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News & Notes BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS JULY 2018 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 6 Addressing the Problem of Food Waste BY GREG GONZALES In our busy lives, we easily forget exactly what we mean when we say "away." We throw away old leftovers, vegetable stems and scraps, and eggshells and coffee grounds without a second thought. This kind of thinking, or lack thereof, adds up: U.S. consumers throw away $165 billion worth of food, or 35 million tons, every year, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council and the U.S. Environmen- tal Protection Agency, respectively. All that food contributes to global warming in a multitude of ways, not just the gases emit- ted from rot. There's a light at the end of this rubbish tunnel, however: Kitchenware retailers can play a unique and important role in helping their customers reduce food waste, through the products they carry and the classes they offer in-store. "About 40 percent of our food goes to waste in the United States," said JoAnne Berkenkamp, Senior Advocate at the Healthy People & Thriving Communities Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It's a massive number, and it has enormous consequences in terms of house- hold food budgets, business profitability and our environment. When we waste food, we waste not only food itself, but also all of the water, pesticides and fertilizers that went into producing it; we waste all the energy that it took to transport it and keep it cold; and we waste all the labor that's associated with producing and cook- ing food. So food waste is actually a huge issue from socioeconomic and environ- mental perspectives." The problem looks even worse when we consider the numbers involved. Wasted food consumes 21 per- cent of all fresh water, 19 percent of all fer- tilizer, 18 percent of all cropland and 21 percent of landfill volume, according to ReFED, a nonprofit organization commit- ted to reducing U.S. food waste. Consumers, are among the biggest con- tributors to waste. "Where you look at where food is wasted in our system, over 40 percent of it occurs in consumers' homes," said Berkenkamp. "Consumers are New Study on Importance of National Brands to Retailer Success As the brick-and-mortar grocery industry faces increasing competition from all angles, an effective brand strategy can be the key to sustained success for retailers. Shoppers turn to different brands for different needs and seek a balance when it comes to retailers and brand offerings, according to Acosta – a leading full-service sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods industry – and the company's Why Brands Matter report. "Brands are the fuel that powers shoppers to make more trips, spend more per trip and stay loyal to products and channels," said John Clevenger, Managing Director and Senior Vice President, Strategic Advisors, at Acosta. "National brands continue to dominate, with a worth of over $558 billion in 2017, compared to $124 billion for private label brands, which are marketed by the retailer under their own brand and typically positioned as lower-cost alternatives to national brands. A study of more than 100 retailers revealed that the retailers growing both national and private label brands are experiencing the best overall growth, proving that a strategic mix is key." Carla Hall, The Cheese Lady Return to the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give Celebrity Chefs Carla Hall and The Cheese Lady will return to the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give once again for demonstrations at the newly- expanded Grand Taste Garden with tournament newcomer Katie Brown. All Grand Taste tickets grant access to both Grand Taste locations and also include general admission access to the golf tournament; no additional ticket is needed. The Grand Taste will be held June 15-17 during tournament week at Blythefield Country Club, and will feature more than 50 of West Michigan's best restaurants and breweries and Meijer. Tickets are limited and sold on a first come, first served basis and can be purchased online. The 2018 Meijer LPGA Classic will host a full field of 144 of the best women golfers for 72 holes of stroke play over four days of competition. Proceeds from the tournament – and each of the week's festivities – will once again benefit the Meijer Simply Give program that stocks the shelves of food pantries across the Midwest. The 2017 tournament raised $1 million for local food pantries through Simply Give. In total, the four tournaments have generated more than $3.1 million for the Meijer Simply Give program. Ralphs Celebrates Grand Re-Opening of its Sawtelle Supermarket in West Los Angeles Ralphs Grocery Company has re-opened its uniquely designed and totally remodeled supermarket in west Los Angeles' Sawtelle neighborhood. The newly remodeled 40,254- square-foot Ralphs supermarket features a completely upgraded look with new and expanded departments, services and a convenient layout that improves the customer shopping experience while helping to conserve energy and reduce waste. the number-one source of wasted food. After that, the largest source is restaurants, followed by grocery stores, so consumers have a very big role to play in being part of the solution." That means retailers can help by carrying products that assist consumers in practic- ing food-saving habits. "Many consumers are confused about how to properly store food, and when food is not stored correctly, that can reduce shelf life and cause the food to go to waste. So products like clear con- tainers for leftovers can help consumers know what's in their fridge and make sure they use it up," said Berkenkamp. "We also see things like people not label- ing food they put in the fridge or freezer. Without a label on that food, it's easy to forget what it is, it gets pushed further and fur- ther back in the freezer, and goes to waste. Even simple tools like labels for food that gets stored can help consumers do a better job in managing the food that they have." Jan Boydstun, Owner of Kitchen Kitchen, a store in Racho Mirage, Califor- nia, had some recommendations for food- saving products that sell well. For food storage, she recommended the Extra Life Produce Saver. The disc-shaped container gives produce as much as one extra week of freshness, she said, and has a spot where users can mark the date. She also said the Banana Bag and Berry Bag from RSVP In- ternational are perfect, as they keep ba- nanas and berries fresh for as much as 10 extra days. "It seems like the material of a ski parka," she said. "It's like a drawstring bag you put it in your refrigerator. And it's really weird because when you open it you see the skins are really brown, and you think, 'Ugh, it didn't work,' but when you peel them they're perfect inside." Boydstun, also known as The Gadget Gal for her national prod- uct demonstrations, is no stranger to the gadgets consumers need to make the most of each and every ingredient. She also recom- mended the Zyliss Easy Pull Food Chopper. "The reason why I love it is, you can throw anything in there, and it's a lawnmower-like pull, and when you pull it, all the flavors melt to- gether," she said. "Maybe you have a little onion left over, a little tomato left over, and instead of throwing them out you throw them in here and you have pico de gallo. Your avocado's about to go bad? Throw it in here with some lime juice and salsa, and you have guacamole. You can make food last longer." Boydstun and Kitchen Kitchen Executive Chef Gavin Grabe use a product called the Herbsicle, by Chef'n, to save herbs in the freezer for later. Herbs often go to waste be- cause consumers buy too much of it, and don't think ahead about storing it or using it later. Grabe adds a little olive oil to some basil or another herb, puts it in the freezer and has fresh basil when he needs it for a recipe. In his cooking classes at Kitchen Kitchen, Grabe also teaches about how to get the most out of leftovers, how to store them for later and even brings home scraps from the store to compost. He also uses ingredients grown in his own garden for the classes, setting an example for the store's customers. "I taught a class I titled 'Recycled.' The whole class was about re- cycling in your food and waste, and how you prepare," said Grabe. "We made a tomato soup first, and then all the scraps go into your compost bin. The leftovers of your soup get made into a chicken dish; the soup becomes your marinara, we'll call it, then the chicken bones are used to make a broth; when the broth is finished, the bones go into a compost bin. Once the meal is complete, you take the meat and you repurpose it as an em- panada. Then what you run into is how to recycle all the herbs you're using, and the eggs. All my eggs at the store end up at home; whenever I use eggs I put them back into the crate they came in, dry them for about a week and blend them in my Vitamix into a pulp. Sometimes my hus- band boils them up and makes them into a 'tea' we water the garden with; other times I put the crushed shells into my compost bin. Every stage of that is recy- cling." He also repurposes the bags all these ingredients come in. "I don't like to waste at all, so I try to reuse everything at every single level," he said. Continued on PAGE 8