Reflections on a Changing World

Image credit: The Subversive Lens Facebook page. I just became aware of this writer.

Back in March, when the idea of what a pandemic meant hadn't yet sunk into my consciousness, I was afraid of what I didn't understand. It has been my nature to believe that things will work out well, to avoid disturbing news and at the same time to feel responsible for everything and fear anything I couldn't control. Needless to say, it was a difficult balancing act. 

When I began to grasp the pandemic's enormity, I fluctuated between feeling like self-isolating was really not much different than the way I had chosen to live and a total, all-encompasing fear. I had always lived simply and privately so self-isolating wasn't going to be hard. But it was. I was afraid of so many things that not knowing "the answer" on any subject about how to live through the pandemic was paralyzing. Now, more than three months into things, my anxiety has receded, replaced with a growing bit of resolve. I am grateful for my familiar way of life even with its new restrictions. 

This time of Mother Nature firmly kicking our global butts with a pandemic has caused the fragile systems that were holding us together as a country to fray alarmingly. Political systems, health systems, racial inequity, climate change, economic inequity, social support systems, educational systems and more, each in need of attention and overhaul. And the timetable of need so out of sync with the timetable of the possible. Yet, what else is there to do but to press on? Giving up is not an option although getting tired is guaranteed. 

I don't presume to have "answers." At the same time my North star remains a future that is fair, healthy and sustainable. Maybe I'm asking for too much, but maybe we - all of us - haven't expected enough of ourselves in the past. Maybe we've waited quietly for others to fix problems we saw. Or looked away when seeing was inconvenient or disturbing. For sure everyone can't do everything, but each of us can learn more about existing problems and engage more to better the situation. Some changes may come in bursts, others may be incremental. All contribute to moving along the path to that North star. Yes, it's going to be exhausting.

The Plight of the Honeybee

Photo credit: ThePollinators.net

"The Pollinators" is a documentary covering how honeybees are transported across the country as migrant workers. They are a crucial part of our food system, responsible for pollinating the majority of what we eat. They are dying off in huge numbers. They need our help, They are our responsibility.

This new movie will be shown in theaters across the country in November. Learn about the project here and get tickets here.  If you like to eat, don't miss it.

The Opportunity in Garbage

Food in a dumpster. Photo credit: Wikipedia's Food Waste page.

By reframing a situation, you can see it in a new light. You take the situation’s facts and place them in a different frame in which they fit equally well, thus changing the entire meaning. It works, and dear reader, there is an opportunity to do that with garbage.

The common statistic about food waste (going to either compost or landfill) in the United States is that it’s an appallingly huge amount. We waste nearly half of what is grown to eat; a full 40% according to the National Resources Defense Council. Yet we have neighbors who are food insecure. Rather than eating healthily, they fill their diets with what they can, too frequently “fast food” or highly processed food because its available and affordable. This is a mismatch that mindful restaurateurs know exists and try to address.

A group of such Denver restaurateurs and folks who ran a demonstration project to reduce food waste talked about this at the Slow FoodNations event in July. They shared how they were reframing their situations to flip the facts of waste and food insecurity for the better. Of course, they didn’t expect to change everything, everywhere. But they are doing what they can, viewing the process as permanent incremental change. This constant focus on improvement brought to mind the quotes of anthropologist Margaret Mead (“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”) and author Edward Everett Hale (“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”).

One chef talked about how he looked at what he’d been trained to do in culinary school and in kitchens where he learned his craft. He was told much perfectly good produce was as something that should be trashed as “too bitter” or “not useful.” For example, parts of lettuce, onions, carrots and more. Once in his own restaurant and he started paying for them, he thought it crazy that “$75 worth of lettuce made about $5 worth of salads” so he found ways to use many of those “scraps” in creative ways to make dishes for diners. And there was the discussion of rather than looking at any remaining scraps as garbage to be sent to the landfill with other trash, as useful when diverted from the trash and repurposed into compost to circle back into more food production. And one of the big changes in those restaurant kitchens was recycling. Although not food, it was still a crucial part of the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality of throwing things in the trash. In fact, during the demonstration project, there was a dramatic increase in the diverting recyclable items from the trash to reuse.

At the beginning of the demonstration project, participating restaurants recycled between 15-20% of their trash by weight. By the middle of the month-long project, it had increased to 70%. And after the project, the demonstration project team – brave souls – hand-sorted the remainder of the trash and pulled out even more, increasing the recycled amount to 85-90% of the total trash generated. By reframing an item of “trash” to be a useful, valuable item that just goes in a different bin, they made a significant change.   

Visual aids were used to show that in a well-functioning kitchen, true “landfill items” or truly unsalvageable stuff should be minimal. Just the gloves workers were required to wear prepping food, the blue tape that is used to label containers of food with contents and dates, the stickers from fruits and vegetables and the occasional container that cannot be recycled or reused. Other than that, everything a well-run restaurant uses can be recycled or composted. Since food is ordered based on demand and cooked to order so there should be minimal actual waste. Home cooks out there, what can you do to reduce your waste? And by the way, lest you think restaurants are where the most reframing can be done, presenters pointed out that home kitchens waste more than restaurants even though when asked, home cooks are confident they waste less than others.

Reducing food waste is primarily a function of being conscious of the impact of waste itself and the ripple effect of food insecurity. There are multiple right answers to the question of how to do this. Some tips and thoughts that were shared for restaurants and those involved in the waste/compost business:

·      Break down barriers to composting by working with properly sized (liftable) bins that can be handled safely.

·      Create space for compost or recycling bins by removing newly unnecessary trash bins.

·      Get over the “that’s unusable” mentality; get creative to use more of an item.

·      Stop gravitating toward doing “what’s convenient” to doing “what is the thoughtful and challenging” way to handle the situation sustainably.

·      Rethink what is rotting in a dumpster – no one should be food insecure in this country.

·      They were adamant that people not let anyone say donating restaurant food is illegal. There is a federal law enabling it. See the BillEmerson Good Samaritan Food Act of 1996. 

·      Use “ugly” food. To be nutritious and usable, bell peppers don’t need four lobes as the USDA requires to be top grade. Using “imperfect” but perfectly nutritious lower grades reduces trash.

How can home cooks work toward zero food waste?

·      Plan meals and shop weekly.

·      Buy just enough fresh food, cook it and eat it.

·      Freeze any leftovers and then eat them.

·      Support efforts to use “ugly” produce at home and elsewhere. 

Yes, it takes time to live this way. But that goes to the advice to move away from creating the waste that convenience leaves behind in the first place. To be more deliberate. More mindful. To change the way you live, right now. Help shape a sustainable future where everyone has enough to eat. It doesn’t really seem unreasonable, does it?