Author Archives: Jonathan

Bay State Bombshell

In case you missed the big news, Massachusetts is set to ban commercial food waste from landfills by 2014. I included it in Friday’s post, but it deserves its own space. The new regulations would herald a major change–a few cities have similar rules on the books, but no state does. The ruling would prompt […]

May 7, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Energy, Environment, Restaurant, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

This Just In: Massachusetts is planning to ban commercial food waste from landfills. That means large restaurants, hospitals, universities and other large generators would have to compost or create energy with their waste. The ban, likely to go into effect in 2014, would be the first of its kind in the U.S. — — Chuck Schumer […]

May 4, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Restaurant, Supermarket, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Sensing a Problem II

There’s something in the air at Boston-area universities. The smell of rotten fruit, perhaps? Last week I wrote about a Tufts project to embed scannable, edible patches on food items to communicate bacteria levels. Now comes word of an M.I.T. project to help retailers know when food is ripening: The new sensors, described in the journal Angewandte Chemie, […]

May 3, 2012 | Posted in Supermarket, Technology | Comments closed

Putting Food In Its Place

One of the main reasons we waste food is that we don’t know what we have on hand. That’s why  storing food in clear containers is so important. Another way I’ve been avoiding waste lately has been by using this: I know what you’re thinking: ‘How does a really, really shiny pepper help avoid waste?’ […]

May 1, 2012 | Posted in Household, Personal | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Korea may be onto something with their trash reduction strategy–using (RFID) electronic chips to help users pay for what they throw! — — The food safety experts at Consumer Reports weigh in on what ketchup rates highest how long summer condiments stay good. In my opinion, they err a tad on the cautious side (two weeks for […]

April 27, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Friday Buffet, International, Technology | Comments closed

Sensing a Problem

I promise I don’t hate technology. I’m not writing this on parchment paper in a cave. But when I read about this scannable, edible patch, I wasn’t thrilled. A Tufts professor has created a patch made from gold (Gold?! ) and plastic (yum!) that your smarty talky gizmo smartphone reads to note how much bacteria […]

April 26, 2012 | Posted in Food Safety, Household, Technology | Comments closed

Finnishing Food Waste?

It’s always nice to learn about food waste in a country we don’t often hear from. Today, we see a study on food waste in Finland. Three quick thoughts on the report: Finns waste less food than most Europeans/North Americans. Finnish households produce more waste than any other sector (30-40 percent of the waste). But…I’m […]

April 23, 2012 | Posted in International | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

The curbside composting program in State College, Penn. is up and roaring and slated to go borough-wide in 2013. — — Glad to hear that URI is trying to minimize its food waste, but I’ve never heard of the need for “waste refrigerators” to keep waste cool before composting. And compost collection certainly happens in […]

April 20, 2012 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Bieber Battles Waste

There’s that constant blog temptation to link to popular search terms like Bieber and American Wasteland. But this time there’s good reason: Justin Bieber loves food and hates waste. The Biebs recently trimmed his food demands in his tour rider, demanding less dressing room food at each concert venue. Perhaps the pop star made the […]

April 16, 2012 | Posted in Events | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

The Wormdorf Astoria is now taking reservations. A Boca Raton man has created compact vermiculture method and named it creatively. — — Zéro Gâchis? My French is a little rusty, but I think it translates to ‘cool app.’ — — Some big names are investing in food waste-to-energy companies. — — This just in from ConAgra, […]

April 13, 2012 | Posted in Energy, Friday Buffet, International, Vermiculture | Comments closed