Wasted Food: a dive into our trashcans | France 2 | Envoyé Spécial

Individuals, school canteens, supermarkets… our trashcans are overflowing with edible foodstuffs. Each French person dumps an average of 20kg of food per year: 7 kg of food still in the wrapper lands straight in the bin. The remaining 13kg are made up of the remains of meals and fruit and vegetables that have simply gone off and not been eaten. At every stage of the chain of production, sale and consumption, this practice is general and is hitting new heights: one quarter of the world’s food ends up in the bin when it could have been eaten. What is the financial and ecological impact of this waste? With fruit and vegetable producers, behind the scenes at supermarkets and in individuals’ homes, Guillaume Barthélémy conducted the enquiry to understand why our trashcans are crammed with food. Overconsumption, increasingly specific demands by mass marketing and its customers… there are many reasons for this waste. Is there a solution that will produce less waste? Some rely entirely on education and try to get their message across through schools. We also met with those who have made gleaning their main way of life and feed themselves from waste found in the bins of bakeries and supermarkets. “Do the bins, not the shopping” could be the motto of those who dub themselves garbagarians or garbagivores.