Monthly Archives: May 2011

Expiration Dates Debunked

There’s a good amount of discussion on whether expiration dates are bogus. I’m sure you can guess where I stand on the topic. My dismissal of most expiration dates stems from personal experience and knowing how much caution is built into those dates. Still, it’s nice to have the backing of some hard science mixed with journalistic […]

May 31, 2011 | Posted in Food Safety, International | Comments closed

FearLess Friday

Posh UK retailer Marks & Spencer has cut food waste by 29% since 2007. And, the food waste they do discard is composted or turned into biofuels. — — Recycling is on the rise at US restaurants, not surprisingly. What is a bit surprising–13 percent of the restaurants polled say they compost . — — My […]

May 27, 2011 | Posted in Composting, International, Personal | Comments closed

Fear Not

I haven’t found much to blog about today, so I may as well push my appearance on the FearLess Revolution web show tomorrow. Alex Bogusky, “the Elvis of advertising,” hosts the live web show each Thursday from beautiful Boulder. I’ll be appearing with Josh Kunau, producer of that great Dumpster-diving documentary, Dive! Given that link […]

May 25, 2011 | Posted in Personal | Comments closed

First Impression: Impressed

This summer, I’m living in Boulder, Colorado at my wife’s behest. Well, her job’s behest. I’m excited about the opportunity for two reasons: 1. Mountains 2. Composting While I’ve been composting for more than six years, this marks the first time I’ll have lived somewhere with municipal composting. As in–roll a bin of food waste […]

May 23, 2011 | Posted in Composting, Personal | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Here’s the NYT Green blog’s take on the FAO food waste study. Amen: Further research in the area is urgent, especially considering that food security is a major concern in large parts of the developing world. — — This blog post on the FAO study is well done, but it overlooks the cost of unharvested […]

May 20, 2011 | Posted in Composting, Environment, International, Personal | Comments closed

Aussie, Aussie, Oy!

A video of Australian celebrity chef Matt Moran berating an assistant for throwing away food has been making the rounds recently. It features some dicey language, but plays like a food waste lamenter’s dream. As you may have suspected, the video was staged. Yet, the nice part is that it wasn’t some self-serving hoax. Instead, […]

May 16, 2011 | Posted in International | Comments closed

World Food Waste Study

Yesterday, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization released a very interesting report on global food waste. It contains mind-boggling new statistics, calls international attention to the issue and serves as a prelude to the SaveFood! conference next week in Germany. Here’s the key line: Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for […]

May 12, 2011 | Posted in International, Stats | Comments closed

Through the Lens of Poverty

The following commentary ran on the Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity site this Monday. It’s a bit longer than most posts, but hopefully it’s worth your time. — An increasing number of Americans face poverty and, as a result, hunger. Meanwhile, we waste close to half of all food produced domestically. It’s an American paradox. […]

May 11, 2011 | Posted in General, Hunger | Comments closed

Disaster Relief, From the Garden

Helping disaster victims get food is certainly a worthy cause. Helping them get fresh, healthy food is even better. AmpleHarvest.org, a site that connects backyard gardeners with an abundance to local food banks, is doing just that by helping tornado victims in Alabama. More specifically, they’re encouraging food banks in ravaged areas to sign up […]

May 9, 2011 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Great news from the bottom of the food waste hierarchy: Waste Management has invested in a composting company. They’ve been sniffing around the idea for a while, so it’s encouraging to see them invest in it. — — Mary Baldwin College of Virginia reduced waste by 60% during their Sustainable Meal Week! Really shows how much […]

May 6, 2011 | Posted in College, Composting, Freegan, Friday Buffet, International, Waste Stream | Comments closed