Tag Archives: food waste

Webinar Questions Answered

I recently had the honor of giving the first ever webinar for Food Tank. At least that’s what I’m told happened. I just spoke into my computer and hoped that people were listening. And based on the array of questions, at least a few folks were! While we allotted 15 minutes for questions, that time just […]

May 2, 2014 | Posted in Composting, Energy, Environment, General | Comments closed

Redefining ‘Reduce’

Small bone to pick here: Several times a week I get excited by headlines like this one: Darden Restaurants Working to Reduce Food Waste. I leap into the story, looking for confirmation that a restaurant is actually trimming the amount of food waste their kitchen and/or customers are creating. Almost invariably, I realize that they’re not doing […]

May 1, 2014 | Posted in Restaurant | Comments closed

Blown Away by Waste Buffet

On Tuesday, I gave a talk at Keene State College in New Hampshire. In conjunction with the visit, the progressive folks of Keene State Dining created this amazing tableau of waste:  Dining workers pulled untouched and nearly untouched breakfast and lunch items from the plate return and assembled a visually appealing, yet haunting “waste buffet.” The […]

April 25, 2014 | Posted in College, Institutional | Comments closed

Documenting a Week of Waste

With their Waste in Focus project, the wonderful team of photographer Peter Menzel and writer Faith D’Aluisio are doing for waste what they did for food in Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. In the project, released last week and slated for an Earth Day exhibit in New York City’s Union Square, eight families of varying geography and backgrounds […]

April 15, 2014 | Posted in Environment, Household, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Food for Thought

I just came across this recent EPA infographic on waste and particularly enjoyed this portion: That 95% statistic comes from the EPA’s Municipal Solid Waste report, which shows that composting levels have doubled from 2008 to 2012. (It went from 2.3% to 4.8%.) While those low amounts enable such dramatic improvement, at least we’re improving! I also […]

April 4, 2014 | Posted in Campaigns, Environment, Household, Stats | Comments closed

Expect Big Changes with US Food Waste

There’s MAJOR NEWS in the battle against food waste–President Obama plans to issue an Executive Order making it illegal to throw away food. The Executive Order, helped forward by First Lady Michelle Obama’s urging, will amount to a de facto national ban on food waste. An Obama administration official with knowledge of the plans said […]

April 1, 2014 | Posted in Energy, Environment, General | Comments closed

Friday Fun

Food Wise Hong Kong was launched in 2012 by the (government) Environment Bureau with the task of reducing waste in a region with scant landfill space. To accomplish that goal, they’ve created the Don’t Be a Big Waster campaign. While it’s hard to know exactly how to take it, the video and its content are pretty great: OK, it’s […]

March 21, 2014 | Posted in Campaigns, International | Comments closed

Food Waste Doc to Debut

In very exciting news, yesterday saw the release of the trailer for the upcoming food waste documentary Just Eat It. The 75-minute film is finished and will start making the festival rounds next month. I was fortunate enough to be interviewed for the film and can be heard but not seen (probably for the best) in […]

March 19, 2014 | Posted in General | Comments closed

School Lunches Healthier, Just as Wasteful

Last week, a Harvard School of Public Health study exploring the impact of recent changes to school lunch came out with mixed news: students are eating more fruits and vegetables, but waste remains a problem. After the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, new federal standards went into effect for the start of the 2012-2013 […]

March 12, 2014 | Posted in Institutional, Legislation, School, Stats | Comments closed

Living Better, Wasting Less

The Guardian normally keeps a keen eye on food waste. Starting this week, though, the UK newspaper has gone one step further by creating the Live Better Challenge. The seven month editorial project will tackle a new sustainability topic each month. Encouragingly, food waste is up first, and that’s a boon for both home cooks […]

March 4, 2014 | Posted in Household, International, Leftovers | Comments closed