l.a. food banks list of donors the question is could they do more and from the amount of food thrown into dumpsters every night the answer is yes. darryn told me that the l.a. food bank is short eleven million pounds of food every year if the entire country throws out ninety six billion pounds of food every year what about just los angeles county i'm going to use this whipped cream i got out of the dumpster the other night to do the math to see how much food l.a. county throws away every year every year in l.a. county we throw away twenty four billion pounds of trash. according to the e.p.a. twelve percent of that is food waste that means we throw away two billion eight hundred eighteen million pounds of food saving just one percent of valets food waste will equal nearly thirty million pounds of food that's almost triple what the food bank is short every year. weighs happens on all levels of production and consumption on farms in transit in the making of highly produced foods in grocery stores in restaurants and in our homes but grocery stores are the obvious choice for redirecting wasted

l.a.'s recovery. the turnis around can't come quickly enough for so many people here in the bay area who are not making ends meet. food banks are playing a vital role. one in particular says it's down to bare bones with no major food drives planned until mid may. we saw a lot of empty shelves at the alameda county food bank. workers say they're sorting the last of the goods donated over the holidays and supplies dip, the demand is staying strong. >> the most efficient, quickest way to help us right now is cash donations. we can take every dollar we receive and turn it into $5 worth of food. >> the food bank says it received more than 650,000 pounds from the holiday food drive, but that big christmas surge typically only lasts through the end of march which is right about now. >> the window to hold the mavericks surf is contest is closing fast. if you're looking to ride the mavericks excitement, you still have a chance to do so. organizers are putting on the first of its kind festival this saturday in half moon day. it will include a lied band and an awards show. saturday the mavericks surf contest window officially closes a