Giving Compass' Take:

• On June 8, 2018, Anthony Bourdain passed away at the age of 61 (the reported cause of death was suicide). The world lost a true pioneer in the gourmet world, a vagabond and an all-around character. But it also lost an advocate for an important issue: food waste. Let's revisit 2017's "WASTED!" documentary, in which Bourdain and other chefs raise awareness about being mindful of the stuff we discard.

• According to estimates in this 2017 article from Food Tank, we can feed the world's hungry with just a quarter of the food that's thrown out. To honor Bourdain's memory and the cause he believed in, let's not just watch his movie — let's take action.

Here's what a garbage guru has to say when it comes to tackling this issue.


A new documentary from chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain, “WASTED! The Story of Food Waste” explores both the problem of food waste in the United States and possible solutions from around the globe. The documentary features renowned chefs and food leaders, including Dan Barber, Mario Batali, Massimo Bottura, Danny Bowien, and Dr. Judith Rodin, who demonstrate potential ways to help solve the food waste problem.

“This is an important and informative film and a project I’m proud to be part of. Chefs have been at the cutting edge of efforts to contend responsibly with the problem of food waste, perhaps because they, more than others, are painfully aware of the egregious volume of perfectly usable, nutritious food that could otherwise feed people in need, being thrown out in our restaurants,” said Bourdain in a press release.

According to the documentary and statistics from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), approximately one-third of the food produced around the world for human consumption is never eaten. This amounts to 1.3 billion tons of food waste per year. According to the FAO, recovering just one-quarter of this waste would be enough to feed the 870 million hungry people in the world.

Read the full article about Anthony Bourdain's documentary on food waste by Eva Perroni at Food Tank.