"Chefs Get Creative About Restaurant Food Waste"

"40 percent of food in the United States goes uneaten. In the restaurant industry that's $1.6 billion down the disposal."

"The numbers are big. $218 billion of food is wasted every year in the United States—1.3 percent of national GDP, or $1,500 a year for a family of four. In a country with 48 million food-insecure people, this represents 1,250 calories per person, every day.

For restaurants and chefs, reducing food waste is becoming business as usual. Not only does it help the bottom line – a potential savings of $1.6 billion a year in an industry with tight margins — it saves resources all along the food supply chain.

The "three Rs" mantra of enviros everywhere (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) is equally applicable to restaurants and other commercial and institutional food services, according to Dana Gunders of the National Resources Defense Council. Gunders breaks it down like this: Plan smart and don't have extra food to begin with, feed surplus to people if possible, animals second and then look at composting as a last resort."

Kara West reports for Environmental Health News August 10, 2016.