Category Archives: History and Culture

Surrey Cites Waste

According to the BBC, this man dressed as a waiter has been visiting “iconic” Surrey sights with a silver tray of food meant to represent how much the average Surrey household wastes in a week. That would be 57 pounds. It’s a worthy way to bring attention to a topic that, outside of this site, doesn’t get tons of […]

December 18, 2007 | Also posted in Household, International | Comments closed

A Little African Perspective

Many Americans grew up with the ‘clean your plate, there are starving children in Africa’ admonishment.  Apparently, some African immigrants use a similar expression today. Good to know! I think this post by “Ms. KB,” a Liberian woman now living in Pennsylvania, has an interesting and unusual perspective on food waste. Plus, she spins a good […]

December 13, 2007 | Also posted in Household, International | Comments closed

A Little Shmita Waste

Happy Hanukkah! (or Chanukah, if you prefer) In the spirit of “The Festival of Light,” I thought I’d illuminate the Orthodox Jewish practice of Shmita/Shemittah. This biblical law holds that the land of Israel must lay fallow every seventh year. No planting or pruning of crops–it’s like a sabbath for the land. Practical Talmudic scholars, though, have found […]

December 5, 2007 | Also posted in Farm, Household | Comments closed

Thanksgiving Tips

Happy Turkey Day! After re-reading my Culinate article, I thought, ‘Man, I sound like a curmudgeon.’ Then a friend jokingly asked if I’d be fasting on Thanksgiving. So, I’ll be clear: I love Thanksgiving. I enjoy both eating great food and spending time with my family. Please pass the stuffing, Grandma. I just hope that on Thanksgiving, with its food […]

November 22, 2007 | Also posted in Household | Comments closed

Portion Perspective

Canadian writers Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon went a year eating only food produced within 100 miles of their Vancouver apartment. Hence the 100 Mile Diet, an idea and a book (although the U.S. version, oddly, has a different title–Plenty).   The two locavores are on a book tour, and MacKinnon posted a blog entry from the road […]

November 13, 2007 | Also posted in Restaurant | Comments closed

Hooray for Rachael

I’m not much for cooking shows. I can’t stomach all those wasted ingredients as they switch from the mixing bowl to the version finishing in the oven. Plus, they make me hungry. But I wanted to give credit where it’s due to an obscure host named Rachael Ray. You may have seen her on your box of Wheat Thins […]

October 18, 2007 | Also posted in Household, Personal | Comments closed

A Lump of History

Wow, cookbooks sure have changed! This 1916 beauty is actually a freebie distributed by Fred Scott Coal. Can you imagine anything like it today? And it’s not like Scott had any vested interest in people not wasting. More to the point, World War I was raging and while the U.S. hadn’t yet entered, Americans were […]

October 10, 2007 | Also posted in Household | Comments closed

Mottainai!

Most Mondays, I offer advice on how to avoid waste. Today, listening to this NPR piece on the Japanese idea of Mottainai will be more helpful than any of my specific recommendations. Mottainai means, roughly, ‘don’t waste.’ The concept is part of Japan’s cultural DNA, but it had recently been losing out to consumerism (sound familiar, my […]

October 8, 2007 | Also posted in International | Comments closed

Ramadan Waste

The articles on Ramadan food waste continue to roll in here at Wasted Food Headquarters. This article in Qatar’s Gulf-Times provides an Upstairs, Downstairs-like, behind-the-scenes insight on how breaking the Ramadan fast leads to food waste: Contrary to the essence and spirit of fasting, which is meant to incorporate piety and kindheartedness in those observing them, people […]

September 27, 2007 | Also posted in International | Comments closed

Talk about waste!

Last night I spoke to a local group of young professionals about food waste. As much as I like blogging to you discerning readers, the talk was a nice opportunity to converse with an audience that could and did ask questions and challenge some assumptions.  Some attendees were curious about the statistic that we don’t eat a quarter of the […]

September 25, 2007 | Also posted in Household, Personal | Comments closed