Billions of pounds of food go to waste every year in the United States and in other parts of the world. It is an astounding number, especially when you consider all the precious resources, like water, that goes into producing that food. Then there are all the greenhouse gases going up into our air, from farm machinery, and from vehicles used to transport the food to factories and stores. And all the time and effort of countless farmers and other workers. Processed food has an even larger carbon footprint, because of the fuels used to power factories to produce those potato chips that you left on your plate at the restaurant.

It's a gigantic problem that requires solutions, and that’s what a team of researchers is working on. Their work is funded by the National Science Foundation and in this program, we’ll find out what they are doing.