Category Archives: Restaurant

Friday Buffet

The NYT had this great piece on root-to-stem eating on Wednesday (sort of the veggie/summer garden version of snout-to-tail). Now I’ll eat most things, but carrot tops? There are uses, but no runaway successes. — — Not to be outdone, the WSJ’s Juggle blog ran this helpful post on making the most of your CSA […]

July 29, 2011 | Also posted in Farmers' Market, Friday Buffet, Household | Comments closed

86ing Waste

This past week, I gave a series of talks at Mario Batali’s restaurants in LA and Las Vegas. It was an interesting, eye-opening experience. I learned a fair amount about how restaurants view waste and, hopefully, the warm, professional staff learned a bit about the importance of reducing waste. The restaurant group is already on […]

July 22, 2011 | Also posted in Personal, Repurposing | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

The Huff Post weighed in on how individuals should handle food waste. Composting it is! — — Nice to see a new-ish composting facility taking root in upstate New York. Almost better–the headline: Dirt, Cheap. — — Here’s some fairly UK-centric tips on how to use up expiring food, courtesy of Love Food Hate Waste’s […]

June 17, 2011 | Also posted in Composting, Food Recovery, Friday Buffet | Comments closed

The Reports Report

Last week, the EPA released the latest version of its Municipal Solid Waste report. It’s a big occasion in these parts. If you’re like me, you eschew the fact sheet for the 189-page full report. Because the latter includes the all-important “products discarded” (on page 94). That represents what’s dumped in landfills, after recycling reduces […]

February 2, 2011 | Also posted in Household, Stats, Waste Stream | Comments closed

New Estimates for a New Era

It’s not every year you get a new USDA study on food waste! 2011 is off to a great start with the recent release of Consumer-Level Food Loss Estimates and Their Use in the ERS Loss-Adjusted Food Availability Data. It’s a mouthful, for sure. So what does it mean/contain? In short, the publication updates the […]

January 5, 2011 | Also posted in Household, Institutional, Stats | Comments closed

TED Talks Waste

TED Talks are almost always captivating, but here’s one that’s actually related to food waste. Very related. British chef/restaurateur Arthur Potts Dawson discusses his approach to sustainability–both with food waste and otherwise–at his restaurants Acornhouse and Waterhouse. Some highlights, for me: I basically created a menu that allowed people to choose the amount and the […]

December 8, 2010 | Also posted in Composting, International, Supermarket | Comments closed

Interesting Times in LA

Last week, Los Angeles Times columnist David Lazarus penned this op-ed calling for more leftover sharing by restaurants, hotels and caterers. He even suggested making it mandatory for these food businesses to tell customers that they can donate the unserved food. For the clients who choose to donate the food, the restaurant, hotel or caterer […]

August 9, 2010 | Also posted in Events, Food Recovery | Comments closed

Monday Smorgasbord

Apologies for leaving you high and dry on Friday. On the plus side, it does prove once and for all that I’m a human, not an awesome-blog-post-producing machine. Anyway…I got so wrapped up in finishing the final edits for my book editing and complaining about World Cup refereeing that I missed a few items. Here’s […]

June 21, 2010 | Also posted in Composting, Household | Comments closed

Compost = Hero

I’m putting the finishing touches on my editing today and tonight, but felt compelled to pass along this info on Holly Elmore, founder of Atlanta’s Elemental Impact,  recently spoke at the National Restaurant Association conference about the green goings on at Atlanta eateries. In several designated “Zero Waste Zones” (which we’ll have to discuss another […]

June 16, 2010 | Also posted in Composting | Comments closed

Going Green in the Granite State

NPR’s Morning Edition recently profiled a tiny composting company in New Hampshire. It’s always fun to see food waste receive national attention. EcoMovement collects restaurant food waste from about 30 eateries near Portsmouth, N.H, and I’m sure that number will only grow after the company’s NPR exposure. Founder Rian Bedard saw composting up close while […]

June 3, 2010 | Also posted in Composting | Comments closed