Monthly Archives: August 2008

On the Road

This weekend, I’ll be hangin’ with the local, sustainable crowd at Slow Food Nation. There are much worse places to be than San Francisco and I’m scheduled to help Food Runners recover food from a Slow Food event. SFN is the first stop on a two-week research trip that will take me across the Bay […]

August 30, 2008 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Democratic National Convention organizers aimed to divert 85 percent of its waste from the landfill, including composting food. Based on this Rocky Mountain News article, it seems like they’ll have to settle for 70 percent. In my book, that’s still quite an accomplishment, as described here. So why bar volunteers from talking to the press, […]

August 29, 2008 | Posted in Composting, Events, Friday Buffet, Trayless | Comments closed

Produce Pointers

The fine people at USA Pears have given us all a gift: this awesome guide to selecting and storing produce. As you’ll see, it’s quite comprehensive. For example, what the heck is celtuce? Buying fruits and vegetables at the right stage of ripeness is crucial for avoiding waste. We’ve all had that avocado ripen before […]

August 28, 2008 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

Vacuum-sealed Results

Two weeks ago, I wrote about testing the Handi-Vac vacuum sealer. The results are in, folks. I’d expected that vacuum sealing, whether to freeze or refrigerate, would make food last longer. True indeed. After 16 days, the Handi-Vac green beans were a little slimy, but still firm. They were beginning to turn, but still didn’t […]

August 27, 2008 | Posted in Composting, Household | Comments closed

Marion Nestle Q & A

Marion Nestle is a Professor in NYU’s Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health and author of What to Eat, Food Politics and more. Marion was kind enough to share her insights on food waste and American’s eating habits in this e-mail interview. — WF: Not knowing when things go bad and what to […]

August 26, 2008 | Posted in Composting, Household, Q & A, Restaurant, Supermarket | Comments closed

Water, Food Wasted

Thursday I wrote about colleges cutting the use of trays. In addition to limiting food waste, it curtails water usage, as there are no trays to wash. Another way to save water is to not waste food in general. Saving Water: From Field to Fork, a new report by the Stockholm Water Management Institute (SIWI), […]

August 25, 2008 | Posted in General, Stats | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Publix supermarkets recently announced a program to compost meat, produce and bakery items from 56 Broward County stores and all 237 S. Florida stores by mid-2009. Organic Recovery will convert the supermarket waste to a soil supplement by enzymatic digestion. Great news, but I’d love to see this kind of top-down approach to donating the […]

August 22, 2008 | Posted in Composting, Friday Buffet, International, Supermarket | Comments closed

Trayless Time of Year

Sad as it may be, the summer is coming to a close. And that means school year is fast approaching, if not already here. On this tab, I’ve been tracking the colleges that have removed trays from all-you-can eat cafeterias in an effort to reduce food waste. Happily, the announcements have been coming fast and […]

August 21, 2008 | Posted in College, Trayless | Comments closed

Curing Hospital Food Waste

An Oregon hospital hopes that increased food choices will enhance patient health and happiness. A nice byproduct, hopefully, will be less wasted food. Ashland Community Hospital recently began allowing patients to order what they want, when they want it. They also improved the options. Unappetizing meals no longer arrive at the stroke of 8 a.m., […]

August 20, 2008 | Posted in Institutional | Comments closed

Sub-Zero Waste?

Refrigerator maker Sub-Zero just announced that several new features in its units will help cut food waste. S-Z claims many advances, including air scrubbers and separate compressors (and humidity levels) for the fridge and freezers. Equally important, though, is that the new units will include “freshness guide” cards. These built-in cheat sheets will remind folks […]

August 19, 2008 | Posted in Household | Comments closed