Category Archives: International

Friday Buffet

For your listening pleasure, check out this discussion of food waste on BBC/Radio 4’s The Food Programme. — — If college food waste is caused partly by students not liking the choices, will a student menu rating Web site help? Middlebury College will see. — — This Subaru plant in Indiana is a “zero-waste” facility. […]

March 14, 2008 | Also posted in College, Friday Buffet, Institutional | Comments closed

Comparison Wasting

Filipinos, or Pinoys, waste 1.2 million tons of rice each day. That amounts to a spoonful of rice per person, according to this article in the Philippine Star. In response, the Filipino government has launched a rice conservation program and an advocacy campaign. Well, folks, we Americans waste about 40 percent of all the food […]

March 11, 2008 | Also posted in Stats | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

The beef recall saga continues, unfortunately. — — I’m sad to report that students at my alma mater are wasting lots of food. Come on, Wesleyan–you’re better than that. — — On the other side of the college coin, Columbia University has begun a “Trayless Thursdays” experiment. Ditto for Williams College. Not to split hairs, […]

March 7, 2008 | Also posted in College, Food Safety, Friday Buffet, Trayless | Comments closed

Built-in Waste

Tuesday I linked to an article on the massive food waste in Britain. Buried deep within that piece was a fascinating quote that warrants discussion: Tim Lang, food policy professor at City University, said: “Waste is a fundamental part of the food economy and it will be hard to get rid of. I do not […]

March 6, 2008 | Also posted in Restaurant | Comments closed

Heaps of Waste

London’s The Independent reported on Sunday that Britain throws away half the food it produces. Whoa. Here are the numbers: 20 million tonnes of food wasted per year at a cost of £20 billion pounds. The US is said to waste between 40 and 50 percent of all food it produces, according to research done […]

March 4, 2008 | Also posted in Stats | Comments closed

Irish Haste on Waste Reduction

Ireland’s EPA just weighed in with this discussion paper on how to reduce food and yard waste in landfills. Here’s a decent summary of the study, which suggested ten potential changes to keep food from rotting in landfills. Conspicuously absent was the suggestion: ‘Stop wasting so much food!’ The Irish study stems from the European […]

February 28, 2008 | Also posted in Waste Stream | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

For you science-minded folks, here’s the Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad. I love the idea and the title, but disagree with some of the cautious estimates. When was the last time you threw away ketchup after five months (or spelled it ‘ketsup’)? — — This blogger and I could be fast friends. Check […]

February 15, 2008 | Also posted in College, Friday Buffet, Household, Restaurant, Trayless | Comments closed

Try to clean your plate

A reader recently sent me this article about Haitians so poor they’ve resorted to making cookies from mud, salt and vegetable shortening and I’ve been wrestling with whether to pass it along. While I don’t want to be manipulative and say, ‘See, these kids eat mud cookies, you shouldn’t waste food,’ I sort of do. […]

February 7, 2008 | Also posted in History and Culture, Household, Hunger | Comments closed

Leftover Buffet

Boulder, Colo., is contemplating curbside food waste collection by truck. Alternately, they could reduce costs and emissions by sending around Ralphie (see right). Well, most of the emissions. — — This interesting New York Times piece examines North Jersey beefsteaks, the mostly male, meat-eating affairs. In it, the author (who also keeps an entertaining blog […]

February 4, 2008 | Also posted in History and Culture, Household, School | Comments closed

Really Paying for Restaurant Leftovers

Yesterday we talked about a restaurant in Singapore that charges customers $5 for every 100 grams of food left on their plate. Closer to home, Montreal’s Spirite Lounge has an even more extreme policy, as detailed in this article: The restaurant runs by reservation only in order to prepare the right amount of food on […]

January 23, 2008 | Also posted in Restaurant | Comments closed