More than half of our food lands in the dump – most of it on the way from the farm to the store before it ever reaches our dining-room table! Agriculture devours huge amounts of energy, water, fertilizers and pesticides, clearcutting the rainforest and generating more than a third of the globe’s greenhouse gases. Whenever food rots away at a garbage dump, methane – a gas with an impact on global warming 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide – escapes into the atmosphere. Reducing food waste by merely half would have the same effect on the world climate as eliminating half the cars. Filmmaker Valentin Thurn has researched this waste on an international scale in market dumpsters, where he has documented overwhelming quantities of perfectly edible food, some still packaged and displaying a valid expiration date. The film traces the effect of this wasteful consumption on worldwide famine and explores efforts across the globe to stop this incredible waste. Directed by Valentin Thurn.

Taste the Waste

2011 DE 90 min
Festival Year: 2012
Types:
Topic: Global Perspectives, Sustainable Living