Category Archives: Supermarket

Tech Tuesday

Who says technology and food waste avoidance don’t mix? That combination works quite well–just ask LeanPath. Which brings us to RFID tags, a microchip with an antenna that transmits information wirelessly to a reader. These tags are are now being used in Europe to track pallets’ progress through the “cool chain.” A Dutch company, a German retailer and […]

September 8, 2009 | Also posted in International, Technology | Comments closed

Time’s Up

From Japan comes the neat idea of meat labels that go dark when the food becomes unsafe, preventing bar code scanning. Fresh Labels work by detecting levels of ammonia in the meat, preventing stores from tampering with expiration dates, a recent problem in Japan. I love the idea, since it focuses on when the food […]

August 31, 2009 | Also posted in Food Safety, International | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Here’s a look inside the food-waste-to-energy plant in Oakland. Hey Bay Area folks, keep your oyster shells, rags and rocks out of the compost! — — Using watermelon cast-offs to make fuel? Seriously? I thought watermelon was about 99% water? And which have more energy–original or seedless? Of course, it’d be great if we weren’t […]

August 28, 2009 | Also posted in Farm, Food Recovery, Food Safety, Friday Buffet, Household, Technology | Comments closed

BOGOF to Bug Off?

Bye bye, ‘buy-one-get-one-free?’ This beloved sales scheme is under threat in the UK, where it’s called BOGOF. The British government is working on its first food policy since WWII rationing ended and released a preliminary assessment on Monday. In the food policy, the government will call on retailers to abolish the tempting retail policy blamed for […]

August 12, 2009 | Also posted in International | Comments closed

Tomato Sale

Every time I hit the store, I venture over to the discount produce rack to see what they have. It’s mostly curiosity, but I do buy things from time to time. It’s essentially the one area where I do make impulse purchases—I know, tsk, tsk–but I only do it when I know I’ll use the […]

August 10, 2009 | Also posted in Personal | Comments closed

Small Wonder?

The Fancy Food Show occured in New York last week. While it’s hard to resist making snide comments about the event, it’s too easy a target and, besides, they donate their excess (fancy) food to City Harvest.  In addition to reporting the dual flavor trends of honey and blood orange, this Times article on the Show featured this quotation: […]

July 6, 2009 | Also posted in Events | Comments closed

Selling “Sell-By” Down the River

The Brits have proposed yet another innovative idea for reducing food waste: ban sell-by dates.  As part of the War on Waste campaign, Britain’s Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn proposed the elimination of these “sell-by” dates while keeping true expiration dates to avoid confusion. Many consumers see the dates aimed at retailers and just throw items away. What’s more, […]

June 10, 2009 | Also posted in Food Safety, International | Comments closed

Taking One for the Team

CNET Asia blogger Michael Tan raises an interesting question, albeit in a confrontational manner: If you care about the environment and not wasting food, should you buy the container of milk closer to its expiration date? Robin Shreeves from the Mother Nature Network runs with the question, applying it to various supermarket sections. Her main […]

April 21, 2009 | Also posted in Food Safety, Personal | Comments closed

Web-prevented Waste

A Scottish entrepreneur just launched a site that will enable grocers to sell goods approaching their ‘best by’ date to bargain hunting consumers. Unfortunately, I don’t know what the site is called. That’s because this article–in a stunning feat of journalistic incompetence–doesn’t provide the name or URL. While I’m complaining, a second source (on this […]

April 14, 2009 | Also posted in International, Technology | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Things are looking grim for a potential California bill that would allow catering customers to demand that their excess food be donated. After having her bill rebuffed last year, State Sen. Jenny Oropeza has decided to take a slow steady approach this year. It seems like a victory for the loose coalition of intertia, fear […]

March 27, 2009 | Also posted in Food Recovery, Friday Buffet, Legislation, Trayless, Tree Gleaning | Comments closed