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 than creating beautiful art out of nature’s oddities? Not much. That’s why I’m excited that Uli has agreed to exhibit some of the fabulous images from his Mutato Project in my site’s Gallery.

Enjoy your browsing, and remember–amazingly–the “mutatoes” pictured are all actual, bona fide food items.

Okay, deep breath.

Wow, this is a terrible idea! Talk about a waste of potential food, farm land, the ag inputs (natural resources) that go into growing our food. And a clear sign we are producing too much food.

Given the impact that conventional agriculture has on the planet, it makes little sense that so much of corn goes to feed animals and fuel cars. It makes less sense for it become fodder for cats’ target practice.

Sure, the kind of corn used as kitty litter isn’t fit for human consumption. But we’d be much better off, from a climate change and soil health perspective, not growing such an abundance of corn that it winds up being used for such trivial purposes.

Finally, has there ever been a better example as to why our current farm subsidies need reforming?

The facility, Blue Oasis Pure Shrimp, is a pretty neat place. The tent-like white building shimmering in the 100-degree heat was no mirage. Although I’m told the materials for the building fit on three large trucks.

Inside, one sees row after row of vessels filled with shrimp at various stages of life (from Sea Monkey to shrimp cocktail size). The beige bins are old shipping containers cut in half.

While visiting the facility with some restaurateurs interested in the product, I had a chance to learn about lost product. Our guide, Blue Oasis chief Adrian Zettell, said that loss at a covered facility using fresh shrimp was virtually nonexistent.

Yet, Zettell estimated that in traditional shrimp-farming operations overseas, the attrition rate is about 40%. Most of the loss comes from lack of roof coverage—birds swooping in to hunt the ‘shrimp in a barrel’ or letting loose over the tanks, contaminating the water.

Meanwhile, catching wild shrimp also comes at a cost. There’s that whole bycatch thing. And that the vast majority of wild-caught shrimp come frozen leads to another problem. Zettell estimated that sorting frozen shrimp causes about 20% loss because they’re brittle and crack.

That level of waste is even more striking when one considers the mammoth Vegas demand of 60,000 pounds of shrimp per day! That not-so-shrimpy amount is said to equal that of the rest of the country combined!

Later this year, we’ll hit 7 million people. That’s why one of the 7 billion actions should be getting more efficient with our food. In other words, to waste less.

Just something to think about the next time you find an article about changing agriculture to feed the growing planet that doesn’t address waste. Sure, we’ll probably need to change ag practices, but let’s start by picking the low-hanging fruit–being more efficient!

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On a slightly more personal note, here’s a really well-conducted interview–no surprise there–from the Edible Communities people.

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Ag giant Archer Daniels Midland and the University of Illinois are teaming up to figure out how to avoid waste in the developing world. ADM is contributing $10 million to fund the Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss at the Urbana campus.

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Similarly, in sub-Saharan Africa, the UN’s FAO is trying to reduce post-harvest losses through a variety of methods.

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Once the big boys of the waste world like Waste Management start opening organics recycling facilities, it’s only a matter of time before composting and separate food waste collection go mainstream. What’s that?? They just announced they’re opening one this spring in Florida? Nice!

The last line of the press release has the key stat–only 2.5% of food waste is recycled. Plenty of room for improvement, but also–as WM knows well–a real opportunity.

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Here’s a nice peek into the world of Phoenix food recovery group Waste Not.

But I can’t get too worked up about it, either. Especially when it produces the same end result as a jack-o-lantern: an uneaten pumpkin. Enjoy this odd scene…

Incidentally, a researcher of a soon-to-be published study told me that fresh pumpkin is the most wasted food in households. More than 60 percent isn’t consumed. Not hard to imagine why…

True, we did collect sweet potatoes, not yams. You’ll have to pardon the slight misnomer–all in the name of attracting a good crowd. (FWIW, there’s no music, or “jam” either)

The two pics below capture the mood of the day.  Feel free to submit your own caption for the second one. And check out the Yam Jam set on Flickr.

• This article details the happenings in Cement City, Michigan and supplies a proper noun for the whole thing, the Fourth of July Take Back Your Independence Day Dump.
• Here’s footage from Herkimer County, NY. In it, the events are called protests, which seems like an appropriate description.
• Friend of the Farmer wrote about the situation, including three suggested solutions.
• Syracuse’s ABC affiliate filed a story on the milk dumping.
• And here’s the local news segment from near Utica, New York, that I posted yesterday.

It’s certainly a complicated topic, but I have to say: it’s really hard to watch a stream of milk being poured onto the ground. A large part of me agrees with commenter Dave Skolnick: “Waste is Waste.” But I also think you can’t separate this event from the unsustainable situation dairy farmers face. What’s your take?