This morning, I was on WNPR’s Where We Live. As always, I had a good time talking waste (even though I’m not a morning person, which showed a few times).
The hour really flew by and there were a few things I was hoping to get in but didn’t. For example, a caller mentioned how much free fruit was available for foraging, but going to waste because nobody was collecting it. Sounds to me like somebody in Connecticut needs to start a tree gleaning group.
As for the extra bakery items and lack of reliable pickup, that speaks to the abundance of available bread. It was telling when host John Dankosky asked why they don’t bake less, the caller said that nobody wanted to see empty displays. Anyway, I’ll sleep better after Dankosky volunteered, with a smidge of self-interest, to collect all excess bakery items.
Also, in response to my comment on how we needed more involvement from the Federal government, one caller mentioned the national organization Feeding America. That group does great work, but what I had in mind was a return to when the USDA had a national gleaning coordinator and prompted farmers to donate more of their unharvested crop. Simplifying the tax code to allow all farms, including unincorporated ones, to receive deductions for donating wouldn’t hurt, either.
There were multiple mentions of Food Not Bombs, and this group apparently is still having problems with the state Board of Health. I wrote about this controversy in May.
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