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Tyson Foods CEO Tom Hayes, who told analysts recently that his company’s purpose is to “raise the world’s expectations for how much good food can do,” announced it would sell only chicken raised with “no antibiotics ever” (NAE). The NAE commitment is part of the company’s overall, long-term “holistic” sustainability strategy that includes cutting down workplace injuries and illness by 15 percent, and seeking strategic alliances for scientific sustainability. The company also plans to continue auditing third-party chicken farms to ensure humane treatment of chickens. Tyson processes more than 41 million chickens a week on average.
"Tyson Foods Commits to Make Antibiotic-Free Chicken Products", Food and Business Review, February 23, 2017
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A Toronto brewer has launched a food festival whose goal is to raise awareness of, and perhaps help reduce, the $31 billion in food wasted every year in Canada, nine percent of it in restaurants. The goal of the first Trashed & Wasted food festival, held in early March n Toronto, was to get people to rethink how they approach kitchen scraps. A secondary goal was to raise funds for a food collection organization that works with community agencies. At the festival, chefs created dishes from rescued food, while local brewers and distillers concocted beverages using ingredients that would normally be considered garbage. Another local craft brewery, for example, made a special beer for the festival using leftover bread from a Toronto bakery.
"Toronto Food Festival Seeks to Change How People Approach Kitchen Scraps", The (Toronto) Globe and Mail, March 01, 2017
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French food company Danone is partnering with Nestlė Waters and a young technology company to accelerate commercial use of a 100 percent sustainable and renewable bio-based plastic bottle. The two giants in bottled water are working with a Sacramento, Calif.-based startup known as Origin Materials, which developed the technology. Together, the NaturALL Bottle Alliance will develop and launch commercially a PET1 (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottle made from biomass feedstocks, such as previously used cardboard and sawdust. A major advantage is that it does not divert resources or land from food production.
"Danone and Nestlé Waters Launch NaturALL Bottle Alliance with California Startup to Develop 100% Bio-Based Bottles", News release, Nestlé Waters, March 02, 2017
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As part of an ongoing plan to offer cleaner menu labels, the parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins said it will replace artificial colorings in its foods with naturally-sourced colorings by the end of 2018. Dunkin' Brands Group said its doughnuts unit will remove synthetic colors from donut icings, fillings, toppings, frozen beverages, baked goods, breakfast sandwiches and coffee flavorings. Likewise, Baskin-Robbins will remove synthetic colors from all ice cream, syrups, sauces, sprinkles and beverages. In 2014, Dunkin' Brands revamped its new product development process to focus on reformulating products to simplify ingredient labels, and reduce sodium and sugar content without sacrificing flavor.
"Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins Plan to Remove Artificial Colorings from U.S. Menus by End of 2018", News release, Dunkin' Brands Group, March 02, 2017
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Two public libraries in New Orleans offer residents the chance to dispose of their food waste – leftover vegetable peels and cuts, coffee grounds, etc. – by dropping them off to be picked up for composting by a local farm. The two libraries have collected more than a ton of food waste since the program was launched in January. Residents are asked to place the leftover scraps in paper bags or compostable bags, or in reusable containers, and freeze them before bringing them to the libraries.
"Bring Your Food Waste to the Library for Composting: Yes, really", The New Orleans Times-Picayune, March 05, 2017
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A school in Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) has installed a food composter that “digests” as much as 200 pounds of food waste a day – not including avocado pits and beef bones. Since November the small, quiet machine has processed 7,000 pounds, turning the waste into non-potable water. The Power Knot Liquid Food Composter uses food-grade plastic pellets with enzymes that help break down the food as it’s agitated in water. Major benefits of the machine: it has so far reduced the school’s trash disposal fees of about $1,400 by $300; it has kept a lot of food waste out of the landfill where decomposition would have created methane gas; and it teaches environmental lessons in recycling and ecology to the students. The water produced is drained away and can be used to water lawns and gardens.
"How a Gardens School’s Lunch Leftovers are Being Converted to Water", PalmBeachPost.com, March 07, 2017
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New York’s Greyston Bakery is launching a line of “grab-and-go” cookies baked without preservatives, and with cage-free eggs and fair trade sugar. Greyston is already famous for its brownies, which are the key ingredient in Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. The new cookie line features Harvest Cookies and Chocolate Chunk Cookies, sold, like the brownies, exclusively at Whole Foods Market stores. Greyston is also noted for its impact on the community. The company has an open hiring policy: it hires people with barriers to employment, no questions asked. CEO Mike Brady says, “We don’t hire people to bake cookies, we bake cookies to hire people.” Its partnership with Whole Foods Market has created 20 full-time positions at the bakery,
"Greyston Launches New Cookies at Whole Foods Market®, Expands Job Impact", Specialty Food Association, March 08, 2017
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Add Boston Market to the list of restaurant chains committed to serving only antibiotics-free chicken. The company says that by July 2017, 75 percent of its chickens will have been raised without the drugs; within a year all of its chickens will be raised without the drugs. Boston Market unveiled a “quality guarantee” in January that states it will serve all natural, fresh, whole chickens that are U.S.-farm raised without added hormones or steroids,100 percent antibiotic-free, MSG free, and gluten free.
"Boston Market Commits To Serving 100 Percent Antibiotic-Free Rotisserie Chicken", News release, Boston Market, March 10, 2017
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The antibiotics-free chicken movement may have caught on big in the U.S. – about half of chicken sold is free of antibiotics – it hasn’t spread to pork or beef. But that may change soon, as advocates pressure companies to reduce or eliminate antibiotics use in cattle, pigs, and turkeys. Tyson already plans to move in that direction, though it’s more complicated because, unlike in-house chicken production, food companies have to contract with beef and pork producers. And some, like Sanderson Farms, deny there’s a connection between antibiotics use in animal raising and increased resistance to antibiotics in humans. But industry analysts say they’re missing the point. Antibiotics-free meat offers a new way to sell pricier products.
"Antibiotic-Free Meat Gets a Foothold in US", The Express Tribune, March 12, 2017
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Residents of Iowa City, Iowa, are now allowed to put food waste, including meat and eggs, as well as uncoated paper products, into 35-gallon waste bins – they hold up to 50 pounds – marked with special stickers for curbside pickup. Iowa City officials hope to divert some of the 18,000 tons of food waste that end up in city landfills to composting facilities. The town has been composting food waste since 2007, getting about 600 tons a year from various sources, including the University of Iowa dining halls and hospitals. Officials expect the new curbside program will add another 500 to 1,000 tons a year.
"Food Waste Joins Curbside Composting in Iowa City", The Gazette (Iowa City, IA), March 13, 2017
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Thirty-five-year-old Rudi's Organic Bakery, owned by Hain Celestial, has launched two breads that provide consumers detailed information about the source of the grain in each loaf. The traceability information comes thanks to a partnership with Community Grains, which gathers information from the local farmer suppliers. Community Grains monitors each step of flour production, from sourcing seed, growth through harvest, and preservation of nutrients and flavor with whole milling. The two new Rudi’s breads are certified USDA organic and use only organic cracked wheat, organic rolled oats and organic sunflower oil, all without genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
"Rudi's Organic Bakery® Launches New Traceable Organic Bread Line with Community Grains", News release, Hain Celestial, March 16, 2017
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Residents of a Massachusetts county are able to trade scrap food for compost in a program that includes seven towns. The scrap food is emptied into a dumpster at a transfer station, then trucked to a farm. Composting takes about four months, after which residents can buy it for use in organic gardens. The county learned years ago that trash disposal is expensive, so whatever can be composted or recycled saves the towns – and its citizens – money. It’s also a better option than home composting, which should not add animal products such as meat, bones, dairy, and fats like peanut butter and mayonnaise. Decomposing meats, fats and dairy smell bad and attract pests. And they produce anaerobic bacteria that interfere with normal composting.
"Area Composters Encourage Making Good Use of Food Waste", The (Franklin County, Mass.) Recorder, March 17, 2017
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Under South Korea’s food waste law, residents are required to separate food waste from garbage and to recycle food. Seoul used to spend $600 thousand dollars a day on food waste disposal. That money is now saved through recycling. Beginning in 2013 consumers in Seoul were required to pay for food waste by weight. The city set up a sophisticated system for tracking and weighing the waste that is placed in special bags (sold by the city) and then into bins that determine the fairly small fee to be charged. Since the law went into effect, the city’s food waste has decreased 10 percent – more than 300 tons a day. The Environmental Management Division wants to triple that amount over the next four years.
"These Policies Helped South Korea’s Capital Decrease Food Waste", PBS Newshour, March 19, 2017
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The hotel industry has joined with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to launch pilot projects testing ways to reduce food waste. Food production has the largest environmental footprint of any human activity, but a third of available food either spoils or is thrown out. Most food loss occurs in homes and the food service industries, including hotels. To combat the problem, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) is working with the WWF to develop actionable projects to prevent food waste through better food management. The effort is supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as hotel chains Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and others.
"World Wildlife Fund, American Hotel & Lodging Association and The Rockefeller Foundation Bring Hotel Brands Together to Prevent Hotel Food Waste", News release, World Wildlife Fund, March 21, 2017
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For a business, profit is a strong motivator, and when concern for profit dovetails with an environmental goal, the motivation is especially potent. In the Pittsburgh, Pa., area, the top chef at the Big Burrito Group is keenly aware that food waste is a bottom-line issue. Food tossed in the trash is a waste, not only of nutrition, but of dollars. Cooks at all 13 restaurants of the Burrito Group practice root-to-stem and tail-to-nose cooking. They gather scrap chicken carcasses and bones, leftover beef, and discarded fish bones and simmer them in water with vegetables to make stock. The basic idea of repurposing food scraps applies to retail grocery stores as well. The Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle chain, for example, donates six million pounds of unsold food a year to food banks.
"Restaurants Cut Down on Food Waste to Help the Bottom Line", Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gazette, March 22, 2017
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France’s year-old food waste law, which targeted supermarkets with fines for throwing out food that was edible or useable as animal feed, has been ineffective so far, according to consumer group QueChoisir. One key problem is a lack of government support across the supply chain. Supermarkets who have contracts with charities need better redistribution services, i.e., transportation services for collection and delivery of discarded food at the right times. They also need cooling facilities for the food, but these are expensive. The result? In the province of Isère, more than 75 percent of surplus foods never reach partner charities. The law also failed to set a minimum amount of surplus for donation. A supermarket that gives even one percent of its surplus food is in compliance.
"France's Food Waste Ban: One Year On", FOODnavigator.com, March 24, 2017
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