Friday Buffet

Here’s a fascinating preview of an article on home food waste that’s due out in the spring (sort of like the movie trailer of the magazine world!). Based on the online piece, I can’t wait to read the real thing.

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A comment on the above page led me to discover my new favorite Danish phrase: Stop Spild Af Mad. Very cool.

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I just heard from Lovin’ Spoonfuls, a Massachusetts-based food rescue group with a I couldn't resist. Photo by DesertMama via Creative Commonscatchy name. In addition to recovering food for hungry people, they rescue dog food for hungry pups.

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A friend (thanks, Erica) told me about a Ziploc ad (played durin g the Olympics) that cite food waste stats a few times. I haven’t seen them, but they’re for this new kind of bag. Anyone else catch this commercial?

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Has your crisper drawer become a Slime-O-Tron 2000? The Non-Consumer Advocate reiterates a few tips from a classic post on how she reduces waste at home.

February 26, 2010 | Posted in Food Recovery, Friday Buffet, Household, International | Comments closed

Talk of the Expiration

Slate recently ran a fabulous article on the caution contained in food date labels. How ‘expiration dates’ aren’t that.

On Monday, NPR’s Talk of the Nation had Nadia Arumugam, the article’s author, on to discuss the topic. It’s interesting stuff, and exciting to hear it discussed on such a grand stage. that's a lot of cents!Although I did find it interesting that neither the topic nor the word ‘waste’ were written or spoken.

If you’re short on time, both contain a message familiar to readers here–expiration dates are overly cautious and we should trust our senses before a number printed on the package.

The radio segment has a fascinating, terrible anecdote (that inexplicably didn’t make the Slate piece) about why New York City has its own expiration dates for milk (news to me). At around the 3 minute mark, we learn of the practice of dumping about-to-expire milk on poorer areas of the city.

Another interesting detail, for me, was the lack of legal clout of most date labels:

Only last year, 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner reversed the conviction of a wily entrepreneur who’d relabeled 1.6 million bottles of Henri’s salad dressing with a new “Best when purchased by” date. Posner decided that the prosecutor had unjustly condemned the dressing as rancid, rotten, and harmful, when in fact there was no evidence to suggest that the mature product posed a safety threat.

It’s great to see this topic getting so much attention, as blindly heeding date labels leads to so much unnecessary waste. And I take it as a sign that people are confused/interested in the topic. Arumugam’s story is the most e-mailed on Slate as I’m writing this on Tuesday night.

February 24, 2010 | Posted in Food Safety | Comments closed

Gold Medal for Vancouver?

Vancouver is certainly receiving its fair share of attention recently. Well, here’s a little bit more–the city seems to be hitting a few green targets with its food waste recycling.photo by popejon2

Yesterday, I saw that Harvest Power, a Boston area firm plans to build an anaerobic digester on 22 acres it owns near…Vancouver.

Apparently, Harvest now operates Fraser Richmond Soil & Fibre, which recently began accepting food waste from Metro Vancouver. The Richmond facility, which previously only took in yard waste, now composts food scraps from nearby Vancouver. This waste stream will soon go to anaerobic digestion.

As for those Olympics, I’m not entirely sure whether they’re composting food waste there. An online posting for a sustainability volunteer lists composting as one responsibility. Could it be that it’s only wood waste composting? Seems unlikely. Does anyone know if there are green bins at Olympic venues or in the Olympic Village?

February 22, 2010 | Posted in Composting, Energy, International | Comments closed

Gone to Ground

I’m working like crazy to make my book deadline, but I’d hate to leave you in a lurch on Presidents’ Day. So, a few quick links:

While doing some final research on the apple industry, I came across this article on apples gone to ground. An oldie but goodie, er, sort of.

While we’re talking about apples…this may just interest me, but here’s the breakdown on apple grades and sizing. Is it just me or are apples at the store much larger these days? They’re way too big for my liking. I swear that 72s or 64s must be the average size now. (You can get in on the lingo via the link)

Finally, Napa Valley food rescue wants to hear from you (provided you live there and have extra fruit). Just don’t take any oranges without asking first.  

February 15, 2010 | Posted in Farm, Tree Gleaning | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

For those of you disgusted or at least dismayed by the ‘beaurocracy gone wild’ waste prompted by the Chicago Board of Health that I linked to last week, here’s a piece from Chicago Public Radio on the events. Seems like the food was tossed because its owner couldn’t prove it was safe. Not because anyone had any reason to believe it wasn’t. Terrible.

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65 percent of Nigerian produce is wasted?! So says the All Farmers Association of Nigeria.
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Here’s some reporting on what recess before lunch looks like in practice (from a South Dakota school).

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While not quite as good as reducing waste by 30 percent, a Washington elementary school is now composting its lunch waste.

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Finally, if you’ve had a burning desire to know what a waste audit is like, consider your wish granted. (From Stanford).

February 12, 2010 | Posted in Food Safety, Friday Buffet, International, School, Waste Stream | Comments closed

When Packaging Helps

On Monday, the Freakonomics Blog made a, well, economical case for why we should care more about food waste than packaging waste. Writing as a Super Freak(onomics member), James McWilliams provided a neat summary of why I don’t write more about food packaging.

In a word, it’s methane:

But if you take the packaging away and focus on the naked food itself, you have to realize that the food will be rotting a lot sooner than if it weren’t packaged and, as a result, will be heading to the same place as the packaging: the landfill. Decaying food emits methane, a greenhouse gas that’s more than 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Packaging — unless it’s biodegradable — does not.

McWilliams used the classic shrink-wrapped cucumber example for how packaging expands food’s lifespan. He explained the comparative environmental stakes with this neat turn of the phrase:

Seems bizarre, but it’s possible that we waste more energy by not scraping the bottom of the barrel than we do by throwing out the barrel when we’re done.

I’d also like to add a word not brought up in the post–hunger. Perhaps it was too obvious and didn’t need stating. But concerning oneself with reducing waste can help feed the hungry, via food recovery. Reducing packaging can’t.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t strive to reduce packaging, when it’s unnecessary. But just why it’s not as high on my list as trimming food waste.

February 10, 2010 | Posted in Energy, Technology, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Ketchup Concerns

Since I’ve been in Mississippi recently, I’ve been eating fried food a bit more than I usually do (read: almost never). What good timing then that Heinz has decided to update how they serve fried food best friend, ketchup.

The world’s leading ketchup maker is replacing its old packets with Heinz’s Dip & Squeeze packets, which let users do either. The reason I care is that the new ones hold three times as much ketchup. The speculation goes both ways on whether this will mean more waste.

photo courtesy of H.J. Heinz Co.Fast food joints are notorious for tossing in way too many packets of ketchup. If they continue this trend, it could lead to more waste, as the above link suspects. But, maybe stores will wise up and only give one packet now, knowing that they’re much bigger and cost a bit more. I’m gonna guess they lead to more waste. Hope I’m wrong.

The best method I’ve seen is the big pump into the tiny paper cups. That’s doesn’t work with drive-thrus, though, which makes it close to irrelevant (OK, not quite irrelevant). I know this topic isn’t the most important one in the world of waste, but I’m intrigued because Heinz ketchup use is so widespread. Americans use 11 billion packets per year, according to this AP piece.

What do you think–will the new package increase or decrease ketchup waste? Do you care about this shift or not so much? Still pining for the days of ‘catsup?’

February 8, 2010 | Posted in Restaurant | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

In a move that should surprise no one, Portland will test a household food waste pickup system in 2,000 homes come April. Great idea, great quote:

Portland’s solid waste and recycling manager, Bruce Walker, says, “We’re coming right into their kitchen saying, ‘Please change your habits.’ “

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Keep sandwich thieves away with these faux-mold bags. A clever idea, but I agree with commenters blogosphere-wide: the bags increase the odds that someone will throw out your “moldy” sandwich. (HT to Jay Hancock’s blog).

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EKOKOOK is a crazy, cool concept kitchen direct from France. There’s either a composting ferris wheel or a segmented worm bin beneath the sink. All you French speakers feel free to weigh in on the specifics.

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Sainsbury’s just made a major commitment to anaerobic digestion, signing a deal with waste firm Biffa. Yet some in the UK not content with regular old AD are trying their hand at mobile anaerobic digestion.

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Is it just me or do these sandwich cutters waste a bunch of the sandwich? Certainly the crusts…

February 5, 2010 | Posted in Friday Buffet, Household, International, Storage, Technology | Comments closed

Grapefruit Gone to Ground

On my last day in Chile for this chef’s conference, I ran into some farm waste. A group of 50 of us were touring an avocado, grape and citrus farm called Desarrollo Agrario thanks to Hass Avocado (warning: awesome jingle at this site. Also, palta, not aguacate, is South American Spanish for avocado).

On the way in, we noticed a bunch of citrus on the ground under their trees. As you can see in the photo below, they were grapefruit. Nice, pink ones. When one of the growers, Arturo, was showing us around, someone in our group asked him about the grapefruit (I didn’t even have to ask–one of the perks of traveling with a bunch of chefs).

A pained look came across Arturo’s face. He explained how this year’s orange crop was abundant, and since Chileans largely prefer them to grapefruit, there was little market for grapefruit. Calling it a lost season, he said next season they’d be ready to sell them abroad.

In the meantime, there were all these beauties on the trees and on the ground. In hindsight, I should have asked to try my first tree-plucked grapefruit. Either that, or figured out how to say ‘tree gleaning’ in Spanish.

photo by chris gallega

Thanks to Chris Gallega for sending this photo. You can see a few more from our day trip on Chris’ blog Thought for Food.

February 2, 2010 | Posted in Farm, International, Tree Gleaning | Comments closed

El Buffet de Viernes

Yes, I’m blogging on location from beautiful, hot Santiago. You’ll be glad to hear that I’ve decided against blogging in Spanish!¡

I recently walked by a Santiago market after it had closed and noticed a vendor was still there, doing something odd. I went by to have a look and she was cutting the tops off strawberries, which don’t last long here–did i mention it’s hot?

She said she was going to make some juice, which I found pretty cool and a nice contrast to what I saw at another market here (and in most U.S. markets). Then again, they are fond of their strawberry juice in Santiago.

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The NY Times´Well blog had a nice look at the recess before lunch movement. It’s a worthwhile read and a worthy idea. Then, Good continued the discussion on their site.

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Only on Gizmodo would we learn about a Japanese remote control car that runs on sugar. Not the best use of azucar, perhaps…makes ethanol look like a godsend.

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N.C. State is doing a waste audit of their dining hall waste. A nice distraction from basketball season for the Wolfpack (Go Heels).

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Finally, I met an Chinese Irish guy who now lives in Dubai after growing up in Liverpool. Whew! Anyway, that’s not really important. What does matter is that some in the homeland of his mum (Ireland) are paying attention to waste.

January 29, 2010 | Posted in College, Friday Buffet, International, School, Waste Stream | Comments closed