News

UC Davis researchers are providing more insight into how grape skins and seeds, which usually go to waste during the making of chardonnay wine, may be a valuable and healthful ingredient in new food products. 

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.

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

Two Winners Were Selected in Global Contest to Design Solutions for 50,000 Tons of Pomegranate Husks to Reduce Food Waste and Create a More Sustainable Supply Chain

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. 

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.

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

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?

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.” 

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.

California’s small-scale fruit and vegetable processors and handlers will be getting new food safety online education and in-person workshops thanks to a grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded to UC Davis community food safety specialist Erin DiCaprio and fellow collaborators.

It’s not always easy to find silver linings during the COVID-19 pandemic, but here’s one that food scientists at the University of California, Davis, have discovered: More people are exploring the ancient art of fermented foods.

“My mom made her first batch of sauerkraut this summer,” said Maria Marco, a microbiologist and food science professor with the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “With so many of us sheltering-in-place, fermented foods are more popular than ever.”

In California, fermented foods and beverages are especially trending with young people, and food safety specialist Erin DiCaprio said information is in demand.

“I get calls every day from people asking things like, ‘There’s a white film on top of my sauerkraut. Is it still safe to eat?’” DiCaprio said.

DiCaprio is working with the UC Master Food Preserver Program to teach classes on fermentation and to provide information on how to safely ferment foods at home.

Farmers spend a lot of time and money controlling weeds and other pests, and often have to turn to chemical fumigants to keep the most destructive pests at bay. Farmers also wrestle with what to do with low-value byproducts of crop production, such as skin, seeds and hulls from fruit, vegetable and nut processing.

What if those agricultural waste streams could generate alternatives to chemical fumigants and make farming more productive, profitable and environmentally friendly?