After a Trader Joe’s recently opened in my town, I’ve had a chance to observe the store’s practices from a wasted food perspective. Here’s what I’ve noticed:
Trader Joe’s does many things well. Produce, is not one of them. My main complaint is that the grocery chain encourages waste the same way CostCo or Sam’s Club does–in […]

British grocer Marks & Spencer is now powering a few of its stores with an anaerobic digester. The machine converts food waste to biogas, which it uses to create electricity. Plans are underway to build another, and the two digesters should power six stores. So don’t feel bad the next time you pay too much for the […]

Avoiding household food waste starts in the supermarket. While our big eyes and tempted taste buds are partly to blame, stores are adept at inducing excess spending.
Since we waste, on average, a quarter of what we bring home, it makes sense to rethink our shopping habits. Along those lines, this challenging quiz will keep you on your […]

Almost every Monday I give little tips on how to avoid food waste in The Weekly Waste Word. Today, let’s talk about amounts.
Just as shopping can lead you to wasted food, it can also prevent it. Purchasing the right amount of a fresh ingredient for a recipe ensures efficiency, keeps food out of the waste stream and […]

After concerns that some of its Banquet poultry pot pie products may be linked to an outbreak of salmonella, ConAgra recalled all Banquet and store brand pot pies last week.
The reason more than 165 people in 31 states got sick is because they didn’t get the freezer pies hot enough. Because these pot pies are not ‘ready to […]

Would you pay a quarter for this pepper?
That’s what I paid yesterday for this pepper that I found on my supermarket’s reduced price rack. It came packaged with a similarly blemished pepper (see below) for 50 cents. Not surprisingly, I’m a big believer in this idea.
As we’ve discussed before, many supermarkets shoot for perfect-looking produce. Anything that doesn’t reach […]

Yesterday we visited the topic of bagged produce. Here are three more points on so-called “higher value produce,” fruits and vegetables that are washed, cut and sold in packages. 
1. Cut fruit breaks down faster than cut vegetables. It starts to go about 4-5 days after processing, so don’t buy that fruit salad too far in advance […]

As you might have guessed, I’m not a big fan of washed and cut produce. Sure, it’s convenient and has its uses, but for the most part it breaks down quicker than the uncut version because it exposes more of the fruit or vegetable to oxidation. It also further removes us from the idea that produce is grown and don’t […]

At the beginning of each week, I try to give readers one tip on how to avoid food waste. This week’s advice: know the difference between sell-by and use-by dates.
Use-by and best-by dates are decent guides for when an item shouldn’t be consumed. Sell-by dates, on the other hand, tell a store how long it should […]

Yesterday we talked about how the desire for flawless produce leads to much waste. Pushing the issue further, who’s to blame for this desire?
While Wayne Roberts’ article impugned food magazines, I’d also blame most supermarkets, especially Whole Foods. Most retailers make a point of having bountiful, beautiful displays. Doing so means throwing out imperfect, nonuniform produce.
As Whole […]