Category Archives: Legislation

Friday Buffet

Boom! Rhode Island’s state legislature proposes a landfill food waste ban and the private sector leaps into action, with news of a planned composting facility near Providence. — — I really enjoyed this Food Hacks piece on regrowing food from the ends and other undesirable parts of herbs and veggies. If I had any use for […]

January 24, 2014 | Also posted in Composting, Household, Supermarket, Technology | Comments closed

NYComposts!

Yesterday, New York City took a major step toward matching San Francisco and Seattle as exemplars of urban composting. The New York City Council approved a bill requiring large scale commercial operations to separate food from its regular waste stream. The legislation, which requires either composting or anaerobic digestion for large food waste generators within […]

December 20, 2013 | Also posted in Composting | Comments closed

Britain Banning Food Waste from Landfills?

It’s hard to argue against keeping food waste out of landfills (where it yields the climate-changing methane emissions). Figuring out how to make that a national reality is just plain hard. With Vision 2020: The Future of Food Waste Recycling, PDM Group and ReFood have done just that for the UK. As this helpful summary article mentions, the report provides […]

November 11, 2013 | Also posted in International, Waste Ban | Comments closed

Ramadan Waste = Pigswill??

Seldom do you see Ramadan and hogs in the same sentence, but they’ve both been in the ‘food waste news’ recently. On the former, here’s a thought-provoking editorial lamenting the increased food waste during Ramadan in the United Arab Emirates. A common cooking tactic during the holy month of daylight fasting is to overprepare to […]

July 16, 2013 | Also posted in History and Culture, International, Waste Stream | Comments closed

New York City Composts!

The Bloomberg Administration announced plans on Sunday for an ambitious composting program for household and commercial food waste that would cover all of New York City by 2016. The move continues Mayor Bloomberg’s recent emphasis on food waste and will help reach the PlaNYC goal of diverting 75 percent of waste from landfills by 2030. The plans are […]

June 17, 2013 | Also posted in Composting, Restaurant | Comments closed

USDA Challenges US to Waste Less Food

I’ve been fairly critical of the USDA in the past for not doing enough to combat food waste. But I’m excited to report that the Department of Agriculture is will launch the U.S. Food Waste Challenge in a few weeks. The campaign, in conjunction with the EPA, will challenge food producers, manufacturers and retailers–really everyone […]

May 22, 2013 | Also posted in Farm | Comments closed

Austin’s Año Against Food Waste

Late in December, the Austin City Council declared 2013 the Year of Food Waste Prevention and Recovery in Austin, Texas. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but it’s encouraging and important because: Whereas, America wastes 40 percent of its food; and Whereas wasted food has negative environmental impact and represents a lost opportunity to […]

January 16, 2013 | Also posted in Food Recovery | Comments closed

Let’s Get to Work!

And so there will be another four years for President Obama. Last night’s results are unlikely to impact food waste, but it is worth noting that the Obama Administration has been friendly to the sustainable food movement. Sure, most of that support has been symbolic, emanating from the White House Garden (that you can visit!). […]

November 7, 2012 | Posted in Legislation | Comments closed

Food Recovery Clears Another Farm Bill Hurdle

The Senate version of the Farm Bill passed on Thursday with the tiniest of nods to gleaning, or food recovery. While there’s no joy in seeing cuts in per-family food assistance, there’s a glimmer of hope that this next Farm Bill would include a microloan program for food rescue groups. This amendment proposed by Sen. […]

June 22, 2012 | Also posted in Food Recovery | Comments closed

Writing Gleaning into the Farm Bill?

Exciting times for preventing food waste! While world environmental leaders are discussing food loss at Rio+20 (and at a side event), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is making an attempt to get funding for gleaning/food recovery into the Farm Bill. Wyden’s proposed Amendment 2442 to the Farm Bill (S. 3240) would help provide microloans to gleaning […]

June 20, 2012 | Posted in Legislation | Comments closed