American wasteland: how America throws away nearly half of its food (and what we can do about it)

What Tom Vanderbilt did for traffic and Brian Wansink did for mindless eating, Jonathan Bloom does for food waste. The topic couldn't be timelier: As more people are going hungry while simultaneously more people are morbidly obese, American Wasteland sheds light on the history, culture, and mindset of waste while exploring the parallel eco-friendly and sustainable-food movements. As the era of unprecedented prosperity comes to an end, it's time to reexamine our culture of excess. Working at both a local grocery store and a major fast food chain and volunteering with a food recovery group, Bloom also interviews experts, from Brian Wansink to Alice Waters to Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, and digs up not only why and how we waste, but, more importantly, what we can do to change our ways. Jonathan Bloom is a freelance journalist and food waste expert who writes the blog "Wasted Food". An accomplished eater and fledgling composter, he has covered both serious and quirky topics related to food and the environment. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Newsweek, and Variety, among others.