Peachy Keen

New Jersey peach producers usually throw away about a million cosmetically-challenged (blemished) peaches every year. This year, they’ve decided to do something about it.

Eastern ProPak, a N.J. growers collective, has teamed up with the Food Bank of South Jersey and Campbell’s Soup to create a peach salsa from unsellable fruit. The result is Just Peachy Salsa.

Salsa sales–$3 a jar at the Food Bank’s site and local stores–could net the non-profit about $150,000. That wouldn’t be a bad yield from 25,000 imperfect peaches.

Much of the credit should go to Campbell’s, who are facilitated the operation:

Campbell’s is donating the equipment, the materials and the other ingredients for the salsa — crushed tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, cilantro and garlic. Campbell’s employees are donating their time.

At the end of the day (or harvest season), there ain’t much better than making useful products out of potential waste, as Bi-Rite Market and Larry Bain are doing in San Francisco. One thing that is even better: having the product fight hunger!

August 2, 2012 | Posted in Farm, Food Recovery, Hunger | Comments closed

Feast Your Eyes on This!

I’m a big fan of infographics. That’s why I was excited to stumble upon this one. Not only is it eye-catching, but it’s an impressive venture for a catering company (Toronto’s Feast Your Eyes!).

The part I appreciate the most is how the infographic blends awareness-raising stats with tips on how you can limit your own waste. What do you make of it?

July 30, 2012 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

A new study from USDA researchers puts the total cost of food waste at 165 billion–just for retail and consumer segments of the food chain. And–that’s with 2008 data. So the total cost is certainly higher than that.

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Residents of Le Sueur, Minn. are not thrilled about a potential anaerobic digestion facility that would turn silage and food waste into energy. Staying true to their town’s origins, they are suing to stop it. Stay tuned…

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Kohlrabi, yo!

If you’re looking for some tips on how to reduce your waste, here are seven. Plus, it features this delightful pic:

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I hate those Aflac commercials as much as the next guy, but if the insurance company is going to start composting at their corporate kitchen, that almost changes everything!

July 27, 2012 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Composting, Friday Buffet, Stats | Comments closed

Are Tomato Battles Wasteful?

So nobody invited me to one of the many Tomato Battles sweeping the West Coast?? They must have known better.

These organized tomato fights a la La Tomatina seem like a lot of things: derivative, debaucherous, messy and fun. The real question–is it a big ol’ waste of tomatoes?

The group addresses the question on their FAQ page and dismisses it with a single word: “Nope.”

I am suspicious.

The FAQ page continues: the tomatoes “are past ripe and can’t be sold. They are inedible and are not fit for human consumption.” But those are often two different things. I’d bet many of the tomatoes used in battle would be perfectly fine to be used by soup kitchens to make…soup or a range of other things.

My overall reaction is that Tomato Battles are relatively harmless, albeit a bit lame on a few levels. To gather all those young people without taking advantage of the opportunity in any way, seems like the real waste. Gleaning is one idea, but there’s an even easier one that I can’t believe the organizers haven’t implemented: donating a portion of the proceeds to fight hunger. At $50 a head, seems like there’s plenty of room for generosity. How ’bout it, Tomato Battle?

July 24, 2012 | Posted in Events | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

I’m all for a machine that helps determine avocado ripeness by tapping it and listening to acoustics. Coming soon to a UK supermarket near you…

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Great title: “Food, too, is wasted on the young.” (Think about it for a second.) And the article has some eye-opening stats on Australian food waste.

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Just found out about 222 million tons and I’m digging it. The blog, whose title refers to the total tonnage tossed in developed countries, focuses on cooking to avoid waste and vice versa.

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Here’s a solid op-ed on why California should recycle food scraps. Anything but the landfill…

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And in case you enjoy footage of food that was wasted set to after-school-special music, this one’s for you!

July 20, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Energy, Friday Buffet, Household, International, Waste Stream | Comments closed

A Light, Summer Post

If this was People or US Weekly, I’d be okay with it. But I expected more from you, Bon Appetit.

In a short piece on her morning routine, actress Piper Perabo discusses how she stores food scraps in her freezer to compost them at the farmer’s market (Union Square, I’d guess). Nice one.

But my issue is with the illustration that BA put together. As you can see, the purported “frozen compost” is a blended green mixture. It looks like a smoothie, or a frozen version of Perabo’s breakfast juice. What it does not look like: frozen scraps and peels awaiting composting.

I could pick nits and say that the bag isn’t really ‘compost,’ but food to be composted. Yet, that would be too finicky. Similarly, I won’t complain that the tone is a bit over the top (“If you open up my freezer, you’ll find vodka for my martinis and organic waste!”). And because we’re staying positive, I won’t even mention Coyote Ugly.

July 19, 2012 | Posted in Composting | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

The same guy who brought you Let’s Be Frank hot dogs is working to transform potentially squandered farm products into shelf stable ones to be sold at specialty stores like San Fran’s slice of foodie heaven, Bi-Rite Market.

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Thumbs up for NYC School composting. Boo for photos that make the compost bin seem like the garbage.

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Man, that is one meat-heavy fridge on display in this NPR infographic! Also, who stores bacon in the fridge door?!

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In this article, you can read about “One Start-up’s Quest to Eliminate Food Waste and Profit.” Wow, a world with neither food waste nor profit?

(Note: That bad headline is no reflection on EcoScraps, an cool composting company if ever there was one.)

July 13, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Farm, School | Comments closed

Food Waste is Crappy

I’d never heard of the Parenting. With Crappy Pictures blog. Until today. And now I’m a big fan.

In her recent post on kids and food waste, Amber Dusick illustrates (crappily) what seem to be mutually exclusive tasks: feeding kids and avoiding waste. Anyone who’s ever tried to feed a child (and even certain adults) will relate to the finicky eating habits of Amber’s kids and her response.

I appreciated the Mini Babybel anecdote–her kids don’t like eating them, just opening them. And don’t miss the kicker at the end of the post, which I appreciated. Suckers!

Anyway, thanks to Amber for depicting the frustration felt by millions (billions?) of parents. Given the 250 or so responses, it seems to have struck a chord.

July 11, 2012 | Posted in Household | Comments closed

Sssquash!

This summer, I’m trying to collect an alphabet of summer squash. It’s sure to be a futile quest–an X??–but it’s fun to try.

This weekend at the farmers’ market, I found my next entry. So in addition to C and J, here’s…an S:

I'd like to buy a vowel...

The aim of this pet project is to champion the idea that real food doesn’t have to look perfect. And often, it doesn’t!

Let me know if you have any awesome alphabet produce to share, either here or the Wasted Food Facebook page.

July 9, 2012 | Posted in Alphabet Produce, Farmers' Market, Personal | Comments closed

Banning Food Waste in Landfills

Hit the Gas, a recent UK study funded by an anaerobic digestion (AD) industry group, discusses ways to create more energy via that process. One of those ways is to divert food waste from landfills to AD plants.

To secure more “feedstock” for AD, the report proposes that the government should “phase out organic waste to landfill by 2020.” It’s a fabulous idea, that will hopefully come true.

Despite being one of six suggestions for government action, the press has really latched onto the ‘landfill ban for food waste’ idea. And so we get headlines like this:

Ban Food from Landfill–Study

This example is better, but far from perfect…

Ban food waste from landfill for renewable energy, urges thinktank

The headlines illustrate just how interested the UK press is in the topic of food waste. A study about how to maximize energy production through anaerobic digestion becomes an article on a potential landfill ban on food.

Compared to the US, where food waste barely scratches the surface, it’s nice to see this abundant attention.

July 5, 2012 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Energy | Comments closed