Americans waste more than 40 percent of the food we produce for consumption. That comes at an annual cost of more than $100 billion. At the same time, food prices and the number of Americans without enough to eat continues to rise.
Fusing my journalistic research on the topic with the work of countless others, this site examines how we squander so much food. Part blog, part call to action, Wasted Food aims to shed light on the problem of, you guessed it, wasted food.
I’ve been researching this topic since 2005, when two experiences made me aware of just how much food is wasted. Volunteering at D.C. Central Kitchen, a homeless shelter that rescues unused food from restaurants and supermarkets illuminated the excess in those areas. Gleaning, or gathering crops that would otherwise be left in the field and distributing them to the hungry, illustrated the agricultural abundance that is often plowed under.
When you’re looking for it, you see food waste everywhere–at restaurants, in large portions and even in your own refrigerator. If more and more people recognize their own food waste, we can take a bite out of this problem.
Hope you’re hungry for change.
I adore your blog! I was thinking of taking a similar direction, but you do it magnitudes better
Hi,
I have had the chance to browse this site very briefly, you know the day that we have had!! I will have to think more about this and where the waste happens.
Thanks for sending me this-I will have to look over this with a less sleep deprived mind.
Yvette
Hi Jonathan,
I’ve chanced upon your website after your posting abt. my esmosphere product. I certainly agree with your observations on food waste in the commercial market. Anything doesn’t look good goes into the bin. It’s common practice everywhere. Really a big waste !
BTW, would you be interested to try out the esmosphere yourself ? I’d be glad to send some samples to you.
regds,
Richard
Interesting project you have going. Also consider all the animal parts that are wasted because of cultural taboos and ill-advised regulations, and all the animals that would be more efficient to farm than beef and pork, if they were only accepted as “normal” foods — kangaroo, ostrich, buffalo, etc.
Check this out…
http://www.weirdmeat.com/
Jon,
I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while that I’ve noticed a change in my “leftover” habits that I attribute to you! I’ve found myself three times in the last week saving portions of leftovers that I would previously have thrown away … but, now I think “I should save this and have it with that little bit of such and such that I saved yesterday.” Just thought you’d like to know you’re impacting some of us lurkers out here in changing our wasteful ways.
market food…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
Hi Jon – I believe we met a few years ago when you were still a student. This blog is great, so glad to find you.
Best wishes –
Billie
–
Billie Karel, Program Coordinator
Pesticide Education Project
206 New Bern Place, Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 833-1123
toll-free: 1-877-NO-SPRAY
billie@pested.org
http://www.pested.org
I’m doing a research paper on how to reduce food waste in kitchens. I got very encouraged when I found your website and others trying to reduce waste.
Hi Jonathan,
I’ve recently discovered your website (linked through No Impact Man). I tend to be a little obsessive about waste so you’ve touched a nerve with me. Just wanted to make a little comment on your entry about making stock. My husband make stock from the Thanksgiving turkey carcass. In addition to the bones and skin, he added an onion; a couple of carrots; limp old celery with the leaves and a few leftover whatnots in the veg drawer of the fridge. It was incredibly rich and tasty. The soup he made from the stock a few days later was outstanding; and it made enough to freeze a few portions.
I’ve asked for a small composter for Christmas because I can’t stand to see the beautiful beet and carrot tops, butternut squash skins and banana peels go in the garbage.
We put apple cores out for the squirrels!
Keep up your wonderful work!
Dee Dee in New Hope, PA
Hey Jon,
I LOVE this blog. I’ve sent the link for the food mill to about 5 friends and told my boyfriend I want one for my birthday. His nose wrinkles every time I open up my compost bin.
We share a lot of things, NY, NC, journalism and frustration at food waste: my brother’s been an organic gardener on LI for some 30 years, my first job out of school was running a soup kitchen on the Upper West Side and I was present at the creation of City Harvest, I still always buy the ‘ugly’ tomatoes at the Carrboro farmers’ market, they taste the same in my gazpacho!
I hope you end up writing a great book and it shakes people up. Keep up the good work!
R.
Rose Hoban, RN, MPH
Health Reporter, North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC
Hi. Great site – I haven’t searched around to see if you’ve ever covered food waste research from the UK (apologies if you have) but there are some links you might be interested in on a post I’ve just written – stuff about food waste in the UK, equivalent to Tim Jones’ studies in the US, and some NGO/Govt attempts to combat the problem. Keep up the good work!
This was a very helpful resource on my topical/persuasive speech in Public Speaking. You were correctly credited for my information, and thank you for the insight into this issue.
I think, also, that Universities all over are wasting unlimited amounts of food in the may a flat rate and take as much as you want. I leave the cafeteria every evening and see trays and trays full of barely touched items and full glasses of milk.
If we change the system to may cheaper amounts (for the student) per item, it would only allow a student to eat that single item.. and would help prevent the freshmen 15..
it’s ridiculous.
What about the “expired” dates on everything?? I appreciate it on some items as a guide – but even toothpaste? I suspect this is a seller’s move to have consumers toss products after a short time. I realize that taste and quality might decrease over time, but most canned goods are good for many years – not just 18 months or whatever. But many of my friends will not touch anything after it’s expiration date, even if it is a sealed oil and vinegar dressing and only two weeks past the expiration date. This is a bit crazy! They throw out all bottled and canned goods immediately upon passing the expiration date, which should be a guide (not a warning of imminent death from ingestion!)
And please – just slice the mold off the cheese, which has been done for centuries around the world.
Wonderful idea and great blog.You mentioned the word GLEANING, it reminds me of a movie made by a French cineast , Agnes Varda : les glaneuses…If you happen to have a hold on it, it is wonderful.
Keep up the good work, you are indeed not wasting your time with your project!!!
Therese
I work in a small co-op grocery store and cafe. We serve vegan and vegetarian dishes. We recycle all the food we can into compost which is distributed throughout the neighborhood. Anyone can leave a bucket and we will fill it with whatever is not going to be used or eaten. It is awesome to know that we are constantly giving back to the earth not in a landfill but in neighborhood gardens. Cheers to all urban gardeners!!!!!
Your blog is great and I hope it helps raised people’s awareness. With the price of the food rising, it’s a good time to make a tide change.
Being a 1st-generation immigrant from Asia who has been in the US for 18 years, I was stunned to see how much food Americans waste. Over the year, I somehow had joined the food waster’s league. I think we are growing our next generation to be even bigger waster of food. At my daughter’s birthday party, we bought the huge rectangle cake from Costco. It’s cheaper than any cake we can find in the grocery stores and 3 times bigger. Each kids at the party got a big slice and most eat less than half of it and we had to throw the leftovers away. We were left with a half sheet of cake every time we had a B-day party since it’s just too big. Same things happened to the pizzas, boxed drinks, etc. I felt bad that we were teaching our kids to waste food from the beginning of their young life. We finally switched to more expansive, smaller cakes.
In this country food are so cheap and was treated like interchangeable commodity. They were mass-produced, packed with calories, and tastes generic. I made a choice to respect my food, shop at the farmer’s market and make the most out of them myself.
I took my kids to America for a holiday last year and was AMAZED at how big the orders were. The meals served are enourmous. No wonder food is being waste and no wonder there is an obesity problem.
Mr Bloom,
The Blooms in the News blogsite wants YOU!. Would you are to :
1: join
2. have your name and work mentioned onsite
3. leave a comment on the blog
Found you via Dot Earth blog and the Well at the NYTimes.
Danny Bloom
http://bloomsinthenews.blogspot.com
I just came across your blog through No Impact Man, and I love it. Very inspiring. We’re really trying to cut down on our waste, and now that we are, we find that all our decisions focus around food! In fact, we just had a conversation with our waitress tonight about why they don’t compost at all restaurants (I ended up taking my lime garnish home to my personal compost). Thanks for putting great and inspiring article out there.
Great job with this blog, Jon. It was nice running into you over at WUNC — and a nice surprise to see your entry in the NYTimes over Thanksgiving. Way to go! I think I’m going to use your blog as a guide for my new year’s resolutions. for real.
Stay in touch about your book. Hope that is going well.
Yasmeen
Hi Jonathan,
I already left one comment on the tips section but I don’t know if you got it so I’m sorry; I’m leaving another one.
, Do you think that it would be a good idea or even possible if someone could make a company that takes the the “culls” ( fruits and vegetables) and dry them? Then they could donate this to the homeless instead if it going to waste. I was thinking those cull fruits would still be excellent if dried, and the vegetables perhaps could be used for soups or other things once dried. Can you pass the thought along if you know someone who would be interested in doing something like that?, perhaps yourself? Great website! Thank you… – Sincerely, alice
also the same idea could possibly be useful
for meats, made into beef jerky or dehydrated meat for soups maybe?
Hi Jon,
I stumbled on your blog while researching my column for http://www.granvilleonline.ca/gr/blogs/home-economics. You’ve done some fantastic work – I look forward to hearing when your book comes out.
Best,
Diane
i love your website
i love reading this
hhgfcdx
I just found your blog via the one-dollar-a-day project person (names? who needs names?). It’s great to find other Durham-area food bloggers – especially with a sustainability slant. You’re inspiring me to think of desserts that use bits of this and bits of that…
thank you. love your blog. hello from toronto.
Hello–and thanks for your website.
I have the ultimate in foodrecycling; the rabbit that lives in my kitchen! When at friends’ home, I marvel at what they do with the vegetable trimmings without one!?! I even take veggies scraps home from friends’ homes for her, for my compost bin, and for my collection of bones and veggies that become succulent homemade soup stock. Don’t be intimidated by making your own broth–it’s not a Martha Stewart activity! Nothing could be simpler. Any carcasses or bones from roasted meats go in a freezer bag, with veggie tops, asparagus ends, an onion, and any elderly fresh veggies. On a day or night I’ll be home for several hours, they all dive into a stock pot together, covered with water and some herbs and spices. There is no wrong recipe. After simmering for 3-4 hours–and scenting your home companionably–the stock yields up the holy essences of all the good things that went in! Don’t know what to do with your stock? Strain the broth, and compost all but the bones. Chill the stock, skim the fat off, and place it in your freezer. (Pour some into ice cube trays to use a bit as a time for sauces.) Once you start making your own broth, you’ll love it. Store-bought canned broth just tastes like overpriced dishwater!
Cheers!
yay for your blog!
here’s a summary of radio program i heard last night (May 7) on a local npr show called ‘colorado matters’ from kcfr in denver
summary:
In Times Like These – Grocery Shopping On The Cheap
Dented cans of food and other supermarket castoffs fill the shelves at the The Friday Store in Arvada. Ryan Warner pays a visit and speaks with owner Martin Palumbo. Find other salvage grocers.
http://www.kcfr.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=94
Dear fellow foodie!
First I wanted to thank you for your fabulous blog. I am working on a fun, foodie event called Food for Thought. The fundraiser will profit the children of the non-profit Mission Graduates, located, in the heart of the Mission. It’s happening on Wednesday, November 11th in participating Mission District Restaurants including Andalu, Bar Bambino, Conduit, Farina, Maverick, Range, and Slow Club.
We recruited these restaurants and we will be providing a volunteer ambassador that will help fill the restaurant and we have a marketing and PR campaign in place. In exchange, the restaurant will donate a % of their sales for the day.
Would you be interested in being an ambassador? Maybe that’s too much on your plate (no pun intended). Would be able to help out with the event by promoting it on your blog?
If so, I can send you more information on being an ambassador, or text and logos.
Thank you!
I heard your segment on WNPR this morning and thought I’d check out your site. I really enjoyed reading some of your posts; you are doing an important service by teaching others about the enormous amount of food waste that is generated. Thanks!
My man and I are pretty green and frugal so we have taught our 8 year old niece about composting and waist. She called her mother out the other day as she was about to toss leftover. Adding give it to uncle he’ll eat anything. *:)
Hello –
I know you are looking for quotes for your new book (congrats by the way) and I thought of The Supper of the Lamb — Robert Farrar Capon.
There, then, is the role of the amateur: to look the world back to grace. There, too, is the necessity of his work: His tribe must be in short supply; his job has gone begging. The world looks as if it has been left in the custody of a pack of trolls. Indeed, the whole distinction between art and trash, between food and garbage, depends on the presence of absence of the loving eye. Turn a statue over to a boor, and his boredom will break it to bits — witness the ruined monuments of antiquity. On the other hand, turn a shack over to a lover; for all its poverty, its lights and shadows warm a little, and its numbed surfaces prickle with feeling. (p. 4 1st edition).
I am rereading for the umpteenth time and will be sure to send more your way should I come across them.
Looking forward to the book. Am working on a PhD in the Anthropology – Food Studies program here at Indiana University. My dissertation work will focus on the cultural drivers and ecological/environmental consequences of food waste. I’ve had a few phone chats with Jean Buzby at USDA’s ERS — she’s planning to focus more on waste this coming year.
Best of luck. Sara Minard.
Thanks, Sara. Very nice of you to send that idea.
Huzzah Jean Buzby! May the USDA bless her with more resources (that’s the real reason why she hasn’t focused on waste more).
i agree with what you have to say about wasted food.
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Hi. I’m 11 years old and I don’t like that all this food is being wasted, so I’m going to write to the Prime Minister about what he’s doing about it.