Daniel from the WhoFarm sent this gem of an old article my way and made my Sunday. The 1918 article details The Federal Food Board’s quest to get to the bottom of how much food households were wasting. The stakes were high, of course, as America in the middle of World War I. The article [...]
November 1, 2010 | 
Posted in History and Culture |
A mutual friend put me in touch with Evan Fraser, co-author of Empires of Food, and I’m really glad that she did. Fraser sent a copy of the recently published book and I’ve been steadily enjoying it. And I’m not alone there. To be honest, when I saw the subtitle “Feast, Famine, and the Rise [...]
September 1, 2010 | 
Posted in History and Culture |
Beginning of the end or end of the beginning? Euro robots can power up on food waste. Crazy stuff! What’s next–humans that can turn bytes into bites?! — — A few weeks back, I linked to Eureka Recycling’s cool bike composting program, but here’s an updated report on the Minnesota project via Treehugger. — — [...]
August 13, 2010 | 
Also posted in Composting, Energy, Friday Buffet, International |
My wife, son and I were invited to a Passover seder at our friends’ house and were tasked with bringing a dessert or two. I flipped through a Passover cookbook and decided on chocolate macaroons. It only had five ingredients, and macaroons are always the best Passover dessert. The recipe called for 3 egg whites, coconut, ground almonds, some sugar and chocolate. Keep that in mind. [...]
March 31, 2010 | 
Also posted in Household, Personal |
This Treehugger piece uses some neat illustrations to depict the impact of food waste. And the full set of infographics are even cooler. — — Unfortunately, this WWII poster mixes an anti-waste message with lame sexism. — — Are you part of the hard core apple club? A fifth grade group on a trip learns [...]
March 12, 2010 | 
Also posted in Energy, Friday Buffet, School, Waste Stream |
Black-eyed peas are thought to be good luck, which might explain the band’s success. It definitely explains why the legumes are eaten through the South on New Year’s Day. One theory–the one found on Wikipedia–posits that the tradition dates back to the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and that Sephardic Jews brought the tradition with them [...]
January 1, 2010 | 
Also posted in Household, Personal |
First off, Merry Christmas! Many of us will enjoy a nice family dinner on Christmas–and I hope you do enjoy it! I also hope you make good use of your leftovers. As does my man Hilary Benn, UK Environment Secretary, who hit out at the practice of binning Christmas leftovers. Meanwhile, in a related topic, the [...]
December 25, 2009 | 
Also posted in Composting, International |
Washington’s King County (home of Seattle) is pushing the envelope on food waste collection. Why should Thanksgiving be any different? Monday, a neighborhood in Renton, Wash., dumped turkey carcasses and other Thanksgiving leftovers in a public location as part of a composting demo organized by the County recycling team. I’m guessing the county carted away [...]
December 2, 2009 | 
Also posted in Composting, Waste Stream |
If I was going to make a short video summing up the problem of wasted food, it’d look something like this. Good did a great job of illuminating the problem and then suggesting ideas on how to take action. — Speaking of taking action, with Thanksgiving upon us, I just wanted to add a few [...]
November 25, 2009 | 
Also posted in Household, Stats |
Really? Planned food fights as birthday party entertainment? That’s the best you can do? There is an interested skirmish in the comments section, but to throw another 2 cents in, I’d say there are environmental and ethical implications to wasting food as opposed to money. — — Howard County, Md, is rocking recess before lunch [...]
November 20, 2009 | 
Also posted in Friday Buffet, International, School, Waste Stream |