Morrisons Mission

The other day, I came across this fascinating Food Waste Factbook from Morrisonswhile researching British supermarkets’ response to food waste for my book.

After reading through the handbook, I was impressed by the retail chain’s commitment to reducing waste in their stores. Heck, just putting out a 15-page document would put them atop the heap amongst American grocers. They even have an entire section of their site devoted to helping shoppers reduce their own waste called Tastes Great, Less Filling Great Taste, Less Waste.

In the handbook, Morrisons talks about reducing prices on items near their “best before” dates and using some of these in staff meals. And since they process and pack their own produce, they’re able to package potato “off-grades” and sell them at a discount.

Too much cauliflower?? Photo by Yukari* via creative commonsYet, I found one little anecdote (on page 8 of the PDF) intriguing, yet dubious. In the section about produce, Morrisons wrote:

We trim off the leaves from our cauliflowers–although we let our customers help themselves to the leaves to take home for their pet rabbits, free of charge.

After getting over that plural thing, I couldn’t help but wonder: Has anyone EVER taken them up on this offer? And what would the employees say if you tried to? 

Here’s where the mission (from the title) comes in: Does anyone in the UK–rabbit owning or not–want to test this out? If so, I’d be grateful, as would at least one or two readers.

January 6, 2010 | Posted in International, Supermarket | Comments closed

Going Gratis

Imagine a life without any spending. Is it even possible? Apparently it is if you live in Britain, where squatters have some rights.

I found this piece about living for free in London totally engrossing. The article comments on the disposable nature of British, and really Western, society. And of course, a big part of that is food. The author, Katharine Hibbert comments on how the timing of retail system means produce currently ripe has almost no value for wholesalers. 

For fruit and veg, I would visit New Covent Garden, the wholesalers’ market. The bins were surrounded by fresh produce, most of it perfect to be eaten that day or the next – no good for retailers but fine for us. I feasted on melons and mangoes, blueberries and raspberries, cherries and ripe avocados.

One of Hibbert’s takeaway lessons was music to my ears:

Even if the businesses and homeowners couldn’t reduce the amount of waste, they didn’t have to dispose of their surplus as rubbish. FareShare, the food redistribution charity, say they could redistribute 15 times more surplus food than they currently do.

I don’t often think of freegans choosing they feel like eating, but Hibbert soon found that she had plenty of options: 

I learned when cafes and shops threw out food and could adjust my foraging route according to what I fancied eating. I learned that bags containing food weigh more than those full of empty cups and boxes, and that the more upmarket the supermarket, the more they throw away.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t have the happiest ending. Things are getting harder for scavengers:

Several skipping spots that were reliable sources of meals have been sabotaged – a large branch of EAT, for example, used to throw away sacks of sandwiches, wraps, salads, yoghurts and fruit every day. It still does, but now the shop assistants open every packet before putting it in the bag, emptying yoghurt over salads and sandwiches to make them inedible.

But, there is a happy ending to this post–Hibbert has a book on her experiences coming out this month (Free: Adventures on the Margins of a Wasteful Society). I bet it’ll be good, based on this excerpt and that it’s less ‘my year of living for free’ and more ‘my new life of living for free.’ And, if you get it at the library–it’ll be free.

January 4, 2010 | Posted in Freegan, International, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Hoppin’ into 2010

Black-eyed peas are thought to be good luck, which might explain the band’s success. It definitely explains why the legumes are eaten through the South on New Year’s Day.

One theory–the one found on Wikipedia–posits that the tradition dates back to the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and that Sephardic Jews brought the tradition with them to the American South via Georgia. There, the general populace picked up on the new year tradition of eating black-eyed peas and, ironically, but not surprisingly, included pork in the mix. Then again, it may have been that they were a cheap representation of copper coins. As the old Southern saw goes, “Peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold.”

photo by Mike LichtIn the Carolinas, where I live, the enjoyment of these black-eyed peas tends to come via the traditional New Year’s dish of Hoppin’ John. Last night, I enjoyed Hoppin John at our friends’ house and again today at our neighbors’. Actually, we had the whole triad.

I tell you all of this for three reasons:

1. One New Year’s Day tradition with Hoppin’ John is to leave three black-eyed peas on your plate (for luck, prosperity and romance). While I can’t get behind that one for food waste reasons, I do like the tradition where you count how many are on your plate to predict the amount of luck you’ll have in the new year.

2. Hoppin’ John has a built-in nomenclature for leftover eating, according to this article in The Austin Chronicle:

On the day after New Year’s Day, leftover “Hoppin’ John” becomes “Skippin’ Jenny,” and eating it demonstrates powerful frugality, bringing one even better chances of prosperity.

No idea why John turns to Jenny, but I love it.

3. I’ve really covered my bases on the New Year’s/good luck thing. Hope you did, too–Happy 2010!

January 1, 2010 | Posted in History and Culture, Household, Personal | Comments closed

Wrapping Up 2009

Lost in my post-Christmas haze was National Leftovers Day in Australia. It makes plenty of sense, given the usual Christmas dinner abundance. And rest assured the Kiwis are onto the idea, too (in a Dec. 30 article I’m writing about on Dec. 29–a clear example of my soothsaying prowess).

In the U.S., we have the Friday after Thanksgiving for the same unofficial holiday. But don’t be fooled–it definitely was not made official by President Obama. Regardless, given how much holiday waste of all kinds we create, we may as well try to reuse at least some of it. (Gift bags would be another suggestion).

photo by Optical Illusion via Creative CommonsThe last item of 2009 comes from our friends at BioCycle. As we all look back at the year (and perhaps a decade), the magazine provides a great roundup of where we stand with US food waste collection. The article lends a nice sense of who’s leading the way and, by the relatively few examples, how far we have to go.

Onwards and upwards!

 

December 29, 2009 | Posted in Composting, International, Repurposing | Comments closed

A Message for December 25…and after

First off, Merry Christmas!

Many of us will enjoy a nice family dinner on Christmas–and I hope you do enjoy it! I also hope you make good use of your leftovers. As does my man Hilary Benn, UK Environment Secretary, who hit out at the practice of binning Christmas leftovers.

Meanwhile, in a related topic, the City of Denver has made their position clear: If you don’t want your fruit cake, they’ll take it. Same goes for your turkey carcass, unwanted pumpkin pie (surely an oxymoron) and all other food waste.photo by Randy Son of Robert via Creative Commons

That Denver Recycles flyer declares that Americans waste 25 percent more food between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don’t be part of those numbers! Enjoy your leftovers (and loved ones) this year.

December 25, 2009 | Posted in Composting, History and Culture, International | Comments closed

Radio Noir–the Food Recovery Edition

In case you missed this weekend’s A Prairie Home Companion, the Guy Noir segment (at around the 16 minute mark of the show) was a cracker. And best of all, it centered on food recovery.

Martin Sheen plays Louie Louie, who runs a food salvage business by snagging diners remains from fancy fund-raising dinners. He employs Guy Noir to rescue the uneaten food from these fancy affairs.

At one point there’s talk of taking a snoozing Bill Clinton’s dinner roll, Nora Jones sings the on-hold music and…you know what? I think it’s probably best if you just listen to it. Or you can read the script.

The segment even refers to the St. Andrews Society–not to be confused with the Society of St. Andrew–whose fund-raiser will serve haggis that Louie plans to make into sausage (since nobody’s going to eat it). “A dark night in the city that knows how to keep its secrets,” indeed.

December 23, 2009 | Posted in Food Recovery | Comments closed

Monday Buffet

Since the buffet was closed on Friday and I had a few things I wanted to pass along, how about an ever-so-rare Monday Buffet? Here goes:

Wednesday’s Feeding the 5000 event prompted a nice editorial (not an op-ed!) in The Guardian about reducing food waste. While it’s not a surprise to see the liberal-ish paper take an anti-waste stance, it’s nice to see them recognize the climate implications of food waste.

— —

It’s not my backyard, but…seems a bit odd that a Wisconsin town would turn up its nose at the idea of turning a duck slaughter/packing house into a food waste-to-energy plant. Considering the site was 200+ acres and anaerobic digestion happens in enclosed vessels, I don’t see why Yorkville, Wisc., would reject the project.

— —

I linked to the neat City Harvest “Apples” PSA on Friday, but here’s a little video on its making. It’s a fun two minutes, with a nice beat, too.

— —

Finally, I like thispiece on food date labels in the UK, but I really like the infographic.

December 21, 2009 | Posted in General | Comments closed

How Ya Like Them Apples?

A few of you kind souls have sent this City Harvest PSA to me, all with the caveat that ‘no apples were wasted in the making of this ad.’

I was pretty skeptical. I mean, how’d they do it? By installing nets on the opposite subway track? By considering feeding rats not wasting?

Oh, right–CGI. There were no real apples, except the one the woman bites into.

It’s a neat use of technology to illustrate just how much food is wasted daily. The subway full of apples makes a powerful visual. And I won’t even complain about the perceived waste because I think City Harvest subtly uses this illusion to draw attention to their cause and NYC food wastage. 

I wonder: how many 747s would they have to digitally fill to depict America‘s daily food waste?

— —

On a separate note, as the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference enters its last day, what better time to look at the carbon impact of food waste. See page 7 of this newsletter for a piece by Prof. Jan Lundqvist, the senior scientific advisor at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and Josh Paglia, SIWI’s departing communications officer. Lundqvist and SIWI, you may recall, teamed up to publish a 2008 study estimating that we waste half of our food.

Also, let’s hope our leaders pull their acts together and get something done today!

December 18, 2009 | Posted in Environment, Food Recovery, International | Comments closed

Feeding Five Grand

Today, a coalition of cool people will feed a multitude of Londoners a free lunch in Trafalgar Square. Feeding the 5,000 is an event organized by Tristram Stuart in conjunction with a bunch of partners–FareShare, ActionAid, Save the Children and This is Rubbish.

image courtesy of Feeding the 5000The noon-time event won’t require any miracles, as in a past feeding of 5,000. That’s because any developed nation can easily feed thousands with the daily excess of its food system. And that’s what will happen in Trafalgar Square:

All the food handed out on the day to passers-by will be made from fresh and nutritious ingredients that otherwise would have been wasted. The menu will include hot soups made from vegetables cast out because they are not cosmetically perfect, a range of sandwiches and freshly-made fruit smoothies, pressed on the day by customised bicycles.

The event is sure to draw an intense media gaze, and with it further attention to the superficiality-driven surplus in the food chain. I’ll try to update this post as media reports and/or photos filter back about the event.

I’d love to still be in England to experience “Feeding” firsthand. Since I’m not, I’ll be following from afar.

—
Update: This video from The Guardian shows how the event looked, including the bonus fruit and vegetable giveaway because there was so much excess. Makes you wonder…

Here’s the print article, too, which captured this lovely bit of color:

“Wonky apples, step this way!” a volunteer bellowed.

December 16, 2009 | Posted in Food Recovery, International | Comments closed

“Def” Visit

I’m now back in the USSR after a great trip to England. One of the highlights of my UK visit was getting an hour with Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for the Environment. In that role, he heads Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

In addition to being quite down to earth, he definitely ‘gets it.’ Benn understands that sending food to landfill makes no sense, because it leads to methane (mee-thane, as they insist on calling it). And so (the) government is trying to reduce food waste.

When I asked Benn what role government has in reducing food waste and he answered that they’re raising the issue in general, generating debate on the topic, encouraging retailers to make changes and suggesting that local councils recycle food waste. And Defra fund WRAP, which researches food waste and prompts individuals to waste less.

In terms of direct action, government’s main role thus far has been the landfill levy. The £8 per ton(ne) tax on sending items to landfill began in 2008 and will rise by that same amount  annually. So each year it’ll get more expensive to throw out food (and other items), creating an incentive to reduce waste. Brilliant!

And if that doesn’t work fast enough, Benn and Defra are looking at banning food waste from landfills and will issue a “consultation early in the New Year.” I’m all ears.

December 14, 2009 | Posted in International, Waste Stream | Comments closed