BioCycling

It’s neat to find a conference attracting practitioners of composting, anaerobic digestion, and other organic recycling schemes. BioCycle’s Global 2011 in San Diego is just that.

There’s plenty of talk of separating organics from the waste stream, air emissions from composting, and the carbon cap-and-trade system. There was even a very public debate about land application of biosolids.

Discussion on vermiculture has been robust. I’ve talked with worm composting experts from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Hawaii and…my hometown of Durham.

I was on a panel with Jeremy Seifert, the director of Dive!, and John Owens of Forgotten Harvest. The good news is that three people passionate about preventing food waste got to share their ideas with this crowd. The challenge is that we are in the vast minority here.

The real attention and money at BioCycle goes toward how to better process our organic waste, not on how to reduce waste creation or feed people with excess food. That’s not too surprising, as both of those actions require people modifying their behavior. But it needs t0 change.

There’s certainly a need for the attention on keeping organics from landfills. My goal is for food waste reduction to have a place at the table and an increased place at that. We shall see…

April 13, 2011 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Composting, Events, Food Recovery | Comments closed

Notre Trays

I gave a talk on Notre Dame on Thursday and, as part of the visit, got to meet with a few friendly members of the school-run dining services. I was impressed to hear that a student led initiative had halved per student wastage in one month. And that two local shelters collect food from their kitchen on a regular basis.

Yet, I was disappointed to learn that the school’s dining halls still had trays. But…they’re trying. While they make trays available–because of overcrowding at meal times, the dining services folks said–this sign is posted right above where they’re stacked.

I love how the poster clearly lists the four rationales for traylessness: eat less, waste less, save water, save electricity. Of course, I’d put the second one first…

Anyway, right after students have decided to use or forgo a tray, they’re hit with another poster (made by ND’s crack in-house designer). Kinda cool, eh?

April 11, 2011 | Posted in College, Trayless | Comments closed

Sharing Local Food

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 purchased food and money that the group uses to buy food from farmers. At the end of the market, FF distributes the gleaned goodness to those in need. The group has a few other initiatives, like helping start community gardens and sending fresh, local food home with kids.

FF now operates at five markets in North Carolina. It will soon be six. Last night I attended a planning session for the group’s April 23 launch at the Durham Farmers’ Market.

Volunteers are needed to man the “donation station” for a mere hour (or more). And community members are needed to share local food through their generosity. If you’re local, contact FF founder Margaret Gifford (via the site) or stop by the table in a few weeks!

April 6, 2011 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Monday Buffet

In Denmark, The Veterinary and Food Administration may change a law that bans selling food past its “best-by” date. Stores would be in charge of determining how long they can sell an item. I can see this helping in some cases, and backfiring in others. Fascinating, though.

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So you’re saying porridge isn’t popular? In response to hefty wasting of the breakfast gruel, a UK hospital will stop serving porridge unless it’s specifically requested.

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Lunchroom changes at The Lawrenceville School in N.J. have led to 80% less food waste. Wow.

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Last year there were no commercial composters near St. Louis. Today, there are two.

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Pretty good April Fool’s joke about Lady Gaga’s new fashion line making use of discarded meat….

April 4, 2011 | Posted in Composting, Institutional, International, School | Comments closed

A Challenge

In the last post, I answered that most vexing of questions: Why should I care about food waste? Given its environmental, ethical and economic impact, the logical next question is: What can I do??

You’ll never guess what my first bit of advice is: Waste less food!

Sure. But how? The short answer is to become a smarter shopper. Here’s another way of saying that: buy less food. Period.

Most of us buy so much food that we almost guarantee we’ll waste food. There’s no way we can eat all that we purchase. The best estimates are that we throw away 25 percent of the food we bring into our homes.

So here’s my challenge to you: buy 25 percent less food in the next few weeks. I bet you’ll end up throwing away (or composting) much less food (although, to be fair, some of that may come from a general increased awareness). And you’ll also be avoiding some serious wasted cash. Whatever happens, let me know!

March 31, 2011 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

Why Waste Matters

If you’ve ever thought about food waste, this thought has probably passed through your mind: Why do I even care?

Or maybe you’ve heard about wasted food’s ramifications before but find yourself in need of a refresher. In either case, it’s never a bad thing to consider why we shouldn’t squander food. So here goes:

There are environmental, ethical and economic reasons why food matters. The environmental implications of food waste alone make it worth avoiding. A massive amount of resources–mostly oil and water–go into producing our food. When we don’t use roughly 40 percent of it, we’re squandering those embedded resources.

In addition, when we send food to the landfill, its anaerobic rotting creates methane. That greenhouse gas is more than 20 times as potent at trapping heat as CO2. Given that and our staggering rate of waste, our food-filled landfills are steadily aiding climate change. Landfills are the number two source of human-related methane emissions. And while some landfills have systems in place to either destroy or harness its methane, they aren’t all that efficient.

From an ethical standpoint, it’s pretty simple. When you consider that 15 percent of U.S. homes are food insecure, throwing away food is morally callous. And no, the food you leave on your plate isn’t going to feed anyone (here or in a developing nation). But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t donate excess food instead of preparing too much. Or buy less food–to reduce the amount you’ll discard–and pass the savings along to your local food bank.

And finally, it doesn’t make much economic sense to throw away a good without using it. That holds true for individuals, families, institutions and government. Depending on spending habits, a family of four throws out between $1,300 and $2,200 a year. And on the whole, America squanders $160 billion annually. In both cases, it’s a waste of money that could better be spent elsewhere.

To be fair, we’re never going to completely eliminate food waste. There will always be some stuff that slips between the cracks. But for all three of the above reasons, we should strive to reduce the waste we do create. Do you care enough to make an effort?

March 29, 2011 | Posted in Energy, Environment, Hunger | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Walmart recently announced that their California stores have reduced what they send to the landfill by 80 percent (since 2009). Food donations, composting and anaerobic digestion all play a role there, with their stated goal of eliminating landfill waste by 2025.

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A new UK study found that household food waste accounts for 3 percent of British greenhouse gas emissions. What I can’t believe is that the coverage of this study omits the household part of it!

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This piece on Grist really does a nice job summarizing the issues surrounding wasted food. Thanks, Umbra!

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India’s food ministry is considering regulating wedding food to prevent the lavish spreads that result in so much waste.

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Finally, in case you’re wondering what a talk by yours truly looks like, here’s a little taste.

March 25, 2011 | Posted in Friday Buffet, International, Personal, Supermarket, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Icing Postgame Waste

RWIU + NHL = Win, says EPA.

OK, let’s run that back: Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to honor the partnership of Rock and Wrap It Up and The National Hockey League.

Rock and Wrap It Up is a New York-based food recovery group that leads the way in event food recovery. And guess how they got their name?? Yes, what began with rock concerts spread to sports franchises in all of the major sports. And apparently to all 30 NHL teams, who have committed to donate unsold, edible food remaining after games.

But according to the release, the teams that have really embraced the effort thus far are the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild. The old Norris Division teams (plus Columbus) are really rocking here.

Then again, the Pittsburgh Penguins are doing there part, too. Really commendable work by all the participating teams and RWIU.

March 21, 2011 | Posted in Food Recovery | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Massachusetts (food) waste-to-energy company Harvest Power is turning plenty of heads with their fundraising, which will speed development of two anaerobic digesters in Canada. It’s too bad a Massachusetts company hasn’t been able to create any American projects. Yet that’s the sad, but hopefully changing, reality.

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Here’s a nice piece on gleaning in the DC area.

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When I first read the headline ‘Chelsea Piers Turns to Bubba to Eat Food Trash,’ I feared the New York facility had hired a large Southern man to do some “finishing.” Fortunately, that’s not the case.

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As you might expect, I’m not a huge fan of food fights. But at least the organizers of this Austin pie fight a) recognized they were wasting food and b) fed the food waste to nearby hogs.

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March 18, 2011 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Food Recovery, Friday Buffet | Comments closed

Cheap, Cheap!

As I’ve often mentioned, cheap food is a major cause for food waste. For the past few years it has hovered at about 10 percent of household spending.

But, at a recent brown bag lunch, Portland food and waste thinkers informed me that the cost had dipped even further. It’s now 6.9 percent! That’s based on a Nielson report using USDA data.

That cheapness has a real impact–we don’t tend to value that which is inexpensive. And by most any definition, something that’s 7 percent of our budget is cheap. And each individual item is only a fraction of that percentage, providing little economic incentive not to waste.

And so…waste we do!

March 16, 2011 | Posted in Household | Comments closed