A small child, having eaten the tastier offerings on his plate, picks unenthusiastically at his vegetables. An exasperated parent tells him that he should eat his food because there are starving people in China.* The child points out that there is no way anyone can transport his broccoli to China, and thus his decision is… Continue reading Waste Not, Want Not?
Nicholas Kristof has recently informed me that most of what I do is relatively useless, and that the only solution is to blog more (tweets are cool too). Ever since he opened my eyes to the fact that half of the world’s population has two X chromosomes, I’ve hung on his every word, so here… Continue reading Left-Wing Think Tank “United States Department of Agriculture” Concludes Capitalism Is The Cause of Food Waste
As much as I like to think dumpster diving is in some ways inherently political, there are times when the whole thing can feel incredibly self-involved. And so, in the perpetually problematic desire to “give back”, I’ve been volunteering in food redistribution (again). I like this charity, even though it’s a charity and not a… Continue reading Gleaning the Gleanings
The decay spreads over the State, and the sweet smell is a great sorrow on the land. Men who can graft the trees and make the seed fertile and big can find no way to let the hungry people eat their produce. Men who have created new fruits in the world cannot create a system… Continue reading Bleach
I think I felt the stupidest when I gave out the gluten-free Wonton Wraps. Admittedly, there are a lot of times at my job where I’ve wondered, “Is anyone going to eat this?” I certainly want to believe that someone is going to be happily surprised by the wave of pomegranates we’ve been packing, and… Continue reading Bears Don’t Eat Onions
Baked goods have a somewhat legendary status among dumpster divers. In the anarchist travelogue Evasion, the author shoplifts and hitch-hikes his way across middle America subsisting almost entirely off of bagels. On freegan.info trash tours, we rarely could resist the temptation to stop at Dunkin Donuts—even though most of us were vegan and we generally… Continue reading Let Them Eat Cake
“Well, do you at least know how to operate a pallet jack?” I hesitate. I have eight-and-one-third years of higher education under my belt. I really should have a good answer to this question. “I’m sure I’ll pick it up quickly”, I offer optimistically. Last Tuesday was my first day at my new job—my first… Continue reading Career Changes?
There has been an extraordinary amount of media attention and policy action around food waste lately. Major environmental groups like NRDC and totally not-at-all environmental groups like the Institution for Mechanical Engineering have released reports documenting how 30-50% of food is wasted in the US and abroad. While reports from non-profits on some issue or… Continue reading The Limits of Think.Eat.Save
I’ve been meaning to return to blogging for a while—in fact, since I made it a New Year’s Resolution and, immediately thereafter, abandoned it as quickly as a new exercise regime. Leave it to a not-at-all veiled attack on veganism to bring me back. Periodically, friends forward me links obliquely encouraging me to reconsider my… Continue reading Still Eating Quinoa
Q: How do I know Yasuní National Park is the most biodiverse place in the planet? A: Because on Saturday mornings, that diversity is on sale in Pompeya. I´m not quite sure what I was expecting to discover this Saturday, but I certainly didn´t plan on finding anything as disturbing as I did. One of… Continue reading Blood on All Hands
Alex V. Barnard - Sociology 