The U.S. is a land of plenty. It is one of the world's major producers of food. But every year tons of food are wasted, thrown away before it ever reaches the dinner table.

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The U.S. is a land of plenty. It is one of the world's major producers of food. But every year an incredible 36 billion kilos of food is wasted, thrown away before it ever reaches a dinner table.

Many excuses are made for throwing food away, ranging from consumer health and safety to budgeted wastage in commercial agriculture. But in one of the world's richest societies some find it morally offensive to see perfectly good food being thrown away when there are hungry people who need it.

Now, Americans like Jonathan Meuser have taken it upon themselves to rescue food from the rubbish heap and to challenge the whole system of food distribution using very unconventional methods. Patrick Woodward went with his camera to follow people scavenging for food in the land of plenty.

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About Al Jazeera - Witness

Rageh Omaar presents Witness, a half-hour daily documentary series which features short, specially commissioned or acquired films gathered from independent filmmakers.
 
Each documentary reveals the unknown lives of ordinary people, following their lives, telling their stories and portraying the challenges that confront them. Our witnesses are people in a situation or those who have observed them first hand.
 
The films cover conflict, belief, the past and the future and as well as bringing new stories to light they showcase the talents of a new breed of multi-skilled, frontline journalist. In the studio, Rageh will further explore the issues raised in the films, with expert guests on the subject matter and the filmmakers themselves.