Wasted Food — Jonathan Bloom on food waste and how it can be avoided

Category: Repurposing

  • Cuppa Waste

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    Jonathan
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    Wasted coffee. This topic could be its own book. In the meantime, it’s a post: The food waste experts at LeanPath have provided some helpful and potentially money-saving hints on both reducing the amount of excess coffee and what to do with the inevitable excess. While the tips are aimed at restaurants and institutional settings, mostly,…

  • Wrapping Up 2009

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    Jonathan
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    Lost in my post-Christmas haze was National Leftovers Day in Australia. It makes plenty of sense, given the usual Christmas dinner abundance. And rest assured the Kiwis are onto the idea, too (in a Dec. 30 article I’m writing about on Dec. 29–a clear example of my soothsaying prowess). In the U.S., we have the Friday after Thanksgiving for the same…

  • Supermarket Stretching

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    Jonathan
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    Great news from Maine: In her Diner’s Journal blog, Julia Moskin wrote about a local grocer that finds a way to use up most of what it stocks. Oh, those frugal Mainers! Moskin’s reported details on Rosemont Markets, a kind of outtake from her piece on Portland’s food scene, seem so obvious in hindsight: When the local…

  • S.Y.S. (Save Yer Scraps)

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    Jonathan
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    Today, I spoke with chef Liza Shaw of San Francisco’s A16. The Italian restaurant has a bit of a reputation for its Meatball Mondays, where they serve the uber-popular dish made from scraps and trimmings. A16 mostly uses prosciutto scraps saved throughout the week. No wonder they’re so good!  I realized meatloaf, sausages and soups were good uses for…

  • Eating Done the Fridge

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    Jonathan
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    The Eating Down the Fridge (and pantry and cupboard) experiment ended Sunday, but not without many a participant learning many a lesson. There were some nice insights in this wrap-up post. I particularly enjoyed these: I love that this exercise is encouraging me to use up my leftovers in new meals instead of letting them…

  • Sausages Sizzle Again

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    Jonathan
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    On the repurposing food front, I recently heard from an Australian reader named Angela. I’ll let her tell the story: We, too, are constantly looking for ways that we can use leftovers and avoid wasting food. I thought I’d share something that we did for the first time this week. We had a BBQ on…

  • Making Meat Last Longer

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    Monday, I wrote about the turning excess buns from barbecue takeout into garlic bread. Well, what about the meat? We had two rather large containers of chopped beef and barbecue chicken and had consumed more than our fill of both. Yet, plenty more remained! My idea: meatloaf! I was really glad to have my mom…

  • Parents of Wasted Food

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    No, I’m not writing to confess how much food waste family life creates. That’ll come in a year or so. (Joking, hopefully). More to the point, my parents are in town helping out while we get used to life with a son (a cute guy, in my humble opinion). Fortunately for us, my mom has…

  • When Bread’s Not Toast (and when it is)

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    Jonathan
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    Last week, I got to visit with Aaron French, better known as the Eco-Chef. Aaron is the chef at the East Bay eatery The Sunny Side Cafe and an all-around green (and great) guy. Part of his eco sensitivity means cutting down waste in his kitchen. To do that, Aaron has tried a few things…