Hate: A Strong Word

While I was meeting with the woman who runs the Love Food, Hate Waste (LFHW) site in England, the dining services folks at UC Davis used that very slogan as the title for their report/how-to-manual/call to action. Good for them!

“Love Food, Hate Waste” is really worth browsing through, as it has a little bit of everything. And if you’re a school administrator, dining director or sustainability coordinator, I’d recommend thinking about using that document as a guide.

Speaking of my meeting in Banbury, England at the offices of WRAP (who run LFHW), I asked, but they wouldn’t tell me any other possible names for the site. Apparently, it was suggested early on in the process, then they never found anything else that Mr. Potato Headcaptured the message quite so well.

Love Food, Hate Waste really does say it all, as illustrated by Davis dining services’ borrowing it.

Another thing I learned is that WRAP found the “food lovers” who appear on their home page and resemble food items (potatoes, apples, pasta) by having a casting company put out calls for specific looks. So: ‘We need a guy who looks like a potato.’ And they sure got one! (and I’m told that the stout dude pictured here is on TV in Britain…)

December 10, 2009 | Posted in College, International | Comments closed

On Terminology and Terminals

I’ve been excited to see the press that Kevin Hall et al’s study has received. You know, the one that found that America wastes 40 percent of its food.

It was featured in The Economist and then The New York Times “Idea of the Day” blog repeated the findings with a quote from the former.

They found that the average American wastes 1,400 kilocalories a day. [Kilocalorie is another word for food calorie.]

The problem is that the wording used in the Economist and repeated by The Times is a bit misleading. It’s not that average person wastes that much each day, but that the per capita waste is 1,400 calories.

Basically, the researchers found the total waste from the food chain and divide it by the population to give it some perspective.

I asked the head researcher, Kevin Hall, a nice guy from what I can tell, and he agreed that the wording was confusing. So that’s the good news for Friday–we don’t each waste 1400 calories every day; we have plenty of help throughout the food chain.

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Secondly, I’m off to England tonight to do some research and hopefully enjoy a pint or two. It’ll be the first time I answer “both” to the ‘Business or pleasure?’ question.

Anyway, what that means for you all is that next week’s posts are up in the air. I hope to write some from the road, but no promises.

In case I don’t post, think of it this way: the book will be all the better for the trip. Cheers!

December 4, 2009 | Posted in Household, Personal, Stats | Comments closed

Thanksgiving Wrap

Washington’s King County (home of Seattle) is pushing the envelope on food waste collection. Why should Thanksgiving be any different?

Monday, a neighborhood in Renton, Wash., dumped turkey carcasses and other Thanksgiving leftovers in a public location turkey carcass. photo by jem via creative commonsas part of a composting demo organized by the County recycling team. I’m guessing the county carted away the pile after the cameras left. And hopefully these were already cooked down to make soup or stock.

The awareness-building event raises a debated topic in composting: meat. From what I understand, you can compost meat scraps and dairy, but you have to really know what you’re doing to get the pile hot enough. Translation: Commercial composting operations can process meat , but it’s not the best idea for backyard dirt jockeys like me.

On King County, I think it’s fabulous that they collect and compost food. Less inspiring–the county’s no frills slogan:

Recycle Food. It’s Easy To Do

Even less inspiring: the county sending the message that refrigerated foods are not fit for donation. That condemns too much grocery and restaurant remains to the waste basket, er, compost bin. Seattle’s Food Lifeline has a Grocery Rescue program and Seattle’s Table programs with refrigerated trucks.

As always, just because we’re recycling, doesn’t mean we should relax about trying to minimize waste–and feed hungry people!

December 2, 2009 | Posted in Composting, History and Culture, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Diving In

There’s a relatively new documentary on dumpster diving called, appropriately, Dive. Based on the trailer, I’m excited. Here, check it out:



Has anyone seen this film? There are some upcoming screenings in California and Texas. Unfortunately, it’s not on Netflix, but you can buy the DVD from the site.

November 30, 2009 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

A new study by a team of National Institute of Health researchers has some fascinating findings. After analyzing USDA and FAO data, the team of researchers found that US per capita food waste has increased by 50 percent since 1974. More interesting, they found that we now waste 40 percent of our available food supply.

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In their coverage of the above study, the CBC has a basic poll you can take: Will you change your food habits based on these findings?

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Weekly compost collection by bike? Now that’s pretty green. Trinity Green, in fact (from my home town of Durham).

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The masterminds at Love Food, Hate Waste have created a new feature: myth-busting freezer tips from the Arctic Aunt.

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And on a personal note, thanks to our gracious Thanksgiving hosts Dan and Amy for not only creating a delicious feast, but sending us home with plenty of leftovers, ensuring that all will be eaten. In our house, I’ll be the one ensuring nothing goes to waste…

November 27, 2009 | Posted in Composting, Friday Buffet, Household, International, Stats | Comments closed

A Video to be Thankful for

If I was going to make a short video summing up the problem of wasted food, it’d look something like this. Good did a great job of illuminating the problem and then suggesting ideas on how to take action.

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Speaking of taking action, with Thanksgiving upon us, I just wanted to add a few reminders to the suggestions offered in Monday’s thorough guest post.

–Encourage your guests to bring their own take-home containers.

–Be generous in dishing out leftovers. Having tons of food in one house may not be the best plan. While some folks make use of every ounce of carcass, many tire of turkey by Saturday.

–Be less generous in piling food on your plate. Plate waste isn’t usually saved and, besides, taking seconds is fun!

–Think of others. While many soup kitchens and food bank are flooded with volunteers and donations these days (both great), the holiday season is a great time of year to write a check to your local charity. That way, they can spread out the generosity.

–Enjoy! Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate abundance. Let’s just be sure not to prepare and then needlessly waste that abundance.

November 25, 2009 | Posted in History and Culture, Household, Stats | Comments closed

Guest Post: Be Thankful, Not Wasteful

Hannah Katsman is a mother of six and an expert on efficient cooking. At Cooking Manager, she shares easy recipes and tips on planning menus, shopping, food storage, appliance usage, entertaining, leftovers, and more. Below, she lends her insight on how to reduce waste and enjoy your Thanksgiving:

Lots of guests, a table groaning with food, holiday specialties–everyone looks forward to Thanksgiving dinner. But if you’re not careful, much of the meal you slaved over could end up in the garbage. Here are tips to help you get the most from your Thanksgiving dinner, or anytime you cook at home.photo by master phillip via creative commons

The Bird

  1. Choose the right size. If you are buying a whole turkey, 3/4 to 1 pound per adult allows for seconds. If a whole turkey is still too much, stick to a breast and allow 1/3 to 1/2 pound of raw turkey per person.
  2. Don’t dry it out. A plastic cooking bag keeps meat moist and cuts down on roasting time. Turkey cooked with the oven closed is moister than basted turkey.
  3. Buy fresh turkey a day or two before cooking, or defrost frozen turkey in the refrigerator over several days. Allow a day for every 4-5 pounds. (But even if you forget to thaw the turkey, you can still cook it!)
  4. Bring ice packs or a cooler or to the store to keep food cold on the trip home. Choose frozen items just before checkout.
  5. Cook stuffing in a separate baking dish, not inside the turkey. The stuffing inside a turkey takes a long time to reach a safe temperature. By that time, your turkey may be overdone.See this USDA site for more turkey safety tips.
  6. Deglaze the turkey pan. Don’t waste your hard-earned flavor. Pour about two cups of boiling water in the pan, scrape with a spatula, then carefully pour the drippings into a jar or two. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. When it’s cool, you can remove the layer of fat and use the drippings to flavor rice, soups, vegetables, or your leftover turkey. For extra convenience, freeze drippings in an ice cube tray.
  7. Slice or cube leftover turkey and store it in meal-sized packages. Freeze everything but what you expect to eat during the next few days.
  8. Turkey soup. Cover the carcass in water and make stock. Strain and freeze in serving-sized jars or plastic containers for future soups.

Read More »

November 23, 2009 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Really? Planned food fights as birthday party entertainment? That’s the best you can do? There is an interested skirmish in the comments section, but to throw another 2 cents in, I’d say there are environmental and ethical implications to wasting food as opposed to money.

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Howard County, Md, is rocking recess before lunch (HT Robin Shreeves). Why aren’t more schools?

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Here’s what a waste composition study looks like. (from Charleston County, SC) To preserve landfill space, the county is “looking at food composting.” I hope it’s a long look.

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Finally, here’s a Wasted Food first: linking to an article by a princess. The UAE’s Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein makes a cogent argument to reduce waste and curb overeating while so many go hungry in our world.

November 20, 2009 | Posted in Friday Buffet, History and Culture, International, School, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Quebec Steps Up

While Britain announced that it will ban food waste from landfills, notre amis in Quebec just announced a plan to do the same by 2013.

Part of the impetus for the move came from Québécois policymakers’ realization that the province wouldn’t be able tophoto by abdallahh via creative commons meet its goal of composting 60% of food waste by 2012. Since Quebec is only at 12% now, they realized drastic change was needed.

Hence, the food waste ban, which is part of the 2010-2015 Five Year Action Plan (a nod to Stalin?). In addition, throwing away paper will be illegal by next year. That’s ambitious, if the U.S. is any indication. Here, paper is the most common material discarded in landfills.

Also in the plan–a lot of stuff in French. Unfortunately, the province declined to provide an English language version of the action plan or the press release. But I will rest easy in knowing that:

Le projet de politique québécoise de gestion des matières résiduelles, assorti d’un plan d’action de cinq ans, vise un grand objectif : faire en sorte que la seule matière éliminée au Québec soit le résidu ultime.

November 18, 2009 | Posted in International, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Eye on Food Waste

This past Friday, the CBS Evening News ran a piece about food recovery. Those of you who know what food recovery/rescue is, won’t be enthralled, but it’s neat nonetheless to see a network tackle the issue. (Yes, even though networks’ allure has declined a bit in recent years.)

I was happy to see Hidden Harvest get some much-deserved love. I’ve spoken with their exec director Christy Porter and enjoyed it. Anyone who started out as a journalist, holds a PhD in English and works in the food recovery world is A-OK with me.

Yet, it’s kind of unbelievable that the 96 billion/27% stats are the latest we have (from 1995 data), but they are. On a lighter note, I loved the CGI graphics that put statistics on the back of the collection truck (I’m such a sucker for stuff like that). Also, the unsung heroes of the piece–and food recovery in general–are banana boxes!

November 16, 2009 | Posted in Food Recovery, Hunger | Comments closed