prominent politicians. He journeyed to California's vast farms. He ate lunch with students at elementary schools and universities alike. And he visited ordinary households to observe their food waste.

I love Bloom's dry sense of humor, which is peppered throughout the book, and I was really surprised by his upbeat tone. I expected a riveting--but dismal-- story. Instead, I found an eye-opening and hopeful narrative. The last chapter is titled "If I Were the King of the Forest," and it's full of information about drastically reducing our nation's food waste. While it's not realistic for the average consumer to expect to end waste, Bloom offers many helpful tips for cutting down on in-home waste. After finishing the book, I found myself challenging myself to use up odds and ends of food in our kitchen. I will never look at food waste the same way again!

(I did receive a free review copy of this book; however, I was not rewarded for a positive review, and all opinions are my own).

This is a very interesting book on how wasteful we are with our food. I was stunned that half our food ends up in landfills. What an eye-opener. It is obvious, when reading this book, that Mr. Bloom investigated this topic for many years. This is an issue that we can all improve on and Mr. Bloom offers many solutions and recommendations that will assist in mending our wasteful ways. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

As someone who manages my family's food inventory and stash of leftovers with an ardent zeal usually reserved for much more glamorous pursuits, I am so glad that Jonathan Bloom wrote this book!

This book is a must-read if you want to understand the sources and effects of food waste--and what you can do to reduce food waste in your life and community. Bloom extensively researched every aspect of food waste, from California lettuce fields to school lunches to the back rooms and dumpsters of supermarkets. He discusses existing solutions such as higher rates of composting and increased opportunities for gleaning (harvesting left-behind produce) from farms. His combination of journalistic research and first-hand experiences makes for convincing arguments. His sense of humor helps to make a potentially heavy and depressing topic accessible and readable.

If you're trying to reduce food waste in your own home, you'll find plenty of practical tips and advice throughout the book but especially in Chapter 8, Home Is Where the Waste Is. My family is committed to keeping our own food waste to a minimum--and I think we actually succeed--but I still found so much useful information in this book, particularly on what I can do beyond my own kitchen. Bloom's exploration of the broader social and environmental effects of food waste were especially enlightening and add an important dimension to something you might already be doing simply for budget reasons. While controlling your food budget can be an important reason for avoiding food waste and a sufficient motivation in itself, you'll find the wider ethical and environmental reasons both compelling and inspiring.

I wish everyone would read this book so that we can see a meaningful reduction in food waste. It's a big problem that is actually pretty easy to address--a rare combination and a great opportunity to make a difference!