Nearly one-third of all the food that is produced in the world never gets eaten. By some estimates, we waste 30 million tons of food in the U.S. and 1.3 billion metric tons worldwide every year. All this waste has huge economic, environmental, and social costs.

Ned Spang, an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis, led a team of researchers examining food loss and waste in a new study published in the journal Annual Reviews of Environment and Resources. The comprehensive review finds that large systemic factors drive food waste. The study points to the need to look at structural, cultural, and social factors rather than only focusing on actions by individual producers and consumers.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Presentation begins at 6:00 p.m.

Admission is $10 and free for students with a student ID. Refreshments and a no-host bar will be available from 5:30 – 6 p.m. The lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the UC Davis Tahoe Science Center at 291 Country Club Drive in Incline Village (between Tahoe Boulevard/SR 28 and Lakeshore Blvd.).

For more information call 775-881-7560, or visit http://tahoe.ucdavis.edu/events/.