Category Archives: Environment

Don’t Waste ‘World Food Day’

Today is World Food Day, and this year’s theme is “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.” That’s not quite the same thing as food waste, but it’s really close. It’s a good opportunity to think about how fortunate most of us are to have regular access to food and to try to make [...]

October 16, 2013 | Also posted in Events, International | Comments closed

Visualizing Food Waste’s Footprint

Courtesy of the UN FAO, here’s a nice overview of the environmental footprint of food wastage*: * Note–’Wastage’ includes both waste and loss. All the food produced but not eaten, globally.

September 26, 2013 | Also posted in International, Stats | Comments closed

Food Waste is World’s Third-Largest Carbon Emitter

Global food wastage accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than any country except the US and China. For those who speak climate change, that’s 3.3 Gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent. That finding and many, many more are part of the long-anticipated UN FAO study Food Wastage Footprint (here’s the full study PDF). It’s particularly exciting for me [...]

September 12, 2013 | Also posted in International, Stats | Comments closed

Monday Roundup

The LeftoverSwap app that facilitates giving one’s leftovers to others launches August 30 (for iPhones). But…is it legal?? — — You gonna use that pomace? Using the excess seeds, skin and stems from wine-making process is all the rage.  — — All 30 National Hockey League teams will donate unsold concessions through old-school food rescuers [...]

August 12, 2013 | Also posted in Composting, Food Recovery, Leftovers, Waste Stream | Comments closed

World Environment Day Recap

Yesterday was World Environment Day, and it was raining food waste activism. If only every day could be World Environment Day! (Not quite as catchy as ‘Earth Day every day,’ but you get the idea…). I had a hard time keeping track of all that happened yesterday in Food Waste World, so I’m guessing you [...]

June 6, 2013 | Also posted in General, Hunger, International | Comments closed

USDA, EPA Partner To Tackle Food Waste

The USDA and EPA kicked off the US Food Waste Challenge today in Washington, D.C. The launch event, timed to coincide (loosely) with World Environment Day, featured speeches on the importance of food waste from Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack and acting EPA chief Bob Persiasepe, in addition to private sector partners. By just about any [...]

June 4, 2013 | Posted in Environment | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

More than 100 New York City restaurants–including ones owned by Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and Danny Meyer–have pledged to cut their waste in half. One thing conspicuously absent in the writeup was any kind of timeline. Still, great news! — — The GRACE Communications Foundation (the folks behind The Meatrix) just launched a new site on food waste, and [...]

April 26, 2013 | Also posted in College, Food Safety, Restaurant | Comments closed

Iowa Action…and Inaction

With a nice ‘not only on Earth Day’ lead, Iowa City’s Press-Citizen praises the voluntary composting of many area restaurants and supermarkets. That’s encouraging. Less encouraging news from the article: a bill that would curb the amount of food waste sent to landfills remains stalled in the Iowa House Natural Resources Committee. The bill previously passed the Senate, [...]

April 24, 2013 | Also posted in Composting, School | Comments closed

Trashing the Earth

Earth Day is a good time to consider just how much we throw away–and not just food. We create 4.4 pounds of trash per day, which is pretty ridiculous. This infographic conveys just how wasteful we are. And food waste’s impact is even greater than pictured, as the numbers represent the percentage of waste created, not [...]

April 22, 2013 | Also posted in Waste Stream | Comments closed

Food Packaging: Lesser of Two Evils

With food packaging, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Too much, and you’re using unnecessary materials. Too little and you’re risking damaged food in transit and elsewhere. I suppose the ideal is going uber-local and bringing your own reusable containers like at Austin’s in.gredients (check out their incredible 6-month sustainability numbers). But until that sweeps [...]

March 13, 2013 | Also posted in Energy, International, Storage | Comments closed