Monthly Archives: January 2008

Tray(less) Day

The trayless college dining experiment is spreading and so are the media hits. An article in Inside Higher Ed about the practice led to a brief blog post on The Wall Street Journal‘s site. The Inside Higher Ed piece provided a nice detail to illustrate that some students, notably big eaters, oppose traylessness. Members of […]

January 31, 2008 | Posted in College, Stats | Comments closed

UCan do it, UConn

The trayless trend continues at college cafeterias…(who-hoo!) As reported by its student newspaper, the University of Connecticut (UConn) will eschew trays at its Whitney Dining Hall in February. The environmental awareness campaign will begin with awareness day, then kick in the next Monday before running seven days the following week. While the program’s main focus […]

January 30, 2008 | Posted in College | Comments closed

Technical Difficulties

I recently came across two seldom considered causes of food waste: electrical and mechanical. Power outages, if they last long enough, can cause individuals and restaurants (small ones without a backup generator) to toss their perishables. As restaurants in Somerville, Mass., found out, this can be quite costly. In addition, the loss of food is […]

January 29, 2008 | Posted in College, Restaurant | Comments closed

The “Egg in Box” Interview

Egg in a Box, a site run by two Chinese-food-loving sisters, has one aim: getting you to donate your leftover takeout rice to those in need. While Replate asks diners to simply leave their leftovers ‘out’ for the homeless, Egg in a Box prompts people to add a hard-boiled egg to the rice to make […]

January 28, 2008 | Posted in Household, Q & A, Restaurant | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Thought I’d pass along a few helpful household hints for minimizing waste. Thanks, Little Jelly’s Belly. — — On to one of my favorite topics: cafeteria traylessness. New York’s Morrisville State College is doing a Trayless on Tuesdays experiment in February. If that’s not cool enough, they’re raffling off a Zune just for participating. Insert […]

January 25, 2008 | Posted in College, Friday Buffet, Household | Comments closed

Really Paying for Restaurant Leftovers

Yesterday we talked about a restaurant in Singapore that charges customers $5 for every 100 grams of food left on their plate. Closer to home, Montreal’s Spirite Lounge has an even more extreme policy, as detailed in this article: The restaurant runs by reservation only in order to prepare the right amount of food on […]

January 23, 2008 | Posted in International, Restaurant | Comments closed

Paying for Restaurant Leftovers

Thanks to Ming’s Space, we get this wasted food snippet from an all-you-can eat restaurant named Coca in Singapore. Take it away, Ming: We were eating and joking away until I saw a little note sticked onto the table, stating that: “Every 100 grams of food wasted will be charged $5!” Awesome. I love that […]

January 22, 2008 | Posted in International, Restaurant | Comments closed

MLK Day

I have a dream. A dream that more school districts will follow the example of Wisconsin’s Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagen School District. Their composting program makes too much sense not to be emulated. And while there are certainly larger problems in our country, I hope we see a day ‘when little black boys and black girls will […]

January 21, 2008 | Posted in History and Culture, School | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

This is a strange story, but any idea that diminishes food waste and increases doughnut supply is a winner in my book. — — From the Jetsons Design Institute: The Loofen Packy. I wonder if the Loofen is related to my Ikea blanket “Bibbi Snurr?” I’m all for this invention, if it actually works. Until […]

January 18, 2008 | Posted in Friday Buffet, History and Culture, Household | Comments closed

Wasted Food Funnies

Here’s a little food waste humor courtesy of Joe Martin and his Mister Boffo comic strip: I guess I often ‘walk on the wild side.’ After more careful consideration, I’m totally a wild and crazy guy.  Of course, there’s nothing too wild about eating food a few days past its “sell-by” date. Consuming items past their “use-by” dates, […]

January 16, 2008 | Posted in History and Culture, Supermarket | Comments closed