Friday Buffet

Beginning of the end or end of the beginning? Euro robots can power up on food waste. Crazy stuff! What’s next–humans that can turn bytes into bites?!

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A few weeks back, I linked to Eureka Recycling’s cool bike composting program, but here’s an updated report on the Minnesota project via Treehugger.

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Every year around Ramadan, I see articles on attempts to trim food waste in predominantly Muslim countries. It’s heartening, but it’d be nice to see it catch on for the other 11 months. Then again, there’s no corresponding anti-waste time of year in the U.S.

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The BBC reports on a London charity that hands out leftover sandwiches to the homeless (or those ‘sleeping rough’). Plus, it has a fascinating feature on blind soccer (for those interested).

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(photo by Osamu Iwasaki via Flickr. Check out the robo-chef video here.)

August 13, 2010 | Posted in Composting, Energy, Friday Buffet, History and Culture, International | Comments closed

U.S. Snapshot

The Guardian ran an excellent piece on U.S. food waste yesterday. And I’m not just saying that because I spoke with its writer and am mentioned in it briefly.

The article does a nice job summarizing the problem of food waste while explaining why it matters. I wasn’t surprised, as I had a great chat with the article’s author, Sadhbh Walshe, who was kind enough to preface her phone call with a first-name pronunciation tip (“Sive”).

We talked for 45 minutes, a good sign. It’s not often that journalists I speak with are invested in understanding the entire problem. Or that they’re able to write a cogent piece on that big picture. Ms. Walshe did both. Kudos!

One thing, though, on the ending:

As the global population continues to explode – it is expected to reach 9 billion by 2045 – and our ability to produce food continues to be compromised, more and more people will go hungry. I’m going to try to keep this in mind next time I dump my food in the trash can.

I think what Walshe meant to say was that she’d keep all of that in mind and try to reduce the food she has to throw away. Must be.
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P.S. it’s worth noting that the paper, my UK read of choice, is beefing up its US presence (Walshe is based in New York). To good effect, if this piece is any indication.

August 11, 2010 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Interesting Times in LA

Last week, Los Angeles Times columnist David Lazarus penned this op-ed calling for more leftover sharing by restaurants, hotels and caterers. He even suggested making it mandatory for these food businesses to tell customers that they can donate the unserved food.

For the clients who choose to donate the food, the restaurant, hotel or caterer would then list the leftovers online in a so-called Craigslist for cuisine, that would match donors and recipients.

The piece prompted some objections, like this response from a local caterer.

What the saga really shows is that there’s no reliable, large-scale food recovery group in LA. That seems unfathomable, but perhaps the city’s sprawl and traffic are partly to blame. If such a city-wide group did exist, it would alleviate the need to legislate solutions.

There have been some positive steps from the City of Angels. The L.A. City Council just approved member Jose Huizar’s proposal that all city departments adopt policies facilitating donation of leftover food from public programs and events to organizations that feed the hungry.

“I’m looking at the City of Los Angeles to be an example to others,” Huizar said. “Donating surplus food should be as common as recycling. It should be part of our everyday lives.”

Old friend State Senator Jenny Oropeza, who had her reasonable bill on food recovery shot down by the restaurant industry in 2008, has a new, even more modest proposal in the senate. Her bill would make the state Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of Public Health put information on their sites about the (federal) Good Samaritan law. Doesn’t sound like too much to ask for.

August 9, 2010 | Posted in Events, Food Recovery, Restaurant | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

I’ve seen refrigerator makers leverage keeping foods fresher, longer, but I’ve never seen such an overt discussion of how a fridge avoids waste (and saves bushels of cash!).

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Wait, there’s a composting operation in Las Vegas?! Things are looking up. Then again…A1 organics is generating complaints from neighbors (who moved into homes in an industrial area).

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UK food retailer Waitrose is stepping up its use of anaerobic digestion by diverting all food waste from its corporate headquarters to an AD facility. That’s a lot of tea bags. And it isn’t too surprising, given their commitment to the waste-to-energy technology.

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Here’s a thoughtful look at the balance of convenience and conservation with trayless dining at Stanford, where it hasn’t been adopted campus-wide (yet). The piece highlights the benefits, but also reminds us that sustainability is a big picture kind of thing:

“I think it’s ridiculous because here you are, making people feel guilty because you’re using trays … and at the same time every night at midnight you’ve got water spraying everywhere on the lawn,” said Julien Nakache, who is visiting from France.

August 6, 2010 | Posted in College, Composting, Household, International, Trayless | Comments closed

It Can’t Hurt to Ask

A new effort by a San Francisco neighborhood group has diverted thousands of tons of fresh, local food from the compost pile to the mouths of many. How? Simply by asking.

The Wigg Party, a community group based in the neighborhoods around a bike route called The Wiggles The Wiggle, recently began rescuing foods from local growers by inquiring toward the end of farmer’s markets whether they had any food they planned to compost.

Similar efforts occur at farmer’s markets around the country. Where it gets a bit Bay Area funky is when the volunteers hold a Fresh Produce Free-For-All the next day to distribute their food to…anyone.

It’s a great idea and I love the name. I am curious about just who shows up to claim this free food at Hayes Valley Farm, an awesome, community-run urban farm carved from a former freeway exit.

There are some interesting discussions to be had on the intended and actual attendees of these free-for-alls. But we’ll save that for another time. No matter who ends up with this rescued food, the neat thing is that someone does.

(image courtesy of The Wigg Party)

August 4, 2010 | Posted in Composting, Farmers' Market, Food Recovery | Comments closed

Walk, Bike, or Compost?

Oh to have the problems of Palo Alto! The stately California town faces this conundrum: Turn a soon-to-be closed landfill into a park or an anaerobic digestion plant.

The city had earmarked the land to be used as a park when the landfill closes in the next two years. For the waste-t0-energy facility to happen, residents would have to vote to “undedicate” the land to the park.

Opponents say turning away from the park plan would be akin to a broken promise. But it would keep composting local; the city already has a compost facility (no surprise) on site at the landfill. If the AD plant doesn’t happen,  food and yard scraps would have to be shipped about an hour south if the park plan proceeds.

The Palo Alto city council commissioned an environmental impact report on the proposed AD plant, and it will come out in January. Until then, it’s one shade of green versus another. Who knows how this will end, but I’m definitely staying tuned.

There are so many factors at play here, which makes it a fascinating dilemma. If the same situation occurred in your town, which side do you reckon you’d be on?

It’s too bad both plans can’t coexist. If they could, picnic scraps could be composted quite quickly.

August 2, 2010 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Composting | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Huge news in the world of food waste: A new study out of the Univ. of Texas at Austin finds that the food America wastes represents about 2 percent of our total energy output. And, as the study’s authors note, it’s a conservative estimate because they use the 1995 estimate of 27 percent waste.

New Scientist used those findings to claim that we expend more energy in the food we discard than is available via offshore drilling. That may or may not be an exaggeration.

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Not quite as surprising, but still…A UK study found that Britons waste cheaper food more readily. It also showed that single people tend to waste more food than families.

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As a follow-up to Monday’s post, here’s some more on the former Trader Joe’s President who’s on a mission to reduce food waste.

My one beef with the article’s logic is that Trader Joe’s packaging produce doesn’t reduce waste, it increases it. If one of three peppers is off, the whole package is tossed. Plus, it often forces single people to buy too much. (Hence, the increased waste for one-person households.)

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If you’re considering composting for the first time, Annie Hauck Lawson has some tips for you. Here’s a pretty good how-to video on turning kitchen scraps to black gold.

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It looks like Ann Arbor’s composting will begin in the fall.

July 30, 2010 | Posted in Composting, Friday Buffet, Household, Supermarket | Comments closed

Former Joe Head Tackling Waste?

I came across this brief piece on Doug Rauch, the former Trader Joe’s head who is now at Harvard strategizing on how to end food waste.

It’s the first I hear about it, but I was excited to hear that someone with that much industry know-how is studying the issue. I’m curious to hear what his strategies may be, but I’m intrigued by the idea of using trucks or vans that may be returning empty after making deliveries.

The UK group FareShare is already employing that strategy. But they’re calling on food industry trucks, not the unrelated UPS, Fed Ex or postal trucks. But either way, I’m excited about this development and will keep track of it as it develops.

July 26, 2010 | Posted in Food Recovery, Supermarket | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Update: This one slipped by me, but Diana F. tipped me off to the great news that the LA City Council voted to make city departments create policies for donating leftover food from events.

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Excessive food waste in the House of Commons tea rooms means there are fat mice in the halls of Parliament.

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Given all the food waste created by MPs (and the rest of the country), it’s not too surprising that Biogen Greenfinch wants more curbside food waste collection in the UK, which the company can convert to energy via anaerobic digestion. I visited their Ludlow facility last year and I’d second their sentiment.

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Uh, oh. Maggot bins. A prime example of why food waste collection really needs to be weekly (but trash pickup can be every other week, to save cities money)

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And no maggots, but locals are blaming Washington’s Cedar Grove composting plant for some foul smells. But is the criticism unfair?

July 23, 2010 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Composting, Friday Buffet, International | Comments closed

Out-and-out self-promotion

Sorry for the shamelessness I don’t feel too bad about shamelessly sharing these two bits of info. This won’t be new to those of you who follow my Twitter feed or this site’s Facebook page.  (more shamelessness–likely too much)

Anyway, my book is now available for pre-order on Amazon. In addition to being really, really heartening, it’s proof that American Wasteland will actually be a tangible thing one day (most likely in September).

In addition, I recently took part in this Mother Jones forum on how food affects the environment. The panelists–including Jonathan Safran Foer, Anna Lappé and Joel Salatin–were asked this question: Is vegetarianism always better for the planet than eating meat?

My take? You’ll just have to click over there to see. While you’re at that page, you may want to join in the healthy conversation happening there.

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P.S. The book cover is likely to change a bit, but the general concept will likely stay the same.

July 21, 2010 | Posted in Personal | Comments closed