We waste 2.8 trillion pounds of food every year, worldwide. Meanwhile, 805 million people don’t have enough to eat, so it’s no surprise that here at The Plate, we talk a lot about food waste.

There is no one simple solution, but Dr. Eric Handler, Orange County Public Health Officer, is trying something new–connecting the dots between gathering extra food, identifying those in need, getting it to them, and making it easy for food service folks to participate. He’s the co-chair of the Waste Not OC Coalition (WNOC), which he hopes can serve as a model elsewhere.

I talked with Handler, a pediatrician for over 30 years, who spearheads the unique coalition focused on ending hunger in Orange County, California. Handler and his colleagues have managed