Some Light Leftover Reading

I’ve been doing some reading on leftovers lately, and yesterday I read this beauty:

It’s part leftover advice book, part advertorial for Hood’s Sarsaparilla, a cure for all that ailed folks in 1891.

It’s quite a combination, and the two topics are interspersed throughout the 17-page booklet. So after some helpful advice on using stale bread, you’ll get a testimonial from a Civil War amputee on how Sarsaparilla headed his wound. Fascinating stuff, and it makes me at least want to drink the bastardized soda.

Anyway, the content (and prose) on leftovers is as interesting as the editorial combination. For example, there’s this handy list of uses for sour milk: biscuits, gems, corncakes, shortcakes rye muffins, doughnuts, gingerbread, griddle cakes, cookies, cakes and cottage cheese.

Meanwhile, I learned that brewis is milk-soaked bread crumbs usually cooked with fish that likely tastes like frugality. And I found out that there are a baked good called gems that remain a mystery.

And speaking of gems, I find this one inspiring and useful:

One is often puzzled to think of ways of using the whites or yolks of eggs left over when the other part has been used. In making…dishes requiring only the yolks, plan to make at the same time either a white or snow cake, apple snow, charlotte ruse, meringues, pudding sauces, cream whips, frosting for cakes, maccaroons or cocoanut [sic] cakes what will use up the whites.

By the way, you really should try my charlotte ruse–it’s quite clever!

June 19, 2013 | Posted in Household, Leftovers | Comments closed

New York City Composts!

The Bloomberg Administration announced plans on Sunday for an ambitious composting program for household and commercial food waste that would cover all of New York City by 2016. The move continues Mayor Bloomberg’s recent emphasis on food waste and will help reach the PlaNYC goal of diverting 75 percent of waste from landfills by 2030.

The plans are anything but set, but here are a few thoughts on the news:

—This is wonderful. New York has been flirting with composting food scraps for several years (including an ongoing pilot program), but it’s heartening to see that they are ready to announce a citywide effort to keep food out of landfills.

—It’s a gamechanger. This plan will set an example for all major international cities. If a city as massive and complex as New York can implement mandatory composting, it can happen just about anywhere. And while there have been several U.S. cities requiring composting, they’ve all been in the western U.S. It’s encouraging to see an Eastern city lead by example.

—Gotham Green City! With its biking program, the abundance of walking and now composting, New York is on its way to becoming one of the greener major cities in the US. (And if the soda tax was upheld, it would have been even more so!)

—Far from a done deal. There will be pushback from residents and restaurants, as separating food scraps requires a bit more labor. Getting this plan right–figuring out whether to make it voluntary or mandatory and the timing on food scrap pickup–will take time. Meanwhile, the composting program won’t cover the entire city until 2016.

—Stay tuned. Even if there’s acceptance from Bloomberg leaves office at the end of the year and the next mayor could cancel or alter the program. Yet, two likely Bloomberg successors, Christine Quinn and Bill de Blasio said they were in favor of the program.

In the end, I hope that the policy is judged on its merits, not politics (and that it’s not lumped together with the tax on large sugary drinks). And when the program does commence, I hope New Yorkers have the foresight and patience to get through the inevitable bumps to reach that zero-food-to-landfill goal. I’m cautiously optimistic that they will be, given the rising tide of food waste awareness.

June 17, 2013 | Posted in Composting, Legislation, Restaurant | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

I’d be more excited about freezers that can detect expiration dates if those dates meant anything! With perishables, date labels speak to quality not safety. And they are basically meaningless for frozen food.

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Want some fraud with that food waste? Then talk to these two Edmonds, Wash., food service workers.

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World Environment Day is having a ripple effect on food waste awareness. To wit: In the Philippines, the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources has “called on the public to be more vigilant on the food they are eating and wasting.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zadari urged his nation not to waste food.

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I’m not sure I fully understand the NAMASTE project, but it seems like it converts fruit and cereals into both beverages and animal feed. And I’m certain that they view waste as a wasted opportunity.

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Finally, as a follow-up to Wednesday’s post on the Clean Plate Campaign in China, here’s the latest on that initiative.

June 14, 2013 | Posted in Friday Buffet, International, School | Comments closed

Clean Your Plate, Because…You’re in China

Many of us grew up hearing the admonition, ‘Clean your plate, because there are children starving in China.’ Well, it turns out Chinese kids heard (and some experienced) similar things.

That’s one of the many fascinating anecdotes reported in The World‘s fascinating piece on food waste in China. As part of the What’s For Lunch? series, The World focused on Chinese food waste and the fledgling Clean Your Plate campaign.

image courtesy of UNEPThere’s increased attention on food waste in China these days, and for good reason–it’s on the rise. Food comprises a staggering 70 percent of the country’s garbage. By comparison, the US figure is about 20 percent.

That burgeoning Chinese waste is partly driven by a reaction against the great famine that killed 40 million in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  Excessive ordering and leaving food behind at restaurants are key examples of culturally-driven food waste. Gluttonous banquets with numerous courses are also to blame.

The organizers of the Clean Your Plate campaign launched their initiative in response to this problem. They have distributed leaflets and posters to more than 1,000 restaurants, and it’s good timing–the new Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has taken on food waste and declared an end to lavish  banquets for party officials.

Best of all, the idea seems to be working: The story says there are more restaurants offer smaller portions, doggie bags and certificates for clean plates. And, in a heart-warming bit of global logic, a random table of diners sitting near the reporter during the interview cleaned their plates because… “Why waste food?”

June 12, 2013 | Posted in Household, Hunger, International | Comments closed

Southern Hemisphere Roundup

As is the case globally in the wake of World Environment Day, there’s plenty afoot on food waste ‘down under.’ A sampling:

OzHarvest, Australia’s leading food rescue group, just announced it will hold a Feeding the 5K event in late July.

The group recovered 1,600 tonnes of food in 2012. Almost as impressive: The group recently made 17,000 servings of bread and butter pudding, which is a much more transparent name than ‘bread pudding!’

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Meanwhile, we learn here that South Africa wastes 10 million tons of food annually. For a nation of about 50 million, that’s massive. According to my calculations, that means South Africa’s per capita wastage is higher than that of the United States (at 34 million tons/year). And that’s saying something!

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The Pope said wasting food was the same as ‘stealing from the poor.’ Well, those friendly New Zealanders couldn’t quite go that far. In this article, Louisa Humphry, manager of a Hamilton food bank called the volume of food waste “almost a crime.”

All kidding aside, I found myself nodding along with all of the espoused rationales for food waste in New Zealand. I guess it is a small world, after all. And I enjoyed this part on a supermarket owner:

Mr Miller thought many shoppers did not understand that best before meant precisely that. “Some people are convinced at midnight on that day, that’s it,” Mr Miller said.”People think they are going to die. It does mean a lot of that stuff is pulled out.” [to be discarded]

June 10, 2013 | Posted in International | Comments closed

World Environment Day Recap

Yesterday was World Environment Day, and it was raining food waste activism. If only every day could be World Environment Day! (Not quite as catchy as ‘Earth Day every day,’ but you get the idea…).

I had a hard time keeping track of all that happened yesterday in Food Waste World, so I’m guessing you did too. Here’s a rundown to help us both:

First of all, Pope Francis vaulted to the top of my Papal Top 5 by declaring that “Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry.”

And Il Papa had some other great lines, invoking a culture of waste and the generational shift that has enabled our vast waste.

My main takeaway: The Pope! Talking about food waste. That set the bar pretty high.

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The United Nations took the baton from Rome and ran with the issue. The UN Environment Programme released a new study finding that more than half of the food wasted in the US, Europe and most of the developed world happens at the consumption stage (homes, restaurants, caterers).

Here’s the full study, produced in conjunction with the World Resources Institute. Another key finding: halving current waste levels would reduce by 20 percent the increased amount of food we’d need to produce to meet 2050 population estimates.

Read More »

June 6, 2013 | Posted in Environment, General, Hunger, International | Comments closed

USDA, EPA Partner To Tackle Food Waste

The USDA and EPA kicked off the US Food Waste Challenge today in Washington, D.C. The launch event, timed to coincide (loosely) with World Environment Day, featured speeches on the importance of food waste from Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack and acting EPA chief Bob Persiasepe, in addition to private sector partners.

image courtesy of USDABy just about any indication, it was a great day for food waste awareness. To hear the Secretary of Ag utter the words “…too much of [our] food goes to waste” was nearly unthinkable five years ago. And then to have the head of the EPA utter the 40 percent waste figure was equally exciting.

The main objective of the initiative, according to the USDA press release:

The goal of the U.S. Food Waste Challenge is to lead a fundamental shift in how we think about and manage food and food waste in this country.

Not an insignificant goal there. And the Challenge also includes secondary goals of 400 partner organizations by 2015 and 1,000 by 2020. As of now, there are about 10 organizations listed as participants, but many of the 200 or so groups committed to a similar EPA effort are likely to join.

Whether or not it was a great day for food waste reduction action remains to be seen. That will largely depend on whether or not there are actual changes in school food waste–a massive, yet complicated source of waste. And whether or not food companies, like those in the Food Waste Reduction Alliance, make good on their pledges to trim their waste. And whether or not the various USDA services honor their commitments seen here.

At the very least, it will be interesting. And for us individuals out there, the campaign site has some helpful resources for consumers. Onwards and upwards!

 

June 4, 2013 | Posted in Environment | Comments closed

Baby Steps: The Slow Spread of US AD

When it comes to anaerobic digestion in the US, any news is good news. Even noncommittal, vague comments like those from a spokesperson for Ralphs Grocery Co.

Ralphs is one of the Kroger-owned supermarket chains involved with the anaerobic digestion system at a Los Angeles distribution center that process 55,000 tons of food waste per year. And here are the noncommittal comments that have me optimistic:

Kendra Doyle, a spokeswoman for Ralphs Grocery Co., said officials are considering the installation of “similar technology at other Kroger locations throughout the country in the future.”

image courtesy of renewmag.comThis is exciting mostly because of the potential scale of that spreading. If Kroger’s decisionmakers decided build biogas systems nationwide, that could mean AD at 2500 stores in 31 states. Even having systems only at regional distribution centers–more likely–would be huge.

And when other retailers see the results–powering the entire distribution center and achieving a return on investment in 5 years–I think it’ll catch on. That would be a major environmental win–keeping a massive amount of organic materials kept out of landfills.

The only potential snag would be if that system limits the incentive to reduce waste– the EPA’s #1 option. If you’re relying on food waste for energy, a waste minimizing campaign may lose steam (or never begin). More realistic, though, is that having an on-site AD system hinders reduction by creating a sense that, ‘Hey, we’re already progressive with our waste.’

May 28, 2013 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Energy, Supermarket | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Tesco released a major report yesterday called What Matters Now: Using Our Scale For Good. One of the three ambitions was to lead in reducing food waste globally. The massive, UK-based retailer plans to use its industry standing to prompt suppliers and manufacturers to reduce food waste, while helping consumers do the same.

For more information on Tesco’s plan, here’s a handy digest. And The Guardian‘s summary is also quite useful.

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Austin is the latest city to legislate composting. By October 2017, all restaurants there will be required to compost (and some larger ones will have to do so by October 2016).

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With its Think.Eat.Save campaign, the UN Environmental Programme is raising awareness on food waste. One of the ways they are doing so is by highlighting traditional food preservation techniques. Neat!

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I really like how this Pasadena high school program teaches students that there’s still plenty of uses for cosmetically-flawed food .

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Finally, why settle for chicken pot pie when you can have pot chicken? There’s evidence that pigs fed parts of the marijuana plant will become more pot-bellied (larger). Their feed included leaves and stems, but *not* buds. No word on whether or not this impacts a pot roast…

May 24, 2013 | Posted in Composting, Restaurant, School, Supermarket | Comments closed

USDA Challenges US to Waste Less Food

I’ve been fairly critical of the USDA in the past for not doing enough to combat food waste. But I’m excited to report that the Department of Agriculture is will launch the U.S. Food Waste Challenge in a few weeks.

The campaign, in conjunction with the EPA, will challenge food producers, manufacturers and retailers–really everyone involved in the food chain–to reduce their food waste, recover excess food to feed those in need and recycle the inedible remains. Let’s hope the main focus is on reducing waste!

According to the FAQ, the goal of the Challenge is threefold:

  1. Raise awareness on “the extent and implications of food waste in the United States.”
  2. Spread the word on best practices to reduce, recover and recycle food waste
  3. Prompt implementation of those best practices nationwide.

The Challenge officially kicks off on June 4 at the USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C., when Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack will lend his support. Drop by there and/or the USDA’s blog for further updates.

 

May 22, 2013 | Posted in Farm, Legislation | Comments closed