Food Waste Focus

There are so many ways to prevent food waste – that I don’t think we could list them all. We try, however, to pass along every hint and tip we have. On this blog, we mostly focus on tips for source reduction at large foodservice operators. Sometimes we blog about ways to [...]

We hear a lot about ‘green’ everything these days – from green buildings to green kitchens to green menus. What exactly is a ‘green meeting‘ and how do you create one?
A green meeting is one that: “through sustainable practices and taking environmental considerations throughout all stages of a meeting, will minimize the negative [...]

We tend to focus on the food waste we can see in our operations.  It’s dramatic, and often deeply disappointing.  What we can’t see as clearly is the food wasted before it ever reaches us:  at the farm, during processing, during transit.
We only get to see the food which survives the supply chain.  Whenever we or [...]

We are always excited to see more people blogging about green foodservice.Â
Paul Kuck has just announced a new blog which will focus on the operational side of green foodservice, which would include waste management along with many other topics:

EUGENE, Oregon – October 20, 2009 – Sustainable Foodservice Consulting (SFC), publisher of http://www.sustainablefoodservice.com, is pleased to [...]

Did you know? – We waste a lot of food in the USA.
A new study, from the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson, indicates that a shocking 40% to 50% of all food ready for harvest never gets eaten.  That food can be either damaged in transit, considered trim waste as part of the production [...]

Last month I spoke at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone (in Napa Valley, California) during their Flavor, Quality, and American Menus conference.  The title of my speech was:
Low Hanging Fruit:  Strategies for Reducing Food Waste and Increasing Quality & Profitability
The concept was simple:  food waste steals resources from chefs and limits their ability [...]

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LeanPath coaches speak with clients on a regular basis.  Often we learn new information that can help others reduce waste and we like to share those Hints and Tips with you:
 Avoiding Pastry Waste:

Who’s placing the order? Put ordering in the hands of the front-line manager or Chef. Some facilities put the ordering in the hands of purchasing [...]

What is C.O.O.L.?  Cool for the environment, cool for the Earth…
This is what’s “cool”:  COOL2012 stands for “Compostable Organics Out of Landfills by 2012“.   Check out the link to get a comprehensive overview of the program.  http://www.cool2012.com/
PROBLEM: Adding food and paper to landfills is heating the planet.
SOLUTION: Get COOL.  Reduce or eliminate these items [...]

A little while back, I attended the webinar for The Achieve Green NW online workshop: “Composting, and Purchasing in Food Service Operations“.  This was a very informative webinar.  Thanks to all the presenters!

There was a lot of information and real life examples.  One great term that was mentioned was F.L.O.S.S.  They suggested using this as [...]

The University of Dayton has banished trash cans from its dining services operation.Â
The trash can removal is part of a committment to reduce waste by 90%.  Read the press release here.  Â
What’s interesting is how Dayton has chosen to focus on waste diversion through composting.  While composting is a much better alternative to landfills, source [...]