Author Archives: Jonathan

Peachy Keen

New Jersey peach producers usually throw away about a million cosmetically-challenged (blemished) peaches every year. This year, they’ve decided to do something about it. Eastern ProPak, a N.J. growers collective, has teamed up with the Food Bank of South Jersey and Campbell’s Soup to create a peach salsa from unsellable fruit. The result is Just […]

August 2, 2012 | Posted in Farm, Food Recovery, Hunger | Comments closed

Feast Your Eyes on This!

I’m a big fan of infographics. That’s why I was excited to stumble upon this one. Not only is it eye-catching, but it’s an impressive venture for a catering company (Toronto’s Feast Your Eyes!). The part I appreciate the most is how the infographic blends awareness-raising stats with tips on how you can limit your […]

July 30, 2012 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

A new study from USDA researchers puts the total cost of food waste at 165 billion–just for retail and consumer segments of the food chain. And–that’s with 2008 data. So the total cost is certainly higher than that. — — Residents of Le Sueur, Minn. are not thrilled about a potential anaerobic digestion facility that […]

July 27, 2012 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Composting, Friday Buffet, Stats | Comments closed

Are Tomato Battles Wasteful?

So nobody invited me to one of the many Tomato Battles sweeping the West Coast?? They must have known better. These organized tomato fights a la La Tomatina seem like a lot of things: derivative, debaucherous, messy and fun. The real question–is it a big ol’ waste of tomatoes? The group addresses the question on their […]

July 24, 2012 | Posted in Events | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

I’m all for a machine that helps determine avocado ripeness by tapping it and listening to acoustics. Coming soon to a UK supermarket near you… — — Great title: “Food, too, is wasted on the young.” (Think about it for a second.) And the article has some eye-opening stats on Australian food waste. — — Just […]

July 20, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Energy, Friday Buffet, Household, International, Waste Stream | Comments closed

A Light, Summer Post

If this was People or US Weekly, I’d be okay with it. But I expected more from you, Bon Appetit. In a short piece on her morning routine, actress Piper Perabo discusses how she stores food scraps in her freezer to compost them at the farmer’s market (Union Square, I’d guess). Nice one. But my issue […]

July 19, 2012 | Posted in Composting | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

The same guy who brought you Let’s Be Frank hot dogs is working to transform potentially squandered farm products into shelf stable ones to be sold at specialty stores like San Fran’s slice of foodie heaven, Bi-Rite Market. — — Thumbs up for NYC School composting. Boo for photos that make the compost bin seem […]

July 13, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Farm, School | Comments closed

Food Waste is Crappy

I’d never heard of the Parenting. With Crappy Pictures blog. Until today. And now I’m a big fan. In her recent post on kids and food waste, Amber Dusick illustrates (crappily) what seem to be mutually exclusive tasks: feeding kids and avoiding waste. Anyone who’s ever tried to feed a child (and even certain adults) will […]

July 11, 2012 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

Sssquash!

This summer, I’m trying to collect an alphabet of summer squash. It’s sure to be a futile quest–an X??–but it’s fun to try. This weekend at the farmers’ market, I found my next entry. So in addition to C and J, here’s…an S: The aim of this pet project is to champion the idea that real […]

July 9, 2012 | Posted in Alphabet Produce, Farmers' Market, Personal | Comments closed

Banning Food Waste in Landfills

Hit the Gas, a recent UK study funded by an anaerobic digestion (AD) industry group, discusses ways to create more energy via that process. One of those ways is to divert food waste from landfills to AD plants. To secure more “feedstock” for AD, the report proposes that the government should “phase out organic waste to […]

July 5, 2012 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Energy | Comments closed