Category Archives: Hunger

Old Food–Going Once, Going Twice…

…Sold! I didn’t know that food auctions existed before reading this line in Barbara Ehrenreich’s recent op-ed: The rural poor are turning increasingly to “food auctions,” which offer items that may be past their sell-by dates. Auctions sell food from supermarket chains’ warehouses, some of which may have damaged packaging or old dates. Yet, those running the auctions all […]

June 17, 2009 | Also posted in History and Culture | Comments closed

Ample Harvest? Pass Some Along

Gary Oppenheimer is an avid gardener. A master gardener, in fact. When Gary became director of the West Milford (NJ) Community Garden, he found that others left a lot of produce on the vines. He created a committee, called Ample Harvest, to find food pantries to which they could donate this healthy excess. It turned out they couldn’t find […]

May 20, 2009 | Also posted in Food Recovery, Garden | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Road Foodsters Jane and Michael Stern were discussing their pizza-eating preferences on last weekend’s The Splendid Table when the conversation turned to uneaten crusts. Jane is a serial pizza bone leaver, but that hubby Michael is the beneficiary. Then host Lynne Rossetto Kasper announced that she’s not above asking her fellow diners if they’re planning […]

May 1, 2009 | Also posted in College, Friday Buffet, Restaurant | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

As you guys know, I’m all for avoiding food waste, but this insider tip does not make me want to eat hospital food. Then again, I do like the baking soda toothpaste… — — While you were enjoying Easter, Australia’s Do Something launched the FoodWise campaign. They’ve set some reasonable goals and even have a […]

April 17, 2009 | Also posted in Composting, Friday Buffet, Institutional, International | Comments closed

Exchanging Food Online, soon?

The Dell Social Innovation Competition is on right now. The $50,000 competition calls on college students worldwide to come up with ideas to change our planet. A humble goal, but a noble one. Anyway, one of the entries proposes to link food donors with food banks and soup kitchens via the Web. This joint venture […]

March 31, 2009 | Also posted in College, Food Recovery, Technology | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Seven-Eleven stores in Japan are not allowed to discount food near expiration dates/times–essentially mandated to waste food. — — At U.S. bases in Iraq, food waste in Iraq is tossed and burned along with everything else. We can do better, says Army infantry captain Timothy Hsia in a Times op-ed. — — In addition to […]

March 6, 2009 | Also posted in College, Events, Food Recovery, Institutional, School | Comments closed

The Environmental Food Crisis: A Closer Look

Last week, the UN Environment Programme released a dramatic report (see the press release for condensed reading) on food and climate change. Among other things, The Environmental Food Crisis found that unless we make some dramatic changes, world food production will decrease by as much as 25 percent. If there’s less abundance, wasted food will […]

February 23, 2009 | Also posted in International, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Stocking Stuffers

You tell ’em, Courtland Milloy: Check out any restaurant dumpster in downtown Washington or the trash cans along any street on garbage collection day, and you’re likely to find enough wasted food to fill those pantries to overflowing. — — Florida’s CBS 12 wants you to use canned vegetables to avoid waste. I’m with them […]

December 24, 2008 | Also posted in History and Culture, Household, International | Comments closed

Farm Aid

What’s better than farm fresh? Farm fresh for free. Last weekend, Platteville, Colorado’s Miller Farms opened its fields to all comers to harvest their remaining potatoes, carrots and leeks. The Free Pick Weekend attracted a staggering 40,000 people who harvested 600,000 pounds of food. Miller Farms, a large, family operation that grows a variety of […]

November 25, 2008 | Also posted in Farm, Food Recovery | Comments closed

Monday Morning Crumbs

If you’re thinking about donating a cooked turkey, don’t add stuffing! — — I’m all for avoiding waste, but I think this Thanksgiving tip goes a bit too far: Try and cook just the right amount of food for your family and friends because nothing is worse than wasted food. There should be a bit […]

November 21, 2008 | Also posted in History and Culture, Household, International | Comments closed