Giving Compass' Take:

• Global Citizen reports on the Food Sustainability Index, and the factors that have placed France in the top spot for handling food waste. The U.S. is in 24th place.

• What can America do to rise up the rankings? Some practices we can learn from our French friends: banning edible food waste from supermarkets and preserving forests, which maintains soil quality and water retention.

• These food waste innovations show the big impact of small changes.

Because of its strict zero food waste policies, sustainable agricultural practices, and the healthy eating habits of its people, France has retained the top spot in the Food Sustainability Index, a study of 34 countries by The Economist Intelligence Unit and the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation.

The index examines how well countries advocate for and enact food waste policies, how well resources are used, and how health indicators perform throughout a population.

"Sustainable food systems are vital in achieving the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals,” Martin Koehring, managing editor at The Economist Intelligence Unit. “Major global developments such as climate change, rapid urbanisation, tourism, migration flows and the shift towards Westernised diets put food systems under pressure.”

Read the full article on France leading the world in ending food waste by Joe McCarthy at Global Citizen.