Category Archives: Farm

Vermont Compost Clash

I think you should know about this: The Vermont Composting Co. (VCC) is facing large fines and a ‘cease and desist order‘ from the state Natural Resources Board for not having a permit. The composter says he operates a farm and is, thus, exempt from compost permits. The state says he is a manufacturer subject […]

August 14, 2008 | Also posted in Composting | Comments closed

Israeli Irrigation Issues

The topic of food waste doesn’t usually arise at my breakfast table, as I finish my cereal and my dog slurps the remaining milk. Yesterday, that changed. It wasn’t that my Grape Nuts went uneaten, rather that I came across this massive food waste photo in a NY Times story about the effects of drought […]

August 11, 2008 | Also posted in International | Comments closed

Tomato Tally

This week, tomato farmers will ask Congress for aid to offset their losses stemming from the incorrect assertion that tomatoes were causing salmonella. (It was Mexican-grown jalapeño peppers.) And farmers are considering a few other options, too. The off-target warning effectively killed the market for tomatoes. By the time the FDA rescinded its original warning […]

July 28, 2008 | Also posted in Food Safety, General | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

If a farmer harvested inefficiently, would you say it was a criminal act? In light of the mounting food shortages, the Belarusian president thinks it’s a prison-worthy offense. — — I’d love it now, but I guess I can wait two years for a waste-powered car. — — Why spend $1,350 to do the wrong […]

July 25, 2008 | Also posted in Composting, Food Recovery, Friday Buffet, International | Comments closed

Picky, Picky

Fresh from the UK comes this food waste horror story: European Union sizing requirements required a British wholesaler to throw away 5,000 kiwis. Here’s a slightly less sensationalistic view of the story. An inspection of the fruit found that a number of the batch weighed 58 grams, with 62 grams the low-end limit. Tim Down, […]

June 30, 2008 | Also posted in History and Culture, International, Supermarket | Comments closed

Spilled Milk

Here’s how hard it is to be a dairy farmer–even when you’re on strike, you still have to get up at 4 in the morning to milk the cows. After all, they’re not gonna milk themselves… I mention this because Germany’s dairy farmers are now striking. And here’s the part I’m crying over: The farmers […]

June 3, 2008 | Also posted in International | Comments closed

Boing Boing Responses

Yesterday’s Times article has prompted some spirited discussion in this Boing Boing forum, which is wonderful. And healthy. I contemplated commenting in that forum, but had waaay too much to say. Instead, I’ve compiled some of my reactions to the comments here, with reference to the order of their appearance in the thread: (19) People […]

May 19, 2008 | Also posted in Composting, Food Recovery, General, Supermarket, Technology, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Labor Down, Waste Up

As bemoaned in this editorial, immigration law in Colorado leads to food waste by reducing the number of workers. When there aren’t enough laborers, or “pickers”, the harvest is often squandered (unless it’s not a great year). Commercial orchards resemble the scene underneath your neighbor’s fig tree, as apples, pears, peaches, etc. “go to ground.” […]

May 13, 2008 | Also posted in General, International | Comments closed

On the Farm

I was talking to a animal waste engineer (it’s a long story) about getting energy from manure. He mentioned gasification–not the most pleasant topic–as a means to convert dead animals to energy. When I asked him about what percentage of a flock or herd dies on the farm, the researcher gave me ballpark figures. Chicken […]

January 9, 2008 | Posted in Farm | Comments closed

A Little Shmita Waste

Happy Hanukkah! (or Chanukah, if you prefer) In the spirit of “The Festival of Light,” I thought I’d illuminate the Orthodox Jewish practice of Shmita/Shemittah. This biblical law holds that the land of Israel must lay fallow every seventh year. No planting or pruning of crops–it’s like a sabbath for the land. Practical Talmudic scholars, though, have found […]

December 5, 2007 | Also posted in History and Culture, Household | Comments closed