Category Archives: General

This Saturday at the super duper Durham Farmer’s Market, I volunteered with Farmer Foodshare. This innovative program collects donations of food from farmers and edibles or currency from shoppers. Volunteers take the donated money and buy produce from the local growers (win-win-win!). Anyway, we try to stretch the money to get as much food as we can for […]

This summer’s new school lunch guidelines that accompanied the updated federal food icon–MyPlate–push for larger portions of fruit and vegetables. Sounds great, right? There’s only one problem: fruit and vegetables are already the most wasted items in school lunches. Serving more of them to each student will only mean more food in the trash. Cue […]

CNN just ran this in-depth piece on the just-released documentary Dive! It includes some new commentary from director/dumpster-diver-in-chief Jeremy Seifert. A large chunk of the film centers on Trader Joe’s food tossing and Seifert’s crew’s reclamation of those perfectly edible, gourmet items. That led to a Change.org petition telling Trader Joe’s to stop wasting food. […]

Helping disaster victims get food is certainly a worthy cause. Helping them get fresh, healthy food is even better. AmpleHarvest.org, a site that connects backyard gardeners with an abundance to local food banks, is doing just that by helping tornado victims in Alabama. More specifically, they’re encouraging food banks in ravaged areas to sign up […]

Here’s a brief Earth Day message from me to you: Don’t waste food! Producing most of our food taxes our environment. The least we can do is eat what we buy. Nuff said. Now get outside and enjoy the day!

We all love farmers’ markets. Well, here’s one more reason to do so: using markets as a vehicle to feed the hungry and avoid waste. Farmer Foodshare does just that. Launched in 2009 in Carrboro, N.C., the volunteer-based operation harnesses generosity by collecting end-of-market excess from growers and accepting shopper donations. Those donations come in […]

Allison Gamble writes for the site Psychology Degree. She chimes in below with her take on the psychology of wastefulness and how it applies to squandering food — — At one time in the American psyche, waste and wealth were symbiotic. Sharp advertising stressed “disposable” as the ultimate “must have,” implying that successful people should not […]

Here’s a nice collection of reader suggestions on how to use-it-up and avoid waste, as compiled by my friendly local newspaper. — — Che? Any Italian speakers want to help me out here? I’m guessing that 30% of Italian food is wasted, but there’s a lot on that page! — — When the Voice of […]