Here’s a story on the lifecycle environmental impact of one manufacturer’s heat-and-eat chili. Very interesting stuff, especially the trade off between packaging waste and food loss. — — The San Jose Hazmat team was called in to handle the stench from an office fridge. Seven were sent to the hospital. Just a sad day for [...]
Two items of business today: 1. The New York Times found the idea of trayless dining fit to print. While I’d hoped for a bit more attention on just how much food waste can be avoided, I thought the writer did a nice job reporting the topic. And I really enjoyed this seldom-discussed rationale for [...]
I’ve stopped noting when individual schools go trayless because it has become too hard to keep track (a great problem to have, of course). But I have to make an exception here with the news that my alma mater, Wesleyan, is going trayless next fall. That said, I’m curious what the heck took such an [...]
The Econovore and I may disagree on how to avoid it, but we both abhor waste. I’d love to have a beer with her, but I’m sure I’d get stuck with the tab. Oh well, it’d probably be worth it to get a few of her “flexipes” that could preclude so much waste. — — [...]
Bon Appetit Management Company, primarily a college food service company, have already reached their year-end carbon reduction goals, including some admirable food waste reduction milestones. Kudos, guys. — — Two opposing Ivy League op-eds: one from the Yale Daily News that’s against waste and one from The Daily Princetonian that only occasionally makes sense. — — [...]
I was talking with food psychology guru Brian Wansink yesterday (he of the portion studies involving refilling bowls, different shaped glasses and stale popcorn). Back at Cornell after his USDA stint, Wansink casually dropped the news that he just started a two-part study on trayless dining. My ears perked up as Wansink described how he [...]
Huzzah! Before lighting out for Europe, President Obama issued an executive order banning the use of cafeteria trays in federally-funded all-you-can-eat facilities. All colleges and universities that accept government money will have until August to cease using trays or risk losing their funding and, possibly, accreditation. Sorry to say it, but…April Fool’s!! Oh well. Maybe [...]
Things are looking grim for a potential California bill that would allow catering customers to demand that their excess food be donated. After having her bill rebuffed last year, State Sen. Jenny Oropeza has decided to take a slow steady approach this year. It seems like a victory for the loose coalition of intertia, fear [...]
Yesterday, I trekked up to Maine to see the traylessness facilitated by Bon Appetit at Saint Joseph’s College. As anyone who’s read this blog before would guess, I was enthralled by the approach to food there. One of the subtleties I hadn’t considered was the way students approach their meals. From what I saw and [...]
Today I’m making a pilgrimage, of sorts. No, not to Mecca, but to Maine. I’m visiting Saint Joseph’s College home of the trayless dining movement. There, I’ll speak with Stuart Leckie, the general manager of dining, who had the simple idea of removing trays to curb food waste. What began at this tiny Standish, Maine, [...]
