Cafeteria Cameras?

A Florida school district is considering placing video cameras on cafeteria trash cans to see what students are wasting.

While unlikely to happen, that move would be a total waste–of money. Cafeteria workers, teachers, and, heck, even I could tell you what kinds of foods are being wasted–vegetables, fruit and milk (often unopened).

Lake County school district is upset by the increase in food waste stemming from the 2010 change in federal school nutrition rules requiring more fresh foods. For educators, it’s a real conundrum–nutrition vs. waste (of food).

But, it doesn’t have to be that way. Two tactics can yield better eaters and less waste. First, getting kids connected to their food by any means necessary. That can happen through a school or community garden, cooking at home or school (in Home Economics–remember that?) or simply learning about where food comes from. Kids who grow kale, eat kale.

The other idea is having school cooks learn how to hide veggies in foods that kids like. Such as pureed spinach in pizza sauce. Check with the Renegade Lunch Lady for further ideas and inspiration.

In the end, healthy lunches doesn’t have to mean more waste. If you have any thoughts or further ideas on the topic, let me know!

October 4, 2012 | Posted in School | Comments closed

Making a Point

Recently, I filmed a video comment for The Point, a discussion show on the online TYT Network. Here’s the entire webisode, which tackles a nice combination of food topics. My video and the food waste discussion begin at about 17:00.

By the way, I’m also skeptical on whether we’ll ever eradicate hunger. That would mean we–the world, nations, states, and communities–would need to commit to doing so. But if we did commit, we could achieve freedom from want (at least with the present population and environmental conditions). And I still think we should try our hardest to do so!

October 2, 2012 | Posted in Hunger, Personal | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

It’s nice to keep seeing food waste in the news, especially without much of a peg. That we waste 40% of our food is news enough!

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The Great Corn Rescue of 2012. Music to my ears.

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This passage from The UN Dispatch is in reference to the head of Darden Restaurants:

…even though his company increased their diversion of waste by 14% in the last 3 years, food remains 1/3 of their waste, by weight.

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Finally, I can’t wait for the Spoiled app to come out. Considering we’re wasting 25% of what we bring home, it can’t hurt to have an app to help us from overbuying.

September 28, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Restaurant, Technology | Comments closed

Visualizing Food Waste

Thanks to Leanpath, for creating and transmitting this clear infographic on food waste. It’s further proof that our wastage is something for which we might want to…atone.

September 26, 2012 | Posted in General, Infographic, Stats | Comments closed

Alphabet Produce?

I recently got a message from Annie Wilcox, who asked why I was limiting the Alphabet Produce series to letters. What about numbers?

Now, Annie may have had an ulterior motive–that she had come across banana pepper that looked like a 2 (and also a cobra!). But still, she had a point. Fruits and veggies that look like numbers communicate the same message: real food isn’t homogenous.

Don’t forget to send in pics of your own letter- and, fine, number-like produce.

September 24, 2012 | Posted in Alphabet Produce | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Unharvested fruit from backyard trees is certainly a waste. But we don’t often put uneaten mushrooms or nuts in that same category. But, this DIY.org page brimming with foraging resources does.

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Massachusetts will be banning commercial food waste from landfills in 2014. If you want to nerd out on the policy process, have at it.

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Here’s a nice piece from a novice cook awakening to her personal wasting and its impact.

While I feel good about my “natural” and “organic” purchases, at the end of the day, none of that matters if the food ends up in the garbage.

Boom.

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Next week, I’ll have a startling photo of a number-shaped banana pepper. Come back on Monday to find out what number! (Cue the cliffhanger music.)

And don’t hesitate to send in your pics of produce shaped like letters and, I suppose, numbers.

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Finally, tune in to NPR for Science Friday today at 2:30pm ET–I’ll be taking part in a chat on food waste. Can’t wait!

September 21, 2012 | Posted in Alphabet Produce, Freegan, Friday Buffet, Household, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Alphabet Produce: V bean

Continuing our alphabet produce series, here’s a very curved, V-like green bean. In my mind, it’s a lowercase cursive v.

This bean brought to you by Verizon

This beaut and all the other letter produce communicate that real food has curves (or it may be straight), and it’s not homogenous. Important: the above V bean tasted exactly the same as his straight brethren.

I found this V-bean in a bag of beans from my man George of Lil’ Farm. I’m not sure how George creates 110-degree angles in his beans, but I’m impressed. Now, if he could only grow us a vowel…

UPDATE:

I just found an even better one. And as my wife pointed out (and I was too thick to realize), it could also be an L. So I’m counting it for both! That’s 7 letters down, 19 to go!

V or L??

September 17, 2012 | Posted in Alphabet Produce, Farmers' Market | Comments closed

In Residence at Bucknell

I’m spending this week at Bucknell University as an expert-in-residence. The O.V.W. Hawkins Expert-in-Residence, if you insist on proper nouns. I’m honored and humbled.

This is one of four visits that I’ll make this academic year, and if all the visits are this engaging and interesting, it’ll be quite an experience. Thus far, I’ve talked to classes in Society and Technology, Social Justice, Environmental Studies and Chemical Engineering. I’ll meet with the Environmental Center Director, the University Chaplain and the Head of Dining.

Some good, some less good...

My role is to raise awareness on the issue of food waste, interact with students, give guest lectures and plan a few engagements for my next visit, when I’ll give a campus lecture.

Hopefully, we’ll create some lasting change out of this engagement–increased composting would be nice. If nothing else, I’m giving students plenty of food for thought.

September 13, 2012 | Posted in Personal | Comments closed

Just one Q…

Continuing the on the theme of alphabet veggies…here is one crazy Q cuke.

So we have C, J, S, W and now Q. It’s definitely time for a vowel.

Please send in your own letter produce pics–we’ll get that alphabet sooner or later! And remember–real food has curves! Or is straight. You get the idea–it’s not homogeneous.

Big shout to Dana Gunders for the great pic.

September 10, 2012 | Posted in Alphabet Produce, Farmers' Market, Garden | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Many of you will relate to Molly Watson’s determination to avoid melon waste through kitchen effort and ingenuity.

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Meanwhile, there’s a lot to like about making sandwiches out of leftovers. A great waste-avoiding strategy with a tasty byproduct!

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Wondering why we don’t feed much food waste to livestock? Here’s a succinct answer from The Salt. There are plenty of reasons why we don’t, but that doesn’t mean we can’t.

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Finally, wish the brave Boulder Food Rescue a happy first birthday! You can do so here.

September 7, 2012 | Posted in Food Recovery, Friday Buffet, Household, Waste Stream | Comments closed