Bloody Good?

We’re all familiar with that Dracula line: “I vaant to suck your blood!”

The original Red Bull?

But these days, the non-Twilight set may be more interested in eating it. No, it’s not a post-Halloween joke: many cultures use animal blood as part of their cuisine.

You have blood pancakes, blood pudding and blood porridge. And blood is used in many cultures for texture and/or taste. The BBC piece on eating food asks why Britons aren’t more interested in eating this source of iron. A U.S. article could ask why Americans aren’t interested at all.

Unfortunately, I’m not optimistic that this will change any time soon. As with offal (organs, etc.), it’s an uphill battle to get Americans to try any ‘non-traditional’ cuts, even if doing so used to be traditional. Heck, we tend to eschew any meats not boneless and skinless.

Here’s where the whole animal ethic (and not wasting food) butts heads with the ‘ick factor.’ And even those willing to try tongue or liver, for example, may not be ready to tuck into some blood pudding.

But, consider these words from Odd Bits author Jennifer McLagan:

“If you’re a thinking carnivore, you can’t just be throwing away half the animal.”

For non-blood suckers or eaters (count me among them), one defense might be that liquid waste isn’t food waste. And also, that there are many shades of gray with food waste.

November 1, 2012 | Posted in History and Culture, International | Comments closed

Tuesday Buffet

There’s some evidence that the issue of food waste is catching on in China, albeit in a fairly political way. According to the official newspaper of the Communist Youth League, the abundant food waste can be blamed on the wealthy.

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Waitrose, the British grocery chain, just announced that it now sends no food waste to the landfill. Instead, all of its waste is either donated (best case!), sent to an anaerobic digestion plant to produce energy or composted.

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Trying to keep pace, British retailer Marks & Spencer will power 33 of its stores with energy from its own food waste. M&S has been sending food waste to an AD facility since 2011, but will now buy back a healthy dose of renewable energy.

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A strange, but fascinating story: This former Brazilian maid is now a cooking instructor/use-it-up maven is hitting it big in Italy. Watermelon rinds, banana peels–whole plant, indeed!

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Finally, my thoughts go out to those in Sandy’s path. Be safe and keep that fridge and freezer closed as much as possible. Here are a few other tips for before the storm and after power is out.

October 30, 2012 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Friday Buffet, International, Supermarket | Comments closed

Hooray for Food Day!

Happy Food Day, y’all!

While the rest of the globe celebrated World Food Day earlier this month, we independent Americans are sticking with our own version (for some reason). Regardless, it’s a good day to be mindful about our food.

That mindfulness can take many forms. It can mean “eating real.” Hopefully, that will also include both thinking about hunger and celebrating food. For me, that also means not wasting anything. All of these items are linked.

I’d recommend enjoying your favorite meal/treat today–the celebration part! In addition, let’s try to take action (volunteer, write a check, donate some home-grown food, etc.) to help those who don’t have enough to eat. Oh, and when you’re out celebrating food, don’t forget to take the leftovers home!

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Two further notes:

-Here are some fun Halloween tips from the Food Day folks.

-I’ll be talking at UNC tonight at 6:30 in the student union as part of their Food Day celebration.

October 24, 2012 | Posted in History and Culture | Comments closed

Waste Weigh Debrief

On Friday, I oversaw a waste weigh at Bucknell University. I updated Friday’s post with the results, but I want to provide more context. Here goes…

The logistics: students scraped their plate remains into a clear container atop a large scale. This waste weigh setup was just in front of the plate return belt, making participation easy. Student volunteers (and yours truly) were on hand to ensure that all went according to plan. For instance, no to drinks, but yes to soups.

The totals: We accepted plate waste from 11:30 to 1:30, yielding a total of 93 pounds. During that time, 1017 diners swiped through. That means the average plate waste was 1.5 ounces per student.

The analysis: That’s not terrible! Especially given that it’s an all-you-can-eat setup. Who knows, maybe my campus talk and class lectures had an impact. More likely–lunch is pretty rushed and students grab something quick and then rush off to class. Because of student lingering and the perception of that it’s a bigger meal, dinners are likely more wasteful. And, bear in mind that the 93 pounds was just plate waste. It didn’t include the prep waste from the kitchen or the unserved food left on the buffet. Plus, it was just one source of campus food waste on a campus where 25 percent waste is compostable.

The response: Only a handful of students balked at participating. And the majority seemed to make the connection between their (and fellow students’) behavior and the mass of food waste. We tried not to comment on students’ behaviors, but one guy commented–mostly jokingly–“I feel so judged!” A young woman found the exercise “so gross,” but I didn’t get to clarify whether she meant the tub of food waste or her peers’ squandering.

The prognosis: Somewhat surprisingly, the whole thing was quite fun. Students and staff were all really good sports–perhaps won over by the cool stickers–and we established a solid baseline measure against which to compare the next waste weigh, which will happen in the next month. Progress!

October 22, 2012 | Posted in College, Personal | Comments closed

Waste Weigh Friday

I’ve spent this past week at Bucknell University. I gave a campus talk, guest lectured in a variety of classes and met with professors and students. It has been an engaging, fun few days.

But the main participatory activity of the visit takes place today at lunch, when we’ll hold a waste audit in the main cafeteria. The event will be a collaboration of an involved dean, several passionate students and professors from the Bucknell Institute for Public Policy, the Bucknell Environmental Center and Parkhurst Dining Services.

We’ve secured this awesome, antiquey scale and will place it right in front of the plate return. Student will scrape their food waste into the bin atop the scale. We’ll be able to see the weight of waste throughout the meal and will publish the total later in the school paper (and here).

The purpose of the exercise is twofold:

1. To raise awareness on how much food students waste in their all-you-can-eat cafeteria, despite being trayless.

2. To get a baseline measure on that waste, which the campus will compare to a later waste audit.

Students will leave with a heightened awareness on food waste and this neat ‘Stop Food Waste’ sticker.

In the weeks to follow, the Mindful Consumption class will follow up this exercise by designing and displaying awareness posters aimed at reducing waste. And in the hours to follow, I hope to post pictures from event.

Update: Today’s waste weigh came off without a hitch, as you can see from the photos. The grand total was 93 lbs of food waste in a two-hour span. There were about 1,000 students who ate during that time. I’m confident it was a major success from an awareness-raising perspective.

October 19, 2012 | Posted in College | Comments closed

Food *Waste* Revolution?

Fresh off tackling obesity, Jamie Oliver will now turn his attention to food waste with his next TV project. At least that’s what his pal, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, he of the valiant Fish Fight campaign, announced for at a recent press conference.

If you just add one little word...

It’s not clear whether this would be on US or UK television, but I’d bet on the latter. And it’ll surely be available online in either case.

While it’s not completely surprising, given Oliver’s record of taking on major food-related issues and including waste, it’s exciting. Having a celebrity chef of Oliver’s stature commit to shedding light on food waste will yield some major…illumination.

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Programming note: I’m visiting Bucknell University this week for my another week-long engagement. I’ll give a campus talk tonight and have been speaking in various classes.

We’re putting on a special event in the cafeteria on Friday, and I’ll have a report on it then. Stay tuned!

October 17, 2012 | Posted in College, History and Culture, International | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Exciting news: the National Restaurant Association announced a partnership with the US Composting Council. We shall see what comes from this collaboration, but at first glance it seems like a major step in the right direction.

I like the second item the best:

“We are pleased to join with the US Composting Council to better serve our members by providing resources on composting, waste reduction, and other sustainability efforts they can adopt to strengthen their businesses,” said Scott DeFife, Executive Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs for the NRA.

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Chicago eatery Hannah’s Bretzel is on its way to becoming a zero-waste restaurant, with a 90% diversion rate. What was shocking to learn (and what has to change) is that composting is exponentially more expensive in Chicago than landfilling.

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I thought this NRDC blog post on expanding portion sizes and importance of choice was really well done.

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For those not sure about composting, there’s a helpful infographic to illustrate How to Make Composting Work For You.

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An interesting idea ends this Oregon newspaper column: composting as a salve for guilt (stemming from wasting food). I agree–and consider it a guilt assuager. But maybe a tiny bit of unsalved guilt would prompt us to waste less. The columnist shares that goal, but comes at it from a different angle.

It’s a neat column, and it’s heartening to hear about the great gleaning network in the Corvallis area.

October 12, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Restaurant, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Taking the Pulse: Perfection

Wednesday’s The New York Times offered a few takes on one topic: the appearance of our food.

First, this fascinating piece on food photographer Laura Letinsky details her subversion of glistening food perfection. I’m particularly interested in her propensity to photograph a meal’s aftermath, leftovers included.

I was even more interested in this quote from the editor-in-chief of Food & Wine:

“In many ways our eyes have been adjusted, and we see imperfections as a beautiful thing, like with an heirloom tomato,” Ms. Cowin said.

Then again, for that minority of Americans (and magazine editors) willing to accept the beauty of imperfections, there are many more who aren’t. At the end of the piece, we hear from two editors whose magazines aren’t ready to accept the beauty of the imperfect.

And then, in the Dining section, the fabulous Melissa Clark laments the impact of foodie perfectionism. She has plenty of insight on rescuing dishes gone awry, including this bite of wisdom: “If the dish looks funny but tastes fine, the solution is easy: rename it.” Burned carrots become blackened. Forsaken green beans become “melting, garlicky green beans.”

Further on, Clark takes on more severe salvage operations for overcooked or overseasoned foods (which also work as ways to use up leftovers). There’s talk of fritattas, souffles and trifles. Throughout, Clark voices that often-ignored, but beautiful sensibility: practicality.

October 10, 2012 | Posted in History and Culture | Comments closed

European Produce Pondering

On Friday, I was surprised to hear the finding that 50% of Europe’s fruits and vegetables aren’t eaten. Turns out I missed one small word–that close to 50% is wasted. Not a big deal, though, as nearly everyone uses tiny modifiers for impact.

With or without modifiers, European produce waste is shocking. Yet even worse is North American produce waste, which tops 50% (Both data points come from this 2011 FAO report with the snazzy cover photos.)

What is new to me is the Veg-i-Trade project. This project, led by scientists at the University of Ghent in Belgium, seeks to reduce that staggering amount of waste at all stages of the food chain. Veg-i-Trade is examining how globalization and climate change impact food safety and, thus, waste.

Somewhat related, here are some useful hints on how individuals can reduce waste. Written for a European audience, but the tips are mostly applicable to anyone.

Two things to note: First, European expiration date meanings are slightly different, with the ‘use-by’ date being more severe in Europe than the US. Second: I’ve never heard “garden food” used synonymously with compost.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a garden to feed…

October 9, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Household, International, Stats | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Wait, what?! According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 50% of Europe’s fruit and vegetables are wasted. I’ll have more on this staggering news on Monday.

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Lots of food waste discussion up in Canada. A recent report found that 51% of Canadian food waste comes from homes. I’m not sure I’d classify that as ‘most’ of the nation’s food waste, but it’s a whopping percentage. Helpfully, the CBC then provided 7 Ways to Reduce Household Food Waste.

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You can’t smell it from this video, but that blue (cheese?) dragster runs on fuel made from cheese waste. Keep it cheesy, Utah State!

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Finally, I hope that composting is indeed “the next frontier” of recycling (but not the final one). But–pet peeve alert–the writer uses the term ‘reducing food wastes’ to mean trimming the amount going to landfill, not reducing the amount of food waste created. Alas…

October 5, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Energy, Friday Buffet, Household, International, Stats, Waste Stream | Comments closed