Monthly Archives: January 2012

Monday Leftovers

South Koreans will soon be getting used to weight-based waste bins that charge residents for the amount of food waste they create. Swipe cards will help the machines keep track of who wastes what. It’s the latest waste-reduction step for a nation without much room. (They’ve already banned food from landfills.) — — Students at […]

January 30, 2012 | Posted in College, Friday Buffet, International, Trayless | Comments closed

Mutato Project

I love produce that has…character. You know, the stuff that looks–pick one–quirky, ugly or odd. When I find especially striking examples, I do this: Uli Westphal is a German photographer who also enjoys “non-standard fruits, roots and vegetables.” Except when he finds interesting examples, being a professional photographer, he does this: What could be better […]

January 25, 2012 | Posted in Farm, International | Comments closed

Monday Leftovers

On the heels of Friday’s major outcry against waste by the EU Parliament, the head of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization spoke out against food waste this weekend. In other words, this issue is picking up steam. — — How did I not know there was a Discard Studies blog before now? A recent […]

January 23, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Environment, Food Safety, Stats, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Europe Declares War on Waste

Yesterday was a massive day in food waste news, as the European Parliament passed a resolution* targeting its reduction. More specifically, Parliament called on the European Commission to tackle waste through an ambitious goal of halving food waste by 2025. And setting the stakes for inaction–waste will increase by 40 percent if nothing is done. The […]

January 20, 2012 | Posted in International | Comments closed

Keepin’ it Real…Ugly

It can get a little ugly when I go to the farmer’s market. Just this ugly: These are actual (greenhouse-grown) peppers bought at The Durham Farmer’s Market this past weekend. No photoshopping, I promise. Despite their shar-pei appearance,  they were delicious. Proving once again that food doesn’t have to look perfect or homogeneous to taste […]

January 17, 2012 | Posted in Farmers' Market, Personal | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

If you missed the Food Network’s The Big Waste, here’s a recap, complete with screen shots. And here is some further thought, complete with big picture suggestions.  Reminder: the show reairs Saturday at 4pm EST and Sunday at 5pm EST. — — Dana Gunders at the NRDC blog considers how we’re composting $175 per year unnecessarily. — […]

January 13, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Friday Buffet, Household, International | Comments closed

Reducing Waste For The Win

Forget Monday’s boring national championship game. The real college champion crowned this week is Marist College. Yup–Marist! The pride of Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) won the EPA WasteWise Game Day Challenge in the Per Capita Organics Reduction category. If you select ‘Organics Reduction’ in the pulldown menu, you will see that tiny Marist destroyed the competition, outpacing […]

January 11, 2012 | Posted in College, Waste Stream | Comments closed

The Big Waste

Last night, the Food Network aired The Big Waste. Apparently, it was a cooking competition using food that would normally have been tossed. Not having cable, I didn’t catch the show. But I’ll be sure to add it to this post if video becomes available. In the meantime, who saw it? Thoughts? What I can […]

January 9, 2012 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Here’s an updated version of the study tracking the US climate impact of food waste. Food waste represents 1.5% of greenhouse gas emissions? Sounds about right… — — A UK professor has the dirt on the EU’s strict standards for veggies. — — For those of you on Netflix–you can now instantly watch Dive! the […]

January 6, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Friday Buffet, International, School, Stats | Comments closed

Halve a Heart

I’ve gushed about the Halfsies idea before, and that was before I saw their amazing introductory video. So, internets–meet Halfsies: Don’t even try getting that infectious piano and concise messaging out of your head–it’s physiologically impossible. Good show, Halfsies! All that remains is raising some cash and spreading the idea nationwide. (And then we’ll tackle […]

January 4, 2012 | Posted in Restaurant | Comments closed