The Big Waste

Eliminating waste is one of the many issues about which I am passionate.  There are nearly endless ways that every person can work towards eliminating waste (drive less, recycle more, buy products with less packaging, on and on) so I was super excited to see a show on the Food Network highlighting the issue of food waste.  The show, The Big Waste, was on last night and the premise was a cooking competition that pit two teams of world class chefs against each other to prepare a meal for 100 entirely out of food waste. 

It was quite shocking and I believe a stat was quoted that nearly half of the food supply in the US goes in the trash.  Wow.  It is hard to imagine but they did a great job of showcasing a variety of waste from chickens with skin torn during processing to produce with a blemish as small as the freckles on Bobby Flay's check to the corn at a you-pick that was knocked down during a storm.  There was a lot of focus on how picky customers can be and that they will only buy things that look perfect or are the best cut.  As CSA members, we have gotten very used to produce that doesn't look grocery-store-perfect.  It still tastes great...  actually, BETTER because it is so so so much fresher! 

One thing that has always bothered me about the Food Network is that they don't compost their food.  Or, if they do, they don't tell their audience.  Which is really missing an opportunity to educate Americans on how easy it is to compost, how great it is for the environment to put that much less in the landfill and how useful compost can be in the garden - not to mention how much money you can save by making your own compost instead of buying it. 

That said, I'll be posting this blog post on Bobby Flay's facebook page with the hopes that the Food Network will continue to investigate the waste in our food system and incorporate composting into their next program (please let their be a next program - this is such an important issue and they have an amazing platform for educating).  And wouldn't it be neat if they explored some other aspects of our food system...  like antibiotic use, chemical fertilizers and ways to get all the waste food to the significant population of Americans who go hungry on a daily basis.