Category Archives: Household

Pantry Patrol

You down with OPP? (other people’s pantries) Each Saturday, the Perfect Pantry blog satisfies our voyeurism by displaying photos from readers’ pantries. While the pantries vary quite a bit, the photos bring up this point: Cluttered pantries lead to waste. Chances are, if you can’t see something, you won’t use it before it goes bad. A few other […]

May 26, 2008 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

This just in from the Not In My Backyard Our Park Department: A British Columbia business association requested that a church stop handing out food donations in a park because it was attracting too many “indigent people.” I guess the association won’t go for this plan, then. — — Food waste and water loss are […]

May 23, 2008 | Also posted in Friday Buffet, International, Personal, Restaurant, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Dish Wish: Don’t Fill It

Folks often ask me how they can avoid food waste at home. After I joke that they can stop buying brussels sprouts, I suggest they serve less food on each plate. (See The Weekly Waste Word category for more tips.)  That way, there’s a better chance diners won’t leave behind uneaten food, much of which isn’t saved. You can […]

May 18, 2008 | Also posted in College | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Food journalist extraordinaire Samuel Fromartz tells us that Las Vegas consumes more shrimp than the rest of the U.S. combined! That must be a sizable number, given Red Lobster’s inclinations. The Vegas tally: a not-so-shrimpy 60,000 pounds per day, or the weight of about three male Asian elephants. I wonder what percent of the shrimp […]

May 16, 2008 | Also posted in Friday Buffet, International | Comments closed

Homemade Toppings

There’s some saying about necessity…mother of all invention, or something. Well this weekend the need to use up some mushrooms gave birth to a new idea in my house–takeout pizza, homemade toppings. I baked the mushrooms in my handy toaster oven to emulate the pizza parlor’s handiwork and they were ready by the time the […]

May 12, 2008 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Mandatory food waste recycling in San Francisco? It has been voluntary for a few years (using green bins like this minature on the right), but if Mayor Gavin Newsom’s plan is accepted, separation of household food scraps will be required. Seattle has already committed to that course of action by 2009. — — Here are […]

May 9, 2008 | Also posted in Composting, Friday Buffet, International | Comments closed

Mapping Food Prices

There’s much discussion of rising food prices, but what does that really look like? Here’s a closeup. (Zoom in on the top portion.) Like usual, the story is a bit more complicated than it may appear. As we see in the illustration, the cost of food is increasing in many, but not all categories. The […]

May 8, 2008 | Also posted in Supermarket | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

In food-waste-to-energy news: If the state of California processed all of its 5.9 million tons of food waste by anaerobic digestion, it would produce enough energy to power 75 percent of the Bay Area. This according to an East Bay Municipal Utility District study. — — Staying in California, The California bill to allow hotel […]

May 2, 2008 | Also posted in Energy, Friday Buffet, Waste Stream | Comments closed

T.G.I. Monday

Yesterday, I enjoyed the “Recession Diet” story in The NY Times describing how many Americans are skimping to battle rising food costs. Among other things, folks are buying more store-brand groceries and eating out less. On the latter point, this should lead to less food waste, as it’s easier to control portion size and leftovers […]

April 28, 2008 | Also posted in Supermarket | Comments closed

April 22 means…

It’s Earth Day–stop reading this and go outside! — Welcome back. Or perhaps you never left…Anyway, for your persistence, here are some tips to help you help our planet by cutting food waste: You can ‘green your refrigerator,’ making it more energy efficient and reducing food waste. You can feed your family for less. You […]

April 22, 2008 | Also posted in Composting, Events | Comments closed