I’m now in Denver, getting ready to give a presentation at the American Dietetic Association conference. It’s exciting being here with so many other people who think about food all day. Usually, it’s just my dog and me.
In addition to checking out what a bunch of nutritionists eat, 
I’m curious to see how they fare with plate waste. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled.
The theme of Tuesday’s talk is “Promoting Food Security by Reducing Waste.” I’m presenting with Andy Sarjahani, who you may recall from the Virginia Tech traylessness trial, way back when. (Tech went trayless the following Fall.)
After a year as the sustainability coordinator at VT, Andy is now working on a master’s in sustainable food systems at Montana State and doing a little community-supported gardening on the side.
We plan to rock the ADA tomorrow at 8 a.m. Thankfully, that’s 8 a.m. Mountain Time.
Comments
3 responses to “Presenting Waste”
Good luck!!!!!! Will be interested in reading how it goes 🙂
I’m very interested in what you find out – when working as a dietitian, several decades ago, I found dietitians to be loopy eaters.
At a conference I found several who could not have foods touch each other, several who took double portions and then ate maybe 1/4 and dumped the rest, and surprisingly many who made sure to eat raw foods like salads and fresh fruit so they could indulge in outrageous desserts. The majority, however, ate almost everything put in front of them and often had seconds if offered.
Thanks, fairydust!
Bellen, I’ll try to post further thoughts after experiencing more, but as for now, I’ll just say that I’ve never been to a conference without meals. There are no meals on-site. None. There are kiosks selling coffee and snacks and an occasional sandwich, sort of like at an airport. I don’t know if this is a Denver Convention Center thing or an ADA thing. It probably does lead to less waste, as there’s no mass production buffet meals where planned overages are required. Instead, people go out to grab a bite. Not bad, when the weather is as nice as it has been.
There is, however, the ever-present temptation to stroll through the Hall of Gluttony, a.k.a. the Exhibition Hall. It’s samples galore in there. And not just snacks. Exhibitors make up the entire spectrum: the good, the bad, and the ugly.