It appears that around 1/6 of the food produced in the US is discarded before it reaches the store, because it looks imperfect.

This adds to the 1/3 that is wasted by stores and by individuals.

To require supermarkets to give unsold food to the poor is just a matter of overcoming their opposition to the measure. Food that farmers don't bother to harvest is a harder problem. If the government offered to buy it for a low price, somewhat more than what it costs farmers to harvest it, they would do so.

One way to reduce food waste is to teach cooking in school.