Author Archives: Jonathan

‘Every Bit of the Animal’ — A Maria Finn Q&A

Maria Finn is an author, journalist and artist. While she was an Autodesk Artist in Residence in late 2014, she set out to change our perception of food and food waste. Following an evening spent shucking oysters, she found herself faced with a mountain of shells. Instead of discarding them, she created beautiful oyster shell tiles that now […]

May 18, 2015 | Posted in Environment, Seafood | Comments closed

Love Food, Hate Wasting Money

You know what’s weird? We pay such close attention to saving a buck or two at the supermarket, but rarely consider how much money we’re throwing away through the food we waste.

May 7, 2015 | Posted in General, Household, Supermarket | Comments closed

France Fights Food Waste

The French take their food seriously. And now we know that they don’t look too kindly on it being wasted. In mid-April, a government-appointed committee released a proposal to tackle food waste in France (PDF in French). The Fight Against Food Waste (Lutte Contre Le Gaspillage Alimentaire – #GaspillageAlimentaire) suggests 36 ways to do just […]

May 1, 2015 | Posted in International, Leftovers | Comments closed

Reclaimed Gourmet: 5 Takeaways from WastED

Dan Barber’s wasted food pop-up/restaurant scene disrupter/edible think-piece ended its run last week. Here’s are five takeaways on the phenomenon that was WastED (#WastEDny): 1. It was a true phenomenon! At least in the New York restaurant—and, hence—media scene. Everyone from The New Yorker to the New Republic raved about the idea and especially the execution. […]

April 8, 2015 | Posted in Restaurant | Comments closed

Public Service Reminder

Don’t forget: it’s what’s inside that counts!

March 31, 2015 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

Unique Lessons

I saw this beauty this weekend at the farmers’ market and fell in love. You say ugly, I say gorgeous.  Is it a V? Maybe a U? Perhaps an N or a C? Yes. The best part of this saga is that my son needed to bring in two sweet potatoes for a class soup […]

March 10, 2015 | Posted in Alphabet Produce, School | Comments closed

NYT Talks Trash–And That’s a Great Thing

Don’t look now, but The New York Times is talking trash—food trash. In other words, The Old Gray Lady is giving wasted food the love it deserves. Yesterday’s Food section features three compelling, informative pieces on food waste, and it further indicates the rising profile of this once-ignored issue. Side note: it’s odd that an […]

March 5, 2015 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

#F5KUNC

This Fall, I participated in an amazing Feeding the 5,000 event at UNC Chapel Hill. The organizers, Carolina Dining Services, spent weeks, if not months, preparing for this meaningful day of action. The organizers, led by Ryan Moore, gleaned sweet potatoes, sought out wonky produce, and bought bycatch fish that would otherwise have been squandered. […]

February 18, 2015 | Posted in Campaigns, College, Repurposing | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Here’s a roundup of recent wasted food news, from the sublime to the ridiculous. With the former, a UK org called Hubbub is pushing the humble (and potentially artistic) pancake as a way to reduce wasted food. Why pancakes? Because they’re so flippin‘ versatile! On the latter, the notion of ‘raccoon meat’ certainly feels disgusting at […]

February 13, 2015 | Posted in Campaigns, International, Leftovers, Supermarket, Waste Ban | Comments closed

Could Bump Mark Debunk Date Labels?

If you’re like me, you love innovations that prevent food from being wasted and hate the inefficiency of expiration dates. That’s why I’m high on Bump Mark, an in-package fresh food indicator now in development. Solveiga Pakstaite, a recent university grad in Britain, created Bump Mark after winning the James Dyson Award to do so. As you […]

January 28, 2015 | Posted in Food Safety, Household, International | Comments closed