Why does almost half of America’s food go to waste?

We launch an occasional series
we are calling "Food, Glorious Food,"

reports about what we eat,
how our food is grown,

and the economics
of putting a meal on the table.

Tonight we begin with food waste.

Much of what is grown on American farms
never gets to market.

Allison Aubry, of National Public Radio,
has our report.

This story is part The News Hour's
ongoing collaboration with NPR.

(sprinklers spraying)

♪ Latino music ♪

(Allison Aubrey) In Salinas Valley,
California, it's a symphony of sound

as the growing season gets underway.

This fertile strip produces
70% of our leafy greens.

It's been dubbed
"The Salad Bowl of America."

But not everything grown here
makes it to our plates.

In fact, some of it never leaves Salinas.

At the local solid-waste dump,

Operations Manager Cesar Zuniga
watches as trucks roll in, every day,

to dump produce
destined for a nearby landfill.

We've got a whole load,
pretty much, of loose organic lettuce.

We've got spinach towards the back.

It looks like it's perfectly fine,
nothing wrong with it.

We've got some kale here.

We've got broccoli in the back, as well.

We have plenty of produce
to make a salad here.

(Allison) The greens in this landfill
are from local farms,

and sometimes they end up here

because something goes wrong
during the packaging process.

Another reason
perfectly good food gets wasted?

Peter Lehner, from the Natural Resources
Defense Council explains.

Right now, food that isn't sold
to your best buyer

is often dumped in the landfill.

The prices for fresh fruits
and vegetables

can go up and down quite a bit,

and farmers may plant thinking
they'll get one price,

but by the time harvest comes around
there's another price,

and it's not even worth it for them
to get to the market.

(Allison) A report by the Natural
Resources Defense Council says

that as much as 40% of all the food

produced in the United States
never gets eaten.

The idea that almost half
of our food is wasted is crazy.

(Allison) That waste occurs
at every point along the food chain.

Some is lost in transport
and during food processing.

Supermarkets and we the consumers
end up tossing out a lot too.

But what about what's lost on the farm?

An NRDC report found that anywhere
from 1% to 30% of farmers' crops

don't make it to market.

We toured Ocean Mist Farms
with Art Barrientos to find out why.

This cauliflower here, you see
how it has that yellow tinge to it?

- Mmhm.
- This is not marketable.

- Just because the color is a bit off?
- Because it's yellow.

This will not be packed.

It's got to be every bit as nutritious

as the white cauliflower
down here in the field.

What's wrong with it?

There isn't anything wrong with it.
Let me cut a--

- Grab that floret.
- Okay, yes.

It's crunchy. It's tasty.

Tastes like any cauliflower I've ever had.

So are we just shopping with our eyeballs,

and forgetting all about our tastebuds?

Absolutely. As consumers,
we want white cauliflower.

That's what we expect from our grocer.

As a result, it gets incorporated
back into the ground.

We won't harvest it.

So what's another issue

that might ding something
out of the marketplace?

(Art) Size. Size is critical.

This cauliflower here is just too big.

(Allison) So you have to meet
these very specific size stipulations?

Yes, and this is too big.

(Allison) It's really kind of shocking to me.

Well... yes, it can be.

(Allison) Size matters
because retailers demand uniformity.

When everything is stacked up nicely,
it makes for better eye candy,

like this perfect leaf-sized cauliflower
that is being wrapped up,

destined for the produce isle.

The yellow rejects,

and heads deemed too big or too small,

are left behind in the field
to be plowed under.

[3:56]