Category Archives: Personal

Presto: Pesto!

When life gets cold…make pesto. With the night air approaching freezing in North Carolina, my backyard basil recently began browning. I picked all remaining leaves with some two-year-old help. Of course–much to my chagrin–I was a little too late for some of the basil… After harvesting our year’s pine nut crop procuring plenty of pine […]

November 2, 2011 | Also posted in Garden, Household | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

There’s a new app to help New Yorkers find and patronize restaurants that donate unused food to City Harvest. Perfect! — — Food deserts present a real problem these days. This piece addresses the different solutions, from Walmart to urban agriculture to food recovery. — — You want tips on how to avoid waste and […]

October 28, 2011 | Also posted in Food Recovery, Friday Buffet, Technology | Comments closed

Go Gleaning (Please)

Six years ago, I went gleaning for the first time, gathering sweet potatoes in rural North Carolina. A year ago, I went through a brief training so as to coordinate future gleaning outings. Yesterday, I got to supervise one such outing–gleaning sweet potatoes, of course (it is North Carolina). The volunteers were mostly a troupe […]

October 24, 2011 | Also posted in Food Recovery | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Hot off the press: New data on retail and home produce waste from our friends at the USDA’s Economic Research Service. I’ll break this down further in a future post, but in the meantime, take a gander. — — Exciting News: The NY Times Online reports that The Grocery Manufacturers Association is planning a three-year initiative to […]

September 16, 2011 | Also posted in Composting, Energy, Friday Buffet, Household, Supermarket | Comments closed

Paperback Party

Hey there! Come on in–make yourself at home. Help yourself to a drink and there’s food over there. Just don’t take more than you’ll eat! You know…because it’s a party for a book about…yeah, you know. — This day is a happy one–celebrating the release of American Wasteland in paperback. Or as I like to […]

September 1, 2011 | Posted in Personal | Comments closed

One Word: Paperback

Two more words: New cover The book comes out Sept. 1 and, as always, you can preorder…

August 1, 2011 | Posted in Personal | Comments closed

86ing Waste

This past week, I gave a series of talks at Mario Batali’s restaurants in LA and Las Vegas. It was an interesting, eye-opening experience. I learned a fair amount about how restaurants view waste and, hopefully, the warm, professional staff learned a bit about the importance of reducing waste. The restaurant group is already on […]

July 22, 2011 | Also posted in Repurposing, Restaurant | Comments closed

Bataliwood

Today, I’m in L.A., giving a talk to the staff from two Mario Batali-owned restaurants. And I’ll be doing the same for the next three days, speaking twice in both L.A. and Las Vegas. I’m excited about the opportunity, as it’s a fabulous chance to communicate the importance of waste reduction to some of the culinary […]

July 18, 2011 | Posted in Personal | Comments closed

Crowded Agenda

Happy World Population Day! Later this year, we’ll hit 7 million people. That’s why one of the 7 billion actions should be getting more efficient with our food. In other words, to waste less. Just something to think about the next time you find an article about changing agriculture to feed the growing planet that […]

July 11, 2011 | Also posted in Environment, Farm | Comments closed

Monday Buffet

Here’s NPR’s second story of the week relating to food recovery. I’m a source in this one! — — Massachusetts is clearing some red tape to pave the way for more anaerobic digestion. Wicked awesome! — — Meanwhile, the UK’s largest AD facility just opened in Staffordshire. — — This story on Malaysian restaurateurs’ responses […]

June 27, 2011 | Also posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Composting, Food Recovery, International | Comments closed