Monthly Archives: October 2007

Loss of Lamb

Today’s post is a sad one: 500,000 lambs will be killed in Scotland and Wales with none of the animals being used as food. Sending lambs to the slaughter is sad enough when it’s done to feed people. When it’s done for no real reason… From what I understand, foot and mouth regulations prevent much movement of flocks. […]

October 31, 2007 | Posted in Farm, International | Comments closed

Keepin’ it Fresh

Last week, the kind people at Oliso sent me a Frisper Freshkeeper to test. What the heck is that, you ask? Why, it’s a vacuum food sealer of course.  Basically, it’s a home version of the machines that vacuum pack meats, seafood and other food items. The Freshkeeper comes with ziplock-like bags into which you […]

October 30, 2007 | Posted in Household, Technology | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: Doubling Up

At the beginning of each week, I give tips on how to avoid wasting food. Today we’ll talk about one trick I’ve picked up along the way–planning two meals that use the same ingredient.  This site has a nice description of the “doubling up” shopping strategy:  When you’re buying your vegetables, plan your meals around them to avoid […]

October 29, 2007 | Posted in The Weekly Waste Word | Comments closed

Tossin’ Fries

I’m sitting in a movie–Into the Wild—this weekend trying to relax and take my mind off food waste. Since the movie was about a guy who ultimately starves in the Alaskan wilderness, I wasn’t expecting to see any squandering of food (except the debacle where he fails to cure the meat of the moose he […]

October 28, 2007 | Posted in Restaurant | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

In the Department of Unsubstantiated Claims, this post says America wastes 70 percent of its food! Now, I’m the first person to say we waste too much food, but that sourceless number takes things a bit too far. (I say ‘more than 40 percent,’ as the University of Arizona anthropologist Timothy Jones estimates between 40 and […]

October 26, 2007 | Posted in Friday Buffet, Restaurant, Stats | Comments closed

Loyola Plate Waste

Sticking with the college theme (I guess this has become college week) students at Loyola University Chicago have launched a food waste committee to investigate the issue after a student study found 1,100 pounds of plate waste–what diners take but don’t eat–per day at the school of 15,000. According to this article, two thirds of Loyolans think campus food waste […]

October 25, 2007 | Posted in College, Institutional | Comments closed

Less Tray A-OK

In honor of Campus Sustainability Day, let’s talk a bit more about campus food waste. The trayless college cafeteria, an idea started at Maine’s St. Joseph’s College, is creeping across the nation. A range of schools are cutting down on waste by eliminating trays from all-you-can-eat cafeterias, reducing “take a lot, eat a little” waste. It’s no […]

October 24, 2007 | Posted in College | Comments closed

Drought and Waste

I can’t remember the last time it really rained here in North Carolina. We got a few drops last week, but that was all. While it’s not as bad as this Aral Sea photo, there’s an “exceptional” drought in much of the Southeast. There was an interesting article in The News & Observer today about […]

October 23, 2007 | Posted in Farm | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: Amounts

Almost every Monday I give little tips on how to avoid food waste in The Weekly Waste Word. Today, let’s talk about amounts. Just as shopping can lead you to wasted food, it can also prevent it. Purchasing the right amount of a fresh ingredient for a recipe ensures efficiency, keeps food out of the waste stream […]

October 22, 2007 | Posted in Supermarket, The Weekly Waste Word | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

While I just learned he is running for President, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel just jumped to the top of my list as the only politician who laments wasted food. In the same fantasy world in which Gravel lives, I hope to be appointed as America’s first Food Waste Czar. But I’ll settle for Secretary of Food Waste.  — —  Good news […]

October 19, 2007 | Posted in Friday Buffet, International, School, Waste Stream | Comments closed