Category Archives: College

Food Matters!

For years, I’ve been saying that we need to teach kids that food isn’t trash. That food isn’t just like any other commodity in our throw-away culture. That food is special. That food…matters! I’m thrilled to say that there’s now a great resource to teach that message. This past year, I’ve helped create an amazing […]

May 2, 2019 | Also posted in School | Comments closed

Weighing In On Campus Food Waste

Ever wondered what the waste looks like from one college cafeteria meal? Wonder no more: Above is the accumulated plate waste from one dinner at Willamette University in Salem, Ore. That school’s chapter of the fabulous Food Recovery Network (FRN) organized the Weigh the Waste event last year along with the school’s caterer, Bon Appétit Management […]

January 21, 2016 | Also posted in Events, Trayless | Comments closed

Watching the 5,000

Carolina Dining Services recently published this recap of their fabulous Feeding the 5,000 event at UNC. Have a look–it’s four minutes well spent. Experience the day and all the work that went into it.

June 24, 2015 | Also posted in Institutional, Repurposing | 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 | Also posted in Campaigns, Repurposing | Comments closed

Feeding the 5000s

In the last ten days, Feeding the 5000 events have fed close to 10,000 Americans. First, there was Oakland. Then Chapel Hill. Different coasts, different gatherings, but the same outcome–a public feast from food that would have gone to waste. I was fortunate enough to participate in both of these gatherings, whose name nods at the New Testament. The idea is […]

October 27, 2014 | Also posted in Events | Comments closed

Monday Roundup

Plenty of news from Food Waste World recently: There’s an increased likelihood of the EU banning “best before” labels on shelf-stable foods like grains, canned goods and frozen items. The Dutch and Swedish farming ministers sent a letter recommending that course of action to the EU Agriculture Council, who discussed the issue today (but didn’t […]

May 19, 2014 | Also posted in Casino, Composting, Environment, International, Waste Ban | Comments closed

Blown Away by Waste Buffet

On Tuesday, I gave a talk at Keene State College in New Hampshire. In conjunction with the visit, the progressive folks of Keene State Dining created this amazing tableau of waste:  Dining workers pulled untouched and nearly untouched breakfast and lunch items from the plate return and assembled a visually appealing, yet haunting “waste buffet.” The […]

April 25, 2014 | Also posted in Institutional | Comments closed

Wormiture

If your furniture could compost food, why shouldn’t it? Form and function are nice, but how about adding even more function?! Since you’re probably going to have furniture in your home anyway, why not fill it with composting worms? Those were a few of the questions that informed the Vermiculture Furniture course at Ohio State.* The ten-week class was […]

February 11, 2014 | Also posted in Composting, Vermiculture | Comments closed

FRN gets BUX

It’s always nice to see good empowered. Especially when that good is an organization run by young adults. Yesterday, the youth-powered Food Recovery Network received a cool $150,000 grant from the Sodexo Foundation to redistribute edible but unsellable food to people who need it. With this grant money, FRN will bring on full-time staff, provide […]

May 8, 2013 | Also posted in Food Recovery | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

More than 100 New York City restaurants–including ones owned by Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and Danny Meyer–have pledged to cut their waste in half. One thing conspicuously absent in the writeup was any kind of timeline. Still, great news! — — The GRACE Communications Foundation (the folks behind The Meatrix) just launched a new site on food waste, and […]

April 26, 2013 | Also posted in Environment, Food Safety, Restaurant | Comments closed