In food-waste-to-energy news: If the state of California processed all of its 5.9 million tons of food waste by anaerobic digestion, it would produce enough energy to power 75 percent of the Bay Area. This according to an East Bay Municipal Utility District study.
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Staying in California, The California bill to allow hotel or catering […]

Don’t look now but “trayless” dining is really taking off. On Earth Day, 300 colleges with Sodexo (they’ve dropped the ‘h’) foodservice went without trays. That means I’ll be plenty busy updating my Trayless tab.
The press release (and company blog entry) provided the first estimate of the water savings trayless dining brings–200 gallons conserved for […]

Here’s an article from the newspaper at Iowa’s Luther College, giving the student response to traylessness. The piece was fueled largely by the Facebook group “Caf Trays will destroy the planet!!!! Really?????,” which prompted a letter to the editor complaining about a lack of balance.
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Food recovery in the holy land. Hallelujah!
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Fallen Fruit is […]

Tigers and Strawberries continues its series on avoiding restaurant food waste, discussing efficient storeroom procedures and utilizing surplus.
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You cartographers and map lovers will enjoy the compost path at Vermont’s Green Mountain College. The school feeds two pigs with the prep waste (kitchen scraps) and composts the plate waste (what students discard).
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While it doesn’t […]

With Passover just around the corner, it seems ironic that Egyptian bread is in the news. The Financial Times of Germany (even more irony?) reported that 20 percent of Egyptian bread made with subsidized wheat is going to waste. The culprit:
Corrupt bakers sell their cheap flour on the black market or deliberately ruin some of […]

One of my favorite food recovery topics is backyard gleaning, where volunteers collect unwanted fruit from residential trees. If I had a tree producing anything edible, I’d be all over it. And no, acorn soup doesn’t taste good.
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Kudos to Jack Davis, an 11-year-old Florida boy, for prodding Florida legislators to pass a law protecting […]

To get you in the mood for the weekend, here’s a bit about fishing. More specifically, it’s a discussion of fishing “waste” and ethics by a charter boat operator.
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Here’s a rare occasion when the government actually asks restaurants to offer smaller portions. Of course, this isn’t in the U.S., but The Philippines.
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While I […]

For your listening pleasure, check out this discussion of food waste on BBC/Radio 4’s The Food Programme.
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If college food waste is caused partly by students not liking the choices, will a student menu rating Web site help? Middlebury College will see.
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This Subaru plant in Indiana is a “zero-waste” facility. Among other green practices, […]

The beef recall saga continues, unfortunately.
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I’m sad to report that students at my alma mater are wasting lots of food. Come on, Wesleyan–you’re better than that.
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On the other side of the college coin, Columbia University has begun a “Trayless Thursdays” experiment. Ditto for Williams College. Not to split hairs, but wouldn’t ‘Trayless Tuesdays’ […]

Oprah’s Wednesday show examined dumpster diving, so I guess freeganism has officially arrived. The episode featured freegans in New York and Nashville, before down-shifting to interview a soccer mom by day, stripper by night. Ah, television.
The best segment was when reporter Lisa Ling spent time with nice couple from Nashville, both professionals, who happen to […]