|
The Blue Apron meal kit delivery company is managing to keep food waste to a minimum at its prep facility, according to a study by a nonprofit sustainability advocate. BSR found that Blue Apron trashed only 5.5 percent of its food, compared to the to the 10.5 percent thrown out by grocery stores. The organization also found that buyers of Blue Apron kits threw away only 7.6 percent of the meals, instead of the 24 percent usually thrown away after home cooking. The key reason for the company’s lower waste generation is the fact that it knows exactly how much food it needs for each kit.
"Cooking With A Meal Kit May Waste 62% Less Food Than Grocery Store Ingredients", Fast Company, September 19, 2016
|
A new nonprofit watchdog organization has compiled a list of baby and toddler foods that are contaminated by harmful ingredients. The Clean Label Project’s list highlights the products that meet or exceed standards established by its medical advisors based on independent lab analyses. Eighty-one percent of the 628 tested products failed to meet the standards. Baby foods were tested for toxic and heavy metals – e.g., arsenic, lead, cadmium – pesticides, bisphenol A (BPA), antibiotics, food coloring and flavors, and other unwanted substances that do not appear on ingredient labels. Eighty percent of infant formulas and 60 percent of meat and dairy baby food jars contained detectable antibiotic residues. One-third of jars and meals tested had detectable pesticide residues.
"Clean Label Project reveals baby food brands with least contaminants", News release, Clean Label Project, September 20, 2016
|
|
The Natural Resources Defense Council and other consumer advocates have flunked 17 of the top 25 fast food chains in the U.S. on the basis of antibiotics use in their menu items. Big name eateries that earned the F grade because of a lack of a strong policy on antibiotics use include KFC, Burger King, Starbucks, IHOP, and Little Caesars. The stars of the class, earning A’s, were Chipotle and Panera Bread. Subway and Chick-fil-A earned a B, while McDonald’s snagged a C+. The FDA discourages producers from using antibiotics routinely in feed to promote growth, but does not prohibit the practice. It also supports routine use in meat and poultry production for disease prevention. The ratings appear in NRDC’s “Chain Reaction” report.
"Chipotle, Panera lauded over antibiotics rules; many chains fail", San Francisco Gate, September 20, 2016
|
The Progresso soup brand of General Mills announced that all of the chicken breast meat used in its 36 chicken soup varieties is free of antibiotics and hormones. In addition, the soups contain no artificial flavors and 60 percent of them contain no artificial colors. The company hopes to eliminate all artificial colors within three years. The soup brand has reduced sodium levels in more than 40 soup varieties, added seven soups to its certified Gluten Free product line and is increasing its vegetarian soup options.
"Progresso Completes Move To Antibiotic And Hormone Free Chicken Breasts In All Chicken Soup Varieties", News release, Progresso, September 26, 2016
|
|
A British entrepreneur has created an online marketplace where supermarket buyers of food can find and purchase excess produce from growers quickly and easily. Fruitspot has attracted 600 users who can benefit from supply and demand imbalances. Growers can advertise excess stock ready for sale, and buyers can post notices of what they need for their stores. Users notify a verified network of buyers or sellers to receive quotes that solve their needs very quickly, according to Fruitspot founder Jose Baptista.
"Fruitspot Fruit & Veg Online Marketplace Goes Live", The Grocer, September 27, 2016
|
An activist and entrepreneur in the U.K. believes peoples’ attitudes toward food waste need to change soon. Dawson Costa, founder of Rubies in the Rubble, says people need to realize that all food is treasure, not a cheap commodity that can be tossed out. Her company has been turning surplus fruits and vegetables into chutneys and relishes profitably for five years, despite a prevailing negative attitude. It’s important that people stop calling surplus food waste – she doesn’t know a better substitute word yet – because “it’s just natural.”
"Rubies in the Rubble: Meet the Londoner Reinventing Surplus Fruit and Veg as Jams and Chutneys", Evening Standard, October 05, 2016
|
|
With demand growing for natural and organic personal care products, consumers, especially Millennials, expect these products to be available at their favorite grocery stores. While Millennials do not like going to specialty stores to buy personal care products, many would go to the nearest health food store if their favorite retailer did not sell the natural products they seek, according to Wally's Natural. Despite the growing demand, retailers sometimes cannot distinguish between products labeled as natural and those classified as organic.
"More Than Skin Deep", Grocery Headquarters, October 07, 2016
|
Chicken supplier Perdue Farms says it has ended the routine use of antibiotics at all of its facilities, a process it began in 2007. It still uses antibiotics when chickens get sick, something that happens to about five percent of its flocks each year. Other poultry producers have promised to reduce antibiotics use, but Perdue has taken it a step further. It has eliminated not only human antibiotics, but also a class of antibiotics known as ionophores, which are toxic to humans. Other poultry companies that have committed to a no-antibiotics program include Tyson Foods, Foster Farms and Pilgrim's Pride. However, one producer, Sanderson Farms, has mocked the term "raised without antibiotics" as a worthless marketing gimmick.
"Perdue Goes (Almost) Antibiotic-Free", NPR, October 07, 2016
|
|
A pilot project conducted by foodservice giant Sodexo and partners in France, Italy, and the U.K., led to a 12 percent food waste reduction in six schools. The program kept 2.5 tons of food waste, or 4,500 meals, out of landfills. Sodexo said it would now deploy the International Food Waste Coalition’s “Skool” program in company sites, including school cafeterias, across Europe. Skool’s goal is to build a school food value chain without food waste, the company says. Sodexo and the IFWC partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and LeanPath, a food waste measurement and reporting system, to create the Skool program.
"Sodexo Rolls out Skool Program Across Europe to Prevent Food Waste in Schools", News release, Sodexo, October 14, 2016
|
In 2011, the National Institute of Corrections in the U.S. began to encourage prisons to pay closer attention to energy consumption, waste, and re-use, and to train prisoners for obtaining green jobs. One prison system that took the suggestions to heart was the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. It now operates a three-acre organic farm and food waste diversion program at one facility – once a construction site – that houses high-custody, long-sentence inmates. Workers on the farm are from a nearby minimum security prison. The Philadelphia mayor’s office says the program diverts 685 tons of food waste a year into compost, saving the city more than $40,000 in landfill costs.
"Philadelphia’s Prison System is Fighting Food Waste and Recidivism with an Organic Farm", Civil Eats, October 17, 2016
|
|
The USDA has begun to issue a monthly report providing data on the cage-free egg market, including wholesale and retail prices, production estimates, flock size estimates for both organic and conventional cage-free eggs. Wholesale price data includes contract-traded and spot market egg sales. Retail price information covers large and extra-large cage-free eggs gleaned from the advertising materials of 29,000 U.S. grocers. Cage-free organic and conventional egg production data are based on flock size estimates coupled with egg laying rates. In related news, IKEA restaurants and foodservice provider Compass Group have committed to cage-free eggs, along with Six Flags Entertainment’s amusement parks by 2026.
"USDA Introduces New Report Covering the Cage-free Egg Market", News release, USDA, October 21, 2016
|
A grass-roots effort to feed homeless people in Los Angeles also benefits the environment by cutting food waste. Food Not Bombs cooks and serves gallons of stew and salads made from nearly 400 pounds of vegetables donated each week by Food Forward, which collects unsold fruits and veggies from farmers’ market vendors. Food Forward has streamlined and centralized food collection from farmers, weighing it and providing receipts for tax records. Since its founding seven years ago, the organization – it has 7,000 registered volunteers and 18 paid employees – has donated more than 25 million pounds of food to 150 local hunger relief agencies, feeding 1.3 million people a year.
"In Los Angeles, a Band of Food Rescuers is Getting Produce to the People", Civil Eats, October 26, 2016
|
|
About 44 percent of bread baked in the U.K. is thrown away, but efforts are under way to put otherwise wasted bread to better use. Adelie Foods, for example, is working with Hambleton Brewery’s Toast Ale to turn surplus bread from bakeries, deli’s, and sandwich makers into beer. Using an average of one slice of bread per beer, Toast Ale has turned out about 6,000 beers from 220 kg of bread donated by Adelie since August. It’s “a delicious solution to the problem of bread waste,” says Toast Ale’s Julie Prebble.
"Adelie Foods and Toast Ale join Forces to Fight Surplus Bread Waste", FoodBev Media, October 28, 2016
|
|