Wasted Food — Jonathan Bloom on food waste and how it can be avoided
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Americans waste more than 40 percent of the food we produce for consumption. That comes at an annual cost of more than $100 billion. At the same time, food prices and the number of Americans without enough to eat continues to rise. Fusing my journalistic research on the topic with the work of countless others, this site examines how we squander so much food. Part blog, part call to action, Wasted Food aims to shed light on the problem of, you guessed it, wasted food. I’ve been researching this topic since 2005, when two experiences made me aware of just how much food is wasted. Volunteering at D.C. Central Kitchen, a homeless shelter that rescues unused food from restaurants and supermarkets illuminated the excess in those areas. Gleaning, or gathering crops that would otherwise be left in the field and distributing them to the hungry, illustrated the agricultural abundance that is often plowed under. When you’re looking for it, you see food waste everywhere–at restaurants, in large portions and even in your own refrigerator. If more and more people recognize their own food waste, we can take a bite out of this problem. Hope you’re hungry for change.
Tips
Hopefully, this page will house readers’ collected wisdom on how they prevent food waste. Leave your tips on avoiding waste here or, if your advice relates to a specific post, feel free to comment there.
Gallery
Exhibit Two “Secret Freegan†is a Phoenix resident who recovers food from grocery store dumpsters and donates it to those in need.  Inspired by the 2/28/08 episode of Oprah, Secret Freegan has been recovering food for needy families and various shelters since March of 2008. In that time, she estimates she has donated $45,000 worth of food to the hungry. After Secret Freegan began peering into grocery dumpsters, she could not believe the huge amount of fresh food tossed. (The supermarkets refuse to donate many of these goods because of unfounded liability fears, though much of it is that day’s fresh food.) What she found exceeded what her family and friends could eat, so she called shelters to see if they were interested in receiving her dumpster-found donations. Many were. Making several daily trips–to prevent food from rotting in the Arizona heat–Secret Freegan has documented the wasted food with hundreds of photographs and a few videos that you can see at her site, Save The Food. Also, you can follow her on Twitter. The below photos are all items she has recovered from supermarket dumpsters:        Exhibit One Photographer Pantelis Anastasios Korovilas, 19, hails from Clinton, Iowa and is finishing up a graphic arts program at Clinton Community College. The photos below are part of…
Press
Contact Jonathan: wastedfood at gmail dot com — Jonathan’s Writing on Food Waste: “Help the Planet: Stop Wasting Food†L.A. Times 11.7.10 “How Avoiding Food Waste Aids the Environment†Huffington Post 10.28.10 “10 Teched-out Techniques for Saving Food†Gizmodo 9.24.10 “Vegetarianism vs. Eating Meat: A Forum“ Mother Jones 7.19.10 “Expiration Dates“ Culinate 1.21.09 “An Abundance of Food, Wasted†NY Times.com 11.27.08 “Preventing Food Waste: It May Become the Law†Slow Food Nation 8.19.08 “Other People’s Pantries†The Perfect Pantry 8.02.08 “Five Ways to Stop Wasting Food†US News u0026#038; World Report online 5.19.08 “Photo Essay: Wasted Food†The Jew u0026#038; the Carrot 3.02.08 “The Food Not Eaten†Culinate 11.19.07 “Carolina Composting…†BioCycle magazine 8.07 “Leftovers are not for Landfills†The Charlotte Observer 4.27.07 “Colleges Can Recycle Food†The Philadelphia Inquirer 3.16.07 “Trimming Our Wastes†The News u0026#038; Observer 1.01.07 — Wasted Food in the Media “A Call to Action†Fox 25 News 11.29.10 “…Table Scraps and Global Warming†The Madeleine Brand Show (KPCC) 11.27.10 “Thanksgiving Eve Food Special†The Emily Rooney Show (WGBH) 11.24.10 “America Wastes Too Much Food?†FoxNews.com 11.12.10 “Wasted†The Brian Lehrer Show (WNYC) 11.9.10 “Wasting Food: Farm to Fridge to Landfill†The Kojo Nnamdi Show (WAMU)…
Act!
Household: You can reduce your personal food waste in five steps: 1. Plan your meals before you grocery shop. 2. Make a detailed shopping list and stick to it! 3. Serve reasonable sized portions. 4. Save your leftovers. 5. Eat those leftovers! Also, try to use what you already have in your fridge and cupboard. This site is a handy resource making do with what ya got. Outside the Home: Contact America’s Second Harvest at 1-800-771-2303 for information on food recovery organizations in your area. Your time or money would be greatly appreciated. For gleaning information, contact The Society of St. Andrew‘s national office at 1-800-333-4597. Navigate over to The Hunger Site daily to help erase hunger with one click. Businesses: For restaurants and grocery stores interested in donating food, contact Food Donation Connection at 1-800-831-8161. They link donors with food recovery organizations.
Food Rescue
Food rescue does not involve superheroes in capes. Also called food recovery, it is the practice of retrieving edible food that would otherwise go to waste and distributing it to those in need. In most cases, the recovered food is perfectly edible, but not sellable. For example, it’s day old bread or bagged lettuce past its “sell-by†date. Often, it’s in great shape (as you can see in these photos). The food that recovery agencies pick up is donated by supermarkets, restaurants and farms. In most cases, the rescued food is being saved from the dumpster and, ultimately, the landfill. Food recovered on farms is kept from being plowed under. On farms, the donations often must be harvested, or gleaned, by volunteers.  Businesses that participate receive tax benefits for their donations, freedom from liability lawsuits thanks to the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act and the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from doing the right thing. Heck, you may even receive positive publicity in the local press and on this site. If you’re a restauranteur, supermarket supervisor or farmer who doesn’t enjoy throwing away food, there’s probably a food recovery organization near you willing to pick up your extras. The US…
Speaking
Writing
Contact
Jonathan
Watch, Read, Listen
Food Waste Stump Speech
Apr 5, 2021
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Jonathan
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General
Dumpster, Guarded
Feb 19, 2021
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Jonathan
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General
Chatting on Food Waste Day
Sep 29, 2020
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Environment
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Food Recovery
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General
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International
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Leftovers
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Storage
Food Matters!
May 2, 2019
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Jonathan
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College
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School
Minneaturizing School Food Waste
Mar 1, 2019
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School
State of the Food Waste Union
Feb 1, 2018
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Jonathan
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General
Learning from ‘Lo Spreco’
May 9, 2017
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Campaigns
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History and Culture
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International
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Personal
Wasted Food Dude–Backyard Methane??
Feb 1, 2017
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Composting
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Environment
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Wasted Food Dude
Wasted Food Dude–Composting Conundrum
Dec 8, 2016
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Composting
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Food Recovery
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Wasted Food Dude
Wasted Food Dude–Using Up Dressing
Nov 7, 2016
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General
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Household
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Wasted Food Dude
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