This video clip from A Christmas story serves as a brief illustration of society's vague awareness of food waste and global distribution inequality, but also the lack of detailed understanding. It is an issue that is generally over simplified. 

Throughout the 20th century, people referred to China. Today, we are more familiar with the phrase, "There are starving children in Africa."

Video: Rob Greenfield dumpster dives across America

As described by his website, Rob Greenfield is an “adventurer, activist, and dude making a difference.” He has become an icon for environmentalism and sustainability with attention-grabbing projects such as not showering for a year and biking across America on a bamboo bike (often times naked), among other. One such bike ride, Rob vowed to eat only organic local foods, or things he found in the dumpster. Rob’s life mission is to do these extreme things to illustrate simple points and inspire change [1].

First aired on January 9, 2012 [2], “The Big Waste” is a Food Network television series in which four chefs, Bobby Flay, Michael Symon, Anne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli face off in teams of two to prepare a multicourse meal for 100 people using only food being thrown out by local businesses [3]. They find everything from leftover flour, meat-ends, coffee and chocolate grinds, fresh fruits, discolored peas, untouched fish from a canceled order, to eggs that are not the right size for egg cartons [4]. They find that they are able to make dishes just as delicious and aesthetic as those with store-bought ingredients.