Category Archives: Stats

Tale of the Tape II–Split Decision

Let’s look at another figure from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) study. The ESRC study counts 17 million tonnes of British food waste annually. Fareshare, the national charity that redistributes excess food, says almost one-fourth of that is perfectly edible when it’s thrown away. To subtract the ‘es’ from 17 million tonnes, we multiply a bit to arrive […]

June 20, 2007 | Also posted in International, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Tale of the Tape

Last week, Britain’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) released a study called Consumption: Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. Because I’m slow at math, I’m just now pondering its import. My first instinct is to compare Britons’ food waste to ours. The ESRC study reports that the “Every year British consumers each waste £424 on food they do not […]

June 19, 2007 | Also posted in International, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Sorting Waste

The National Restaurant Asociation’s 2007 Restaurant Show concluded Tuesday. While I wasn’t able to attend–they make journalists jump through many, many hoops–apparently environmental awareness was a big theme there. Exhibitors displayed plenty of recycling innovations like compostable cups made from corn. Much more exciting, though, LeanPath, Inc. unveiled its ValuWaste product. This product assesses the composition of food […]

May 23, 2007 | Also posted in Institutional, Restaurant, Technology | Comments closed

Lunchlady Laments

Most of us can remember the euphoria of zipping out the school door for…RECESS! Yet, that rush often means uneaten food is tossed in the trash. Studies have found that when lunch is after recess, elementary school students eat more and waste less–about 30 percent less (recess-before-lunch-powerpoint.ppt). And according to a 1996 survey, 78 percent of cafeteria managers cited “attention on […]

May 22, 2007 | Also posted in School | Comments closed

Talkin’ Turkey

Apparently wasted food is a hot topic in Turkey. According to Today’s Zaman, an English-language daily paper linked to The Times of London, food waste is a problem in Turkey. In this article and a more comprehendible news roundup, the paper reported that one-third of the food from all-inclusive hotels’ buffets goes to waste. The data is from […]

May 21, 2007 | Also posted in International, Restaurant | Comments closed

Kong-sized waste

Hefty plate waste after eating out isn’t just an American specialty. Thanks to its abundance of restaurants and hotels, wasted food comprises one third of Hong Kong’s landfill space. (The US average is about 12 percent.) To reduce their food waste, local eateries have implemented an interesting idea–fining buffet diners for uneaten food. Voice of […]

May 10, 2007 | Also posted in International, Restaurant, Unfinished Food Charge | Comments closed

Stamp Out Hunger

It’d be silly to blog on food waste without talking about helping the hungry. To wit: Stamp Out Hunger. Thanks to this neat idea now in its 15th year you don’t even have to leave your house to help those less fortunate. Just leave non-perishable food items in a bag beside your mailbox this Saturday and your letter […]

May 9, 2007 | Also posted in Food Recovery, Hunger | Comments closed

Disastrous Waste

In a shocking bit of front-page food waste news, Washington Post reported today that FEMA wasted $43 million of prepared food last summer because it ran out of warehouse space. Truckloads of MRE-like meals–6 million of them–spoiled as they sat outside in the Alabama heat.  This situation makes an easy meal for politicians playing the public watchdog role. […]

April 13, 2007 | Also posted in Food Safety, General | Comments closed

The Home Front

I recently came across stats for food waste in Orange County, North Carolina, where I live. My immediate reaction–Wow! It seems we waste a fair amount of food in N.C.’s O.C. In 2005, food waste was one-fifth of the county’s waste stream, its largest component. Considering overall waste for the county was 56,303 tons, 11,091 tons […]

March 14, 2007 | Also posted in Household, Restaurant | Comments closed

More Campus Waste

As an example of campus food waste, Rutgers University students and staff waste more than one and a half pounds of food per meal. How do colleges waste so much food? In one quasi-word: All-you-can-eat. Given the food recycling figures from some schools, it seems more like all-you-can-waste. With escalating room and board fees and upscale college […]

March 2, 2007 | Also posted in College, Institutional | Comments closed