An op-ed by Cooper Lloyd in The Washington Post’s new Green section pushed for city-wide curbside composting. If it adopted this kind of progressive plan,
Washington could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, free up space in its landfills and even generate fertilizer to keep the city’s parks and public spaces beautiful.
In countering one potential barrier to […]

This Marketplace (radio) piece introduces Billy Vasquez, a.k.a. the “99 cent Chef,” a food blogger who makes meals from ingredients sourced at 99-cent stores. I enjoyed this exchange on buying spinach there (no idea if it’s canned, frozen or fresh):
Newnam: Do you have to worry about the dates?
Vasquez: Hey, it’s still green. That’s all […]

I got a few chuckles out of this story from Britain. In order to assess Sussex residents’ food wasting habits, the district council sorted 30 homes’ trash. The problem, alas, was that they didn’t tell people.
This “intrusive” (according to a local politician making a meal out of the affair) act angered some Sussexites. I hate […]

Don’t worry, I’m not shaking the online tip jar. Instead, I wanted to point your attention to the new “Tips” tab up top. (I know, it’s getting crowded up there!)
I’m hoping that the page will become a compilation of readers’ advice on how to avoid food waste. You guys are so smart and have so […]

After all the interest surrounding a post last week on storing cheese, something had to give. Fortunately for us, that something was cheese expert and restaurateur Matt Jennings agreeing to lend his wisdom.
After having the misfortune of attending elementary school with me in suburban Boston, Matt has risen to prominence in the culinary world. He […]

The last two weeks, English writer Jonathan Maitland selflessly sacrificed life and limb, or at least his stomach, to test “best before” dates. What began with eggs one day past their “use-by” date, ended with a bowl of Sultana Bran (Raisin Bran) 12 weeks beyond the manufacturers’ cut-off day.
The “Best Before Challenge” and the accompanying […]

Seattle never ceases to amaze. The Seattle Food Recovery Initiative is doing wonderful things, including this Hunger Map that encourages and facilitates food donations. The map has helped restaurants like the Capitol Grille do their part.
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Here’s an insightful Hartford Courant editorial, which, I couldn’t help but notice, notes that my alma mater, Wesleyan University, is composting […]

If I’m going to confess the skeletons in my pantry, I may as well describe what I’d call a recent success.
My wife and I went out to dinner last night. Instead of the standard two appetizers and two entrées, we went with the smörgåsbord approach–four smaller dishes. I find this kind of ordering usually leads […]

While it is tempting to talk more about my pantry, I suppose I should address the UN world food crisis summit taking place in Rome.
Yesterday, the gathering kicked off with an address by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. According to a report from NPR’s All Things Considered, Ban referenced wealthy nations “wasteful and excess consumption […]

Here’s how hard it is to be a dairy farmer–even when you’re on strike, you still have to get up at 4 in the morning to milk the cows. After all, they’re not gonna milk themselves…
I mention this because Germany’s dairy farmers are now striking. And here’s the part I’m crying over: The farmers are […]