food waste

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. 

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. 

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.