Category Archives: General

Word of the Day

An unused vote is a wasted vote. — Note: No food was wasted in the making of this photograph. Any guesses on what the ‘V’ is?

November 4, 2008 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Compost Happens: The Brian Rosa Q & A

One of my pet peeves is the idea that “green consumerism” alone will reverse our environmental woes. More than just “buying green,” real change will require behavioral shifts small and large. Fortunately, composting is a relatively easy change. Chances are, you already separate your food scraps from your other waste. Composting merely requires that you […]

October 7, 2008 | Also posted in Composting, Q & A | Comments closed

Trayless Update

Hook ’em, Horns! The University of Texas is considering going trayless. While I’m obviously biased towards traylessness, I try to keep an open mind toward other opinions. This rationale, however, makes no sense: “I think if you have a tray, it’s a whole lot easier to see what you’re taking,” said UT student Katie Koehler. “So […]

October 3, 2008 | Also posted in College, Trayless | Comments closed

All Things in Moderation

Today, I’ll be moderating a panel on the Politics of Campus Dining at the Politics of Food Conference. I know–lots of politics. I’m not entirely sure how I earned this honor, but I do know I’ll do my darndest to include wasted food in the discussion. Hosted by the Environmental Leadership Program, the conference is […]

September 22, 2008 | Also posted in Personal | Comments closed

Programming Note

I’m back from my West Coast swing, and I have seen the light: It’s time to get back to posting regularly. Things will resume as normal from here on out. I’m returning with a fresh appreciation for backyard tree gleaning, consistent web access and nature’s glory.  On that last one, here’s a little proof of what can happen […]

September 17, 2008 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Slow Food Report

Saturday at Slow Food Nation, San Francisco’s Herbst Theater was the high church of liberal foodiedom. It was Bobo central. And it was awesome. Sharing the stage were Wendell Berry, Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Eric Schlosser, Vandana Shiva and Slow Food International founder Carlo Petrini. Corby Kummer moderated the entire affair with aplomb, calling on […]

September 1, 2008 | Posted in General | Comments closed

On the Road

This weekend, I’ll be hangin’ with the local, sustainable crowd at Slow Food Nation. There are much worse places to be than San Francisco and I’m scheduled to help Food Runners recover food from a Slow Food event. SFN is the first stop on a two-week research trip that will take me across the Bay […]

August 30, 2008 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Water, Food Wasted

Thursday I wrote about colleges cutting the use of trays. In addition to limiting food waste, it curtails water usage, as there are no trays to wash. Another way to save water is to not waste food in general. Saving Water: From Field to Fork, a new report by the Stockholm Water Management Institute (SIWI), […]

August 25, 2008 | Also posted in Stats | Comments closed

Food Waste Whodunnit

Who caught more than 200 fish–some of them a protected species–and then left them to rot in a park along the Columbia River? The Oregon State Police Fish & Wildlife Division wants to know… The person(s) who did it laid the fish out along the beach, began gutting some of the steelhead and then left. […]

August 11, 2008 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Tomato Tally

This week, tomato farmers will ask Congress for aid to offset their losses stemming from the incorrect assertion that tomatoes were causing salmonella. (It was Mexican-grown jalapeño peppers.) And farmers are considering a few other options, too. The off-target warning effectively killed the market for tomatoes. By the time the FDA rescinded its original warning […]

July 28, 2008 | Also posted in Farm, Food Safety | Comments closed