News

Farms to Fungi to Food: Growing the Next Generation of Alternative Protein

A solution to world hunger might start with boba and caviar.

Using an innovative process, engineers at UC Davis are growing “myco-foods” — small balls of edible fungi that can be processed into products like boba and lab-grown caviar with a wide range of textures, colors and flavors. These myco-foods, grown from the nutrients of agricultural byproducts like coffee grounds and almond hulls, provide an important new source of protein to feed the world.

 

Ned Spang featured in AP story on SB1383, CA Composting Law

FST Associate Professor Ned Spang is featured in the story (and embedded video) "California pushes composting to lower food waste emissions", by Kathleen Ronayne/AP News on December 9, 2021, speaking about the impact of California's SB1383, the bill passed in 2016 that becomes effective in January 2022.  The bill is designed to reduce methane emission from food waste that ends up in landfills, with the goal - by 2025 - of compost

Ned Spang Featured in Podcast on Food Waste

Nov. 15, 2021: FST Associate Professor Ned Spang was featured in the first Red To Green podcast of Season 4, which focuses on Food Waste. 

UC Davis Professor Joins National Research Project to Reduce Food Waste Across the U.S.

Food that ends up in the landfill is a waste of money and creates an abundance of greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found almost 41 million tons of food waste was generated in the country in 2017. 

Edward “Ned” Spang, a UC Davis associate professor of food science and technology, is joining researchers from American University and 13 other institutions for a $15 million, 5-year project funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to gather data and create solutions to reduce food waste across the country.

"Upcycled food: A sustainable second chance for food loss and waste" by Edward Spang in The Hill

Have you ever eaten a banana-peel sandwich?  FST Assistant Professor Ned Spang has, and he uses what he describes as a "pleasantly surprising...palate-expanding experience" in an invited opinion piece in The Hill, April 22, 2021, "Upcycled food: A sustainable second chance for food loss and waste", in which he details how upcycling food can tackle the problems of food waste, the supply chain and, ultimately, the environment - all while keeping

Finding New Life for Wine-Grape Residue

California produces nearly 4 million tons of world-class wine each year, but with that comes thousands of tons of residue like grape skins, seeds, stems and pulp. What if scientists could harness that viticultural waste to help promote human health?

7 Day Food Waste Reduction Challenge

The mission of the multi-university NSF INFEWS-ER (Innovation at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems - Educational Resources) is to teach students systematic processes for analyzing problems and approaching collaboration with the transdisciplinary skills necessary to tackle global grand challenges. This year's student cohort focused on Food Loss and Waste and has designed a 7-day social media campaign centered on raising awareness around food waste prevention and reduction. Namely, the “7 Day Food Waste Reduction Challenge.” 

Why is One-Third of Our Food Wasted Worldwide?

How Stopping Food Waste Can Help Feed a Growing Population

Steam rises from the top of towering piles of compost at a landfill in western Placer County, California. The jaws of an excavator rake up and churn the heaps, unleashing a stench of decomposing food.  

Some of the food in these piles has only recently arrived from nearby restaurants, supermarkets and food processors. Sweet potatoes, oranges, butternut squash and red onions look as if they were edible when they were tossed into the garbage.