Monthly Archives: January 2008

French Fry Waste

Let’s have a brief moment of silence for our fallen French fried friends. (moment) There. This post uniquely captures some of the feelings I often have at restaurants. Then its author goes a bit far, but in a fun way. If someone possessed the foresight to construct a potato cemetery for all these fallen soldiers, there […]

January 14, 2008 | Posted in Personal, Restaurant | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

It must be Carrot Week here. This post, after a nice food waste primer, traces the not-so-nice journey of our orange friends (in the “A Small Experiment with Carrots” part). To wit: …an organic farmer growing carrots can reasonably expect between 40% and 60% of his carrots to be rejected. — — Food seal? No, Food-sealing. Oh.  Who […]

January 11, 2008 | Posted in Friday Buffet | Comments closed

8:30 to 5:30

As I mentioned before, I’ve begun working for a renewable energy company planning to convert food waste to electricity. So far, so good. In trying to find sources of bulk food waste, I’ve spoken with folks at food processing plants. One canning factory executive told me that the speed of their production line leads to an abundance of […]

January 10, 2008 | Posted in Composting, Processing Plants | Comments closed

On the Farm

I was talking to a animal waste engineer (it’s a long story) about getting energy from manure. He mentioned gasification–not the most pleasant topic–as a means to convert dead animals to energy. When I asked him about what percentage of a flock or herd dies on the farm, the researcher gave me ballpark figures. Chicken […]

January 9, 2008 | Posted in Farm | Comments closed

International friends

My wife and I recently saw a friend who updated us on an acquaintance who started a non-profit in Kenya. One Acre Fund helps poor Kenyans feed themselves by helping them grow and sell crops. You know, the people whose hunger necessitates your cleaning your plate. (No pressure!) A few days later, I was saddened to hear about the unrest […]

January 6, 2008 | Posted in Composting, International | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Those crazy Brits are at it again, using chocolate waste (an oxymoron?) to power vehicles. The BioTruck team converts it into biodiesel and drove all the way to Timbuktu on the choco-fuel in “the world’s first carbon-negative expedition.” — — Staying in Britain, The Times has an interesting profile of the queen of food recycling, […]

January 4, 2008 | Posted in Food Recovery, Friday Buffet, International | Comments closed

Cars, Supermarkets and Waste

Gordon James, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru (Wales), or Cyfeillion y Ddaear Cymru for the Welsh-speaking crowd, thinks there’d be less food waste if you couldn’t park your car close to the supermarket. The thinking: Since there’s no deterrent to buying an excessive amount of food (often prompted by promotions), we do. While his theory indirectly indicts […]

January 3, 2008 | Posted in Household, Supermarket | Comments closed

08 Food Waste Wishes

It’s 2008, y’all (Happy New Year!), and high time to cut the amount of food going down the drain. Here are eight wishes for preventing food waste in this year: 1. Wal-Mart resumes food donations of edible but unsellable goods (The store halted its program two years ago). 2. More cities and towns follow the lead of Seattle, […]

January 1, 2008 | Posted in Composting, Energy, General, Household, Restaurant, Technology | Comments closed