Eat Ugly Food, Reduce Food Waste

Twitter @UglyFruitAndVeg

How do you decide which fresh foods end up in your grocery cart? If you’re like most people, you go by how they look.

The moment we walk into the grocery store, we are met with a colorful variety of produce. What’s interesting is that we shoppers expect every individual fruit or veggie to look perfect. We often think that how the produce looks will determine its quality. However, that is decidedly false. Smaller produce, slightly misshapen produce, and blemished produce are just as nutritious and taste equally as yummy, if not better, than their perfectly formed counterparts.

Why should we care that “ugly food” gets a bad rap? Consumers have power, and when we use our eyes to pick produce, we send a message to farmers and grocery stores that we only want perfect looking foods. This means that a shocking amount of ugly food--food that does not meet grocery store’s aesthetic standards--is wasted before it even gets to the grocery store.

Twitter @UglyFruitAndVeg

The EPA estimates that 31% (133 billion pounds) of food is wasted each year. This large amount of food waste sent to landfills contributes to 18% of total U.S. methane emissions. Much of wasted food is nutritious and safe to eat, but has been thrown away because it fails to meet aesthetic standards, portion sizes are too large, use by labels are misread, and for many other reasons.

Fruits and vegetables very rarely grow in the ideal shape, size, and color commonly sold in grocery stores across the country. In fact, it takes many extra resources, like water, fertilizer, and pesticides, in order to produce those magazine ready fruits and veggies.

What can we do help reduce food waste?

Twitter @UglyFruitAndVeg

Buy ugly food at the grocery store!

Try to find produce retailers near you that sell “ugly food”

Shop at your local farmer’s market

Make a list and only buy what you need from the store

Eat left overs first before you make a new meal

What is U-M doing to reduce food waste?

The University of Michigan composts pre and post-consumer food waste at its dining halls. This fall also welcomes a new pilot post consumer composting program at the Fields Cafe!

Why Divert Waste from Landfills?

When we throw away the things we no longer need or want, we make a choice about where that trash goes. Recyclables get made into new products. Compostables breakdown into compost.

Trash is sent to the landfill and returned to the Earth. Or is it?

Contrary to common belief, trash stored in landfills is not meant to break down. Rather, landfills are designed to preserve trash so that pollutants produced from decomposition cannot escape to the surrounding environment and nearby water sources.

Landfills prevent breakdown by fostering anaerobic and dry conditions-this means that there is very little oxygen or moisture found in landfills to support the microorganisms responsible for decomposition. Landfill excavations show that many items, like newspapers and food, look roughly the same after spending years buried in a landfill.

Despite these conditions, landfills still release methane and carbon dioxide emissions from the breakdown of organic materials. According to the EPA, “landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States.” Both methane and carbon dioxide are greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change.

The story of a landfill is bleak. Landfills don’t provide a solution for our waste, rather they just provide convenient spots for us to relocate our trash. It’s imperative that we reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.

The University of Michigan is committed to both waste prevention and climate action, as stated in the following Campus Sustainability Goals.

2025 Goals:

Reduce waste tonnage diverted to disposal facilities by 40% below 2006 levels

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 2006 levels

U-M’s improving recycling and composting rates show how U-M is actively working towards the goal of reducing waste sent to landfills.

The University progresses towards the emissions reductions goal by pursuing renewable energy sources and improving energy efficiency across campus buildings. While U-M does not include emissions from landfills in its calculation of the emissions reduction goal, the effect waste diversion has on greenhouse gas emissions is an uncalculated bonus that aligns with the University’s commitment towards sustainability.  

Recycling allows us to divert materials from landfills that can then be reused to make new, purposeful products. Recycling also reduces emissions because less energy is spent extracting and transporting raw materials-another environmental benefit that goes unmeasured.

Composting food waste is another solution to diverting waste from landfills that produces very little emissions and that provides many benefits for the environment. The US Composting Council reports that the incorporation of compost in soil promotes carbon sequestration and indirectly reduces emissions by improving soil health. Improved soil health results in less reliance upon irrigation and fertilizer use.

Never doubt that that your choice to reduce, reuse, recycle, or compost waste will have a positive impact on the environment and your U-M community.

EPA: "Climate Change and Waste Reducing Waste Can Make A Difference"

For more information about waste reduction and recycling on campus visit the WRRO’s website: www.recycle.umich.edu

For more information about landfills, waste reduction, and greenhouse gases referenced in this post, visit these sites:

PDF published by the U-M Greenhouse Gas Committee

http://sustainability.umich.edu/media/files/Greenhouse%20Gas%20Reduction%20Committee%20Report%202015%20(1).pdf

PDF about the connection between waste reduction and climate change:

https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/downloads/cc-waste.pdf

EPA’s basic information about landfills and methane:

https://www3.epa.gov/lmop/basic-info/index.html

Article by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council about why things don’t break down in a landfill:

http://www.bpiworld.org/resources/Documents/EPIC%20Position%20on%20Biodegradability%20and%20Landfills.pdf

A guide to how composting and GHG’s relate:

http://compostingcouncil.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GHG-and-Composting-a-Primer-for-Composters-final.pdf

Reducing Food Waste on Campus

Reducing Food Waste on Campus

Food. It’s amazing. We all know this to be true. 

What’s not amazing about food, is that nearly 40% of food in America is wasted. Can you imagine throwing away 40% of your pizza? Well probably not because that would be crazy.

While we may not be throwing out perfectly good pizzas (cringes), we often waste food because we don’t plan very well. We’ve all opened our refrigerators and pulled out a half-full carton of strawberries only to find them sporting a furry layer of mold. 

Being conscious of how much food we eat or throw away can be challenging. When you’re a university student or simply purchasing food from a campus market or cafe, you might not have much control over where your food waste goes or how much waste is produced from preparing your food.

That’s why it’s so important that MDining is dedicated to reducing food waste on campus. There are different strategies that the dining halls uses to limit food waste as well other types of waste.

Off the truck

• Cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping from storing and shipping food are all recycled behind the scenes.

In the kitchen

• All pre-consumer waste in the MDining kitchens is taken to to the City of Ann Arbor Compost Site, operated by WeCare Organics.
• Pre-consumer waste includes things like carrot peels and onion skins.
• At the South Quad dining hall, food headed toward the compost pile is run through a pulper and extractor. This process extracts water from food waste and reduces its volume which can make it easier to transport.
• The student group, Food Recovery Network, collects surplus food and donates to food banks and people in need.

On your plate

• “Just ask!” The dining halls use small plates which lets you try different foods without creating a lot of waste. So when you want a little more of a particular dish, just ask!
• Tray-less dining is implemented at all of the dining halls. This lets you plan your meals carefully and you waste less food.
• All of teabags and coffee stirrers are compostable or recyclable as well. 

Sustainable Dining Programs New to Campus

MDining is also working on new projects to extend post consumer composting to cafe locations on campus. Be sure to stop by the Fields Café in Palmer Commons this summer to check out their post-consumer composting pilot program. 

Unlike the current cafe locations on campus, the Fields Café allows customers to choose the type of eating utensils (to-go plastic or silverware) and encourages customers to use the bulk style condiments and hot beverage creamers and sweeteners. This cafe also incorporates local and sustainable sourced ingredients in its farm-to-table menu. 

Whats unique to this composting pilot program is its method of limiting contamination. Contamination occurs when people accidentally put non-compostable items, like plastic, into the compost bin.

The signage for the compost bins at this cafe will include images of all the specific menu items that can be composted. All you need to do is check the sign to see if what you ordered is on the compost list. Say goodbye to deliberating between the compost bin and the trash bin.

Keep your eyes open for a similar program starting at the School of Public Health JavaBlu café.