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Study Reveals UK Throws Away $20 Billion in Food a Year

YumSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:30:44 -0800

With the biggest meal of the year a mere two weeks away, here's something to keep in mind: reducing food waste. The British government has just released a new report that reveals each year, the country throws away more than $20 billion in consumable food and drink.

According to the Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP), the UK's food waste is topping 6.6 million tons annually. By tossing less, consumers could prevent food from being directed to landfill sites - an act that would prevent 15 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions yearly. (Once it becomes landfill, food produces methane, another potent greenhouse gas.) WRAP aims to reduce waste by 250,000 tons by March 2011.

I can only imagine what the results of a food waste study would be in the United States. Hopefully, this is an initiative that our administration is looking into - although the first step is definitely consumer awareness. How mindful are you of not wasting food?

Kellogg's Testing Logo Corn Flakes in the UK

YumSugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:20:07 -0700

From Chanel suckers to LV-inspired cupcakes, fashion labels and food have been teaming up in unusual ways. But this trend may be headed in a direction that even the most brand-beset consumers couldn't have comprehended.

In an effort to quash imitators, cereal brand Kellogg's is developing laser technology in the UK to burn its logo onto individual Corn Flakes. "Now you'll always be able to tell your Corn Flakes from your corn fakes!" Kellogg's UK tweeted yesterday.
The company intends to use concentrated beams of light to print a toasted trademark logo without altering the cereal's taste, and is going to test batches before deciding whether or not to put branded flakes in all Corn Flakes boxes. If successful, the logos could be put on other brands, such as Special K and Bran Flakes.

Helen Lyons, lead food technologist for Kellogg, said, "We want shoppers to be under absolutely no illusion that Kellogg's does not make cereal for anyone else. We're constantly looking at new ways to reaffirm this, and giving our golden flakes of corn an official stamp of approval could be the answer."

Source: Twitpic User KelloggsUK

Must Read: Jamie's Food Revolution

YumSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:00:01 -0700

As someone who's followed Jamie Oliver throughout the years, I was intrigued when I heard about his plans to overhaul the eating habits of Americans on a new TV show. But apparently his latest project is even bigger than that: he's also come out with his ninth cookbook, Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals ($35). The premise of the title, which hits stores next week, is that cooking good food from scratch saves money and your health. Hoping to transform takeout-lovers into home cooks, this book is studded with real-life testimonials. But is it revolutionary? Find out when you read more.

Library Book Returned With Bacon as a Bookmark

YumSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:30:41 -0700

Over the past year, bacon has turned multifunctional as the trendiest ingredient around. We've seen it in vodka, as a flavoring for mayonnaise, and even as a savory take on dental floss. But bacon, as it turns out, is even more useful than one could've ever imagined. It also happens to makes for a very handy bookmark.

Dan Thompson, a librarian and collector from the UK's seaside town of Worthing, discovered a thin slice of bacon that was being used to bookmark a page in a returned book. Apparently, such an occurrence isn't as uncommon as it sounds; The Argus, which first reported the story, references a similar website that lists locales where other people have found rashers, or slices of bacon, in books.

I would jump on the bandwagon, if it weren't for the fact that I'm partial to my favorite bookmark, an asparagus spear. Have you ever heard of this phenomenon?

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Name That Dish!

YumSugar — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:15:50 -0700

Yesterday I asked you to guess whether a number of dishes were named after people. Legend has it that the English specialty shown below was named after someone famous. Can you guess what it is?

Name That Dish!

YumSugar — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:15:17 -0700

If you enjoy preparing snapper for dinner, you could also prepare it in the dish you see below. What's it called?

UK Government Opposes Buy-One-Get-One-Free Food Deals

YumSugar — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:30:42 -0700

The UK government, in an effort to reduce wasted food, is pressuring grocers to stop employing buy-one-get-one-free sales tactics. The nation's administration found that a third of all food in the UK is wasted, including roughly 5.1 million potatoes and 220,000 loaves of bread each year.

According to the Waste and Resource Action Program, or WRAP, the average Briton throws away more than his own weight - over $700 worth - in food annually. Eliminating the amount of food being tossed would decrease carbon emissions equivalent to removing a fifth of the country's cars on the road.WRAP suspects that since many of the buy-one-get-one-free promotions are applied to older items, consumers are tossing products that pass their "sell-by" dates, unaware that the commodities can still be consumed, as long as they haven't reached a different "use-by" date. As an alternative, supermarkets are being asked to offer half-price deals on perishable goods instead.

Since I've spent my whole life exposed to these deals, it never occurred to me that this sales pitch could be wasteful. But the policy, which appears to have plenty of market research behind it, makes sense. What do you think of the move? Should America consider doing the same as well?

Source: Flickr User Michael_Lehet

Covent Garden Cupcake Takes the Cake as World's Largest

YumSugar — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:00:15 -0700

The cupcake craze is hardly over. Yesterday, hundreds of cupcake consumers crowded London's Covent Garden to witness the cutting of what is now the world's largest cupcake. The oversized confection, which was baked and iced by acclaimed pastry chef Michelle Wibowo, was created to honor the city's Covent Garden Real Food Market, and weighed over 330 pounds. Other important statistics: The cupcake measured 1.25-x-1.2 meters (approximately 4-x-4 feet), and was designed to feed 2,000 people, requiring more than 50 hours of labor and 200 eggs.To make a pastry of such scale, Wibowo, over the course of five days, whipped up batches of smaller-sized sponge cakes, and layered them, eventually carving the masterpiece into a cupcake shape. "I dread to think how many calories it has," she remarked. I'm still attempting to wrap my head around the fact that a cupcake - which, by definition, is a miniature cake - can weigh in at over 300 pounds. Then again, I suppose, with all its layers, that the pièce de résistance is technically more cake than it is cupcake. Still, I'd love to get my hands on some of it. What do you think of the gargantuan creation?

Photo by flickr user BitchBuzz

A Colorful Midday Meal at Feast

YumSugar — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:50:18 -0700

On a recent trip to Texas, Reef wasn't the only provocative meal that I had. I also ate an unorthodox lunch at Feast, a restaurant that was opened by three British ex-pats, James Silk, Meagan Silk, and Richard Knight, in Houston last year. The eatery, which has earned accolades from the New York Times as well as a James Beard Best New Restaurant nomination, focuses on adventurous and gourmet nose-to-tail dining. See more of the restaurant - and the dishes that push America's dining envelope - when you keep reading.

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Paul McCartney and Friends Launch "Meat Free Mondays"

YumSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:06:21 -0700

For those of you who haven't become recession flexitarians just yet, Sir Paul McCartney and friends want you to start somewhere. That's why today the Beatle and other celebs launched the UK version of "Meat Free Mondays," a campaign that already exists in the US and Australia to convince consumers to forgo meat one day a week. To check out which celebrities were in attendance, read more.

At the UK party, McCartney - along with fellow conservationists Stella McCartney, Yoko Ono, Kate Bosworth, Moby, and Kelly Osborne - walked the green carpet in London's St. James's Park to draw attention to climate change issues. There, the singer emphasized that going meatless even once a week means fewer greenhouse gas emissions from the world's livestock population. "I thought this was a great idea," McCartney told reporters. "To just reduce your meat intake maybe by one day a week and this would seriously benefit the planet . . . You've had too much over the weekend anyway and you're all running down to the gym to try and work it off, so just have a meat-free Monday."

With increased concern over greenhouse gases and more of a focus on affordable and healthy options, meatless eating has become a popular concept, even taking flight in the progressive town of Ghent, Belgium. Although I've already had a couple of meaty bites today, I'd consider implementing this beginning next week.

What about you: do you think you could go meatless one day a week?

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