The Mis-Conceptions of Food Waste, and Value

Food Waste

I did a tabling event at a children’s museum this past weekend for We Don’t Waste. Tabling, also called The Speakers Bureau, involves interacting and engaging with the visitors, giving them information about We Don’t Waste, and educating them on our mission and why it’s important.

My pitch goes something like this:

“We rescue food that would have otherwise ended up in landfills from places like grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, and sports stadiums, and distribute it to the community through mobile food markets, and partnerships with organizations like shelters, food pantries, and farms. Last year we rescued over 24 million servings of food which helped feed over 700,000 people.”

Most people nod and get the gist. A small percentage of people have heard of We Don’t Waste and are familiar with the problem food waste in this country poses (over 40% of food in the U.S. ends up in landfills where it rots and produces methane gas). But one lady asked me, “So, do you like dig in the garbage for food to find what’s still good?” A valid question because, well, “food waste.” What does that make you think of? It made me wonder how many other people might have that same question but were just too afraid to ask it. It is the reason I hate the term food waste.

The answer to her question is no. The food we distribute is in perfectly good condition, and comes directly off the shelves of bakeries, or straight from the freezers at grocery stores. A better term might be “excess food that stores know they are not going to sell and are going to throw away but is actually still of high quality and definitely edible.” But it would be hard to start a global campaign around that. So we use “food waste.”

Here are some pictures of the food we are saving and re-distributing. These are pictures from a mobile food market this past week.

Cream Cheese, Pistachios

Frozen Ground Beef

Assortment of Bread and Misc

So there’s two big disconnects that we are fighting against in this movement. 

The first is our perception of food waste. When we think of that phrase we automatically picture food in the garbage, or an unfinished plate, or maybe something rotten and inedible. And that’s understandable. But as the pictures above show, “food waste” is anything but. 

A couple of years ago I worked part time (very part time) on a farm in Los Angeles. One day we were harvesting carrots. We had two bins. Carrots destined for the market went into one bin. Carrots destined for the compost went into another bin. The difference? Appearance. The compost carrots were ugly and the farmer I worked for knew for that reason they wouldn’t sell. Just another example of how our programming of what food should look like has turned food, into waste. Think about that the next time you’re at the grocery store or the farmers market, and you put an apple down because it has a bruise, or choose a different potato without a spore, or pass over the soft avocado. We’re conditioned to pick perfect produce.   

The second disconnect is what is actually causing the degradation of our environment and our health. One of the guys I volunteer with has been vegan for 20 years. When he told me that I replied, “Twenty years, that must be hard.”

“Not when you’re doing it for the right reasons,” he replied. “Like animal welfare and the impact on the environment.”

Is farming ruining the planet, or is the way we farm ruining the planet? If we can produce so much food in this country that over 40 percent of it goes to waste, then perhaps there’s something wrong in the methodology. If 40 percent of food goes to waste, then 40 percent of the resources used to grow that food are going to waste (energy, water, and money). If the food industry can waste 40 percent of food and still turn a profit, then it should call into question the “methods” and “techniques” (if you can call them that) that they are using. Massive fields of monoculture agriculture doused in pesticides might produce a large yield, but it’s decimating the soil and the land, and our health. 

I just finished reading Silo, written by chef Douglas McMaster who owns a restaurant of the same name. They are the world’s first zero waste restaurant. The book is a “how to” for anyone looking to reduce the waste they create. At the end of the book he sums it up pretty perfectly. 

“Zero waste is nature. To achieve zero waste is to integrate with nature. It has everything we desire and there needs to be no compromise.”

Zero waste is nature. We’re disconnected from nature. The biggest disconnect that encompasses all of the others. 

Nothing of Value

Spam email is a great example of what happens when something costs nothing. Companies can send out their “newsletter” to thousands of people for next to nothing. And even if they get 1% of people to click, it’s worth it to them. So they flood our emails with their latest nonsense. Just one more way we are all so distracted.

I ordered hydrogen tabs recently after learning about them on a Joe Rogan podcast. $30 for a 30 day supply seemed like a good bet to test them out. Today I recieved a newsletter from the company. 

I can’t even tell you what it said because I unsubscribed and deleted it immediately. I was just looking for a hydrogen tab to test the reported health benefits. I didn’t ask for a newsletter from a company that manufactures hydrogen tabs. 

But everyone thinks they have something intelligent to say (ahem)…

And now with AI not only does the email cost nothing, but you don’t even have to produce the content. 

Me: “Compose a newsletter that tells people why hydrogen tabs are beneficial to their health.”

ChatGPT: “Sure! Here's a draft for a newsletter that promotes the health benefits of hydrogen tablets in a friendly, informative tone:

Subject Line: Unlock the Power of Hydrogen – A Simple Tab for Better Health

Header: Say Hello to Better Health with Hydrogen Tabs

Body:
Did you know the smallest molecule in the universe could be your biggest health upgrade?

Hydrogen tablets—tiny but mighty—are changing the way we support wellness from the inside out. When dropped into water, these tabs release molecular hydrogen (H₂), a powerful antioxidant that helps your body fight oxidative stress, reduce inflammation, and boost cellular health.

Here’s what hydrogen tabs can do for you:

• Combat oxidative stress – Molecular hydrogen targets harmful free radicals, which may reduce signs of aging and improve recovery after exercise.

• Support energy and mental clarity – Users often report improved focus and stamina with regular use.

• Promote gut health and hydration – Hydrogen-rich water is gentle on the digestive system and may support gut balance.

• Anti-inflammatory effects – Preliminary studies show benefits in reducing chronic inflammation and supporting immune function.

No pills, no powders, just a clean tablet that transforms your water—and your wellness routine.

Ready to feel the difference?
Drop one tab in water. Drink daily. Discover the benefits.

[Shop Hydrogen Tabs Now]

Stay healthy,
The [Your Brand Name] Team”

Technology has done some amazing things, but creating cheap products and services of no value to infiltrate our lives, and distract us, has not been one of them. And in a lot of ways it is the same issue we face with food waste.

Eating Pre-Industrial

I recently heard a term that at the same time describes what’s wrong with the way we eat and how we should be eating.

The term is “pre-industrial.”

I picked it up while reading Silo, a book written by the chef of a restaurant by the same name. It is (was?) the world’s first zero waste restaurant. Chef Douglas McMaster uses the term pre-industrial to describe the “diet” (aka “cuisine”) at Silo, which is a blend of vegan and paleo principles.

I think it’s a perfect way to describe the type of food we should be putting on our plates and in our mouths. Typically when when I describe my diet I use phrases like whole foods, real foods, without added sugar, or nothing processed. But really what I’m trying to say is that I eat the way humans used to eat, the way my ancestors ate, before food became industrialized and viewed as a commodity. So pre-industrial is perfectly fitting.

Another reason I like it is because it doesn’t describe a diet with set rules to follow, and therefore eliminates the follow up questions about what’s allowed or not. Vegan. Paleo. Vegetarian. Whole 30. Keto. Atkins. Pescatarian. What are the rules? What can I eat and what can’t I eat? Red meat? Grains? Dairy? Pre-industrial encompasses everything the earth can produce in its un-adultered form.

Lastly, I like it because it eliminates the need to say “whole foods,” which has been co-opted by the grocery store of the same name, who sells more ultra-processed foods than they do real foods… But I digress.

I had family visiting this week. My sister-in-law was telling us how she loves to cook, and how they no longer keep processed food in the house. Her 16 yr old son came to her one day and said,

“You don’t have anything that’s just ready to eat. Everything has to be cooked.”

I thought it was so telling. In this post-industrial world we’ve become accustomed to having food ready on demand, requiring you only to open your mouth and shovel it in. Which I believe has as much to do with our declining health as the toxic ingredients in the food.

Because I’m of the opinion that cooking is part of healthy digestion, which is a vital to good health. That cooking is the ultimate “aperitif,” if you will, that primes the body and gets it ready to process the food you’re about to consume. That digestion begins the moment you begin preparing your food, and skipping it can cause all sorts of things to go wrong in the body.

Compare these scenarios.

Scenario one, you want to cook your favorite recipe. So, you go to the store and buy all of the ingredients. You bring them home, and unpack the groceries. You turn on the oven, heat a pan, and fire up the grill. You start chopping vegetables, and season your meat. You put some vegetables in the pan to sauté, while the others get placed in the oven to roast. The smell of veggies starts to fill the house. You step outside and throw a cut of meat on the BBQ, and it begins to sear.

While the veggies and meat are cooking you start to whip up a salad. You pick fresh greens, a tomato, and basil all from your garden, chop it all up and place it in a bowl before running outside to flip the meat and catch a whiff off the grill. You step back inside and give the veggies a toss, and check the oven. The salad gets dressed with olive oil, vinegar, and a couple of pinches of salt. 

With that the timer for the veggies goes off, so you pull them off the stove and out of the oven. Then you run outside and pull off the meat. While the meat is resting you set the table, and everyone gathers around to eat.

Or;

You open UberEats and order a burrito bowl from the sofa. While you wait you watch TV. Twenty - thirty minutes later you get a notification that your food is on the doorstep. You get off the couch, grab your food, remove it from the bag, take off the lid, and begin to eat.

I can’t help but think that there is something fundamentally wrong and unhealthy with the second scenario and something magical about the first. There’s a trigger that’s missed in the second scenario that is being activated in the first. A trigger that is prepping you for food. There is a connection formed by every cut, smell, taste while you’re cooking. The activation of your senses warm your stomach up, and prepare you.

Aside from just toxic ingredients you can’t pronounce or spell, foods made in factories at scale, in this post-industrial world, rob you of the opportunity to connect with your meal and get ready for nourishment. It’s a double dose of unnatural behavior that’s killing all of us.

By contrast getting back to a pre-industrial way of eating eliminates that deadly dose and promises good health as a result.

The Reality

There’s basically four jobs you can do when you volunteer with We Don’t Waste (not including setting up and breaking down the market, which everyone works together on).

You can work the check in table. That is verifying that the participants have a reservation, and checking them in to the system so we can keep track of how many families we’ve served (an average market serves 400 families, 2,000 - 3,000 people). 

You can work the food tables where customers shop, making sure that the tables are stocked, and that customers take the right amount of each item (every item has a limit to ensure that all participants have the opportunity to shop the item).

You can work the market entrance and assign families that need a shopping cart to a volunteer working a cart. Lastly, you can volunteer to work a shopping cart, which involves following a person or family through the market, helping load their items into the cart, pulling the cart for them, and then following them to their car or house (when its close) and unloading the items for them.

Carts is the job I most prefer.

I prefer it for two reasons. One, it is the most active and physically demanding of all the jobs. It requires 2.5 hours of constant moving, walking, and occasional lifting.

Second, I love it because it gives me the opportunity to interact with the people who come to our markets, and it allows me to get to know a little bit about them.

The demographics of the people who come to our markets is diverse. Young and old. Singles and families. Citizens and immigrants. Housed and unhoused. And everything in between. The question I ask most people is “where are you from.”

A young man with his baby girl from Afghanistan, in America attending college.

A very young girl rom Spain, shopping for her whole family who presumably couldn’t make it to the market because they had to work.

A mother and grandmother from Ethiopia.

A young girl born in Colorado, but whose parents immigrated from Kenya.

A young man no older than me with a baby girl who told me he walked from Venezuela with his wife (his daughter he priorly exclaimed was born in Colorado). It took them 2 months, and they had to cross the dreaded Darién Gap.

An elderly overweight woman from Colorado with health complications.

A family from Panama.

A 37 year old man from Vietnam, who’s lived in America for 10 years.

A lady from El Salvador who’s been in America for 30 years, in Colorado for 20 of them.

A young unhoused couple and their dog, from Colorado, living out of their car.

A Native American Man and his wife.

Two friends, a male and female, the woman carrying her beautiful 7 month old baby girl, who came to America from Egypt 2 years ago.

An elderly woman from Colorado shopping for herself, her 18 yr old grandson, his 17 year old girlfriend, and their infant. All of whom live with her.

A handful of families from various parts of Mexico.

A young American woman with 5 kids, 3 of whom are special needs.

These are the people we serve. These are the people whose lives we make a little bit easier by providing them with free food and baby supplies (WeeCycle partners at all We Don’t Waste Markets to provide free diapers, formula, and occasional extras such as winter coats, blankets, toys, and books for children). These are the people who we make feel a little bit more welcomed, by being kind and offering our help to them.

And in turn they are kind, generous, and grateful whenever they are at our markets.

These are the people I get to know just a little bit whenever I work a shift. And these are the people that remind me that no matter where you come from in the world, or what your hardship is, that all you want is to be fed, cared for, and welcomed into society.

And these are the people that remind me that every effort by the news, politicians, and lobbying groups, to make us think otherwise, is absolute horse shit.

Why CVS and Senators Lie

I saw a CVS Health commercial today. It was a promotion patting themselves on the back for eliminating tobacco products from their stores 10 years ago. Bravo.

The problem though, is that’s not the only addictive carcinogen they sell. Alcohol and ultra processed foods that are laced with chemicals and added sugar, line their shelves and are just as deadly and addictive as cigarettes. This self-congratulating as a show of their “commitment to health” is so nefarious.

It reminds me of this clip where Senator Chris Murphy is standing in front of the closed USAID building with a group of people in protest. He says:

“The people get to decide how we defend the United States of America. The people get to decide how their tax payer money gets spent. Elon Musk does not get to decide”

Do we though? I don’t recall deciding, or agreeing for that matter, to send my tax dollars to fund a war and a genocide. There are many other places I and my fellow Americans would rather spend their money.

But that’s what these companies and politicians do. They tell you what you want to hear while omitting the truth. They play to our emotions. CVS is making us feel like, “Wow, the was a bold move. They must be really committed to health.” While ignoring all of the other harmful products they sell in their stores.

Murray is getting us angry at “Elon Musk who isn’t elected and doesn’t get to decide where our tax dollars go!” Leaving out the part that he and his colleagues decide, not us or Elon Musk, and their decisions are increasingly less aligned with the will of the people.

I just finished reading The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell. Here’s an excerpt that stuck out on the topic.

“Teenage smoking is one of the great, baffling phenomena of modern life… To address that problem, then, we’ve restricted and policed cigarette advertising, so its a lot harder for tobacco companies to lie. We’ve raised the price of cigarettes and enforced the law against selling tobacco to minors, to try to make it much harder for teens to buy cigarettes. And we’ve run extensive public health campaigns on television and radio and in magazines to try and educate teens about the dangers of smoking.”

If we can do it for cigarettes. If we could demonize them, restrict them, and tax them, then why can’t we do it for alcohol and ultra processed poisonous foods that we know are killing us? Why can’t we make it just as difficult to drink or eat your way into an early death as we did for smoking?

If Chris Murphy and his colleagues can stand outside of the USAID building in protest, surely they can stand outside of Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Wendy’s, Starbucks, Kelloggs, Kraft, Pepsi, and voice their concern over the increasing amounts of processed foods in American’s diets, the deleterious impact they hav on our health, and demand change!

He might say something like, “Big Food, Big Ag, and Big Beverage don’t get to decide what food we grow, how we grow it, and what ends up on our shelves, the people get to decide!”

But of course he would never do that.

Murray is no more interested in doing something so “controversial” as restricting alcohol or processed foods as he is telling us the truth about where our taxes go and who decides. It could mean career suicide. It would mean having integrity, doing what’s right, telling the truth, and helping the people you were elected to serve, even when it might cost you.

CVS doesn’t want you to know that there are other things in their stores that are just as dangerous as cigarettes. They just want you to think they care, and to think about them when you think about your health. They’re just looking for another way to convince you to walk through their doors, instead of Walgreens. Even though they all sell the same poison.

The only thing they are really interested in is filling your prescription(s) and having you buy something addictive to keep you coming back for more. Nobody is looking out for your health. It’s on you to do it for yourself.

Which Egg Do You Want To Eat?

Left: Store brand “free range” and Right: Vital Farms organic pasture raised

The eggs I typically buy are Vital Farms brand, organic and pasture raised. If the store has regeneratively raised then I’ll go for those, but right now most stores don’t carry them. My sense is that for that extra $1 - $2 per carton, people aren’t buying them. There is more education to do on the benefits of regenerative farming.

But with the egg shortage recently due to the bird flu, Vital Farms eggs have not been on the shelves. In some grocery stores, they haven’t had eggs at all. So when I saw eggs on a recent food shopping trip, I decided to grab a dozen.

The best and most expensive eggs available were store brand “free range” eggs for $4.99 per dozen. Vital Farms organic pasture raised by comparison can be $10, regenerative eggs are even more.

So I didn’t have any grand expectations for the eggs I bought. I know how most chickens are raised in this country. I know that cage free, free range, non-GMO, no antibiotics, is really all horse shit when compared to a chicken that is actually raised on pasture. But I was shocked when I cracked these two eggs next to each other.

I was preparing to make chicken cutlets and I had one Vital Farm egg left, so I used it along with the new dozen I bought. The difference in color almost made me throw the egg away. I couldn’t believe how dead the egg on the left looked in comparison to the egg on the right.

The egg on the right looks like it’s full of life and nutrients. Thick and creamy. While the egg on the left looks like it came from a chicken who struggled to survive.

Most food we eat doesn’t have such a contrast when put side by side. Meats, vegetables, and fruits, have a better appearance when raised regeneratively or organically, when compared to conventionally raised. They have a better taste too. But out of the box (out of the shell), I don’t think the juxtaposition is nearly as drastic this.

When I see the difference in these yolks it is no wonder to me that bird flu spreads so quickly and easily through the factory chicken farms that house hundreds of thousands of birds all crammed on top of each other, living in their own filth and excrements. These birds are clearly very unhealthy and their immune systems are therefore incapable of fighting off a virus. The same way that many people with co-morbidities were unable to fight off COVID in this country.

And it’s not wonder. If most people are eating eggs that look like the one on the left, or worse, then how could we expect to be healthy. If what were putting into our bodies is dead, then how could we expect to live.

The first key to turning around our health is putting healthy food in front of us. And that happens when we force the food system to change, and start growing food that serves us and not the corporations that own the system.

The path to health is littered with temptation

In this world, if you want to be healthy, then you need to follow a game plan. You need to have some rules. You need to have parameters set up that you’re going to stay within.

You need to have some tricks to help you stay on the path. You need all of those things to help you build healthy habits. And once you’ve developed healthy habits, it will make sticking to your plan, maintaining your goal, easier.

But it will still require work. Because we live in an unhealthy environment. We do not live in an environment that promotes health. We live in one that advances the opposite.

So it’s on you to be proactive and vigilant. The temptations are all around us. The temptations are intentionally the most affordable, and the most accessible. So, if you’re not being vigilant, it’s very easy to get sucked into the system and slip up.

The food system is set up in such a way to keep us just alive enough to keep us coming back for more. But the food system in no way supports making us thrive.

The food is grown in a toxic and lifeless environment. It’s then mixed with toxic chemicals. Addictive substances are added. And sold everywhere.

Achieving health in today’s society requires hyper vigilance and hyper focus. It’s the only way.

Look to Food

Think about the current state of eating in America. It used to be that most meals were made at home, or made down the street by someone you knew. Then came the invention of the microwave dinner, the first major processed food. Suddenly, you didn’t have to cook. You could go out and buy pre-made meals and store them in the freezer.

Then fast food and drive-thrus entered the scene. Now you could sit in your car to order food, and sit in your car to eat. Alone. Around the same time came the explosion of ultra-processed foods (“manufactured calories”). “Food,”manufactured calories, became cheap and abundant everywhere. You could eat anywhere, anytime.

And now present day someone delivers your food straight to your door. Without having to talk to anyone or see anyone. 

We keep looking for complex answers to the complex questions: Why are we so divided and why are we so unhealthy? But the answer is simple, and it’s the same for both questions.

Food.

When we broke bread as a family, we were killing two birds with one stone. We were coming together, and we were nourishing our bodies. Now, most of us accomplish neither each day. Most of us are happy to tap a few buttons and have food magically appear before our eyes, and think nothing of it. We’ve made eating into a habit instead of the spiritual practice it used to be.

But food is so much more than a habit or just a means to get calories. It’s so much more important. Food is nature, and when grow our own food, when we cook our own meals, it’s an opportunity to connect with nature and the bounty it provides. Our body gets more than calories and nutrients. It’s nourished by the earth, grounded by the process.

When we gather around the kitchen to cook we connect with our family and our community. When we cook for someone else, when we feed someone else, we’re connecting on the human need to be nourished. To take care of someone else. Whatever our differences might be, they melt in the presence of a meal together. They melt in the offering of a home cooked meal.

When I see food delivery drivers drop a bag of food off and run back to their car before anyone comes to the door, I cringe. It gives me anxiety. Because there is no better evidence of just how disconnected we are.

We don’t see where the ingredients for our food comes from. We don’t see how it’s being prepared. We don’t smell the amazing aromas that fill a kitchen. We don’t know who’s cooking for us. We don’t hear the sizzling or clanging of pans. We don’t know who’s preparing the dish. And we don’t even see who’s serving us anymore. We are 100% removed from the process, and just left with one job.

To eat.

But that’s not the purpose of food, and it never was.

Expectations vs. Reality of Food Prices

As Americans we expect everything to be cheap. Including our food. But very few people understand how it actually works.

Over the last few weeks I’ve heard from so many people complaining about the rising cost of eggs, which is being driven by a fresh outbreak of avian bird flu. Avian bird flu largely impacts factory farmed chickens where it’s common for hundreds of thousands of egg laying hens to occupy the same living quarters. Very often with little to no room to move. These birds live, eat, breathe, sleep, and defecate all in one place.

Hundreds of thousands of birds living on top of each other. So when there is a flu outbreak, it’s typical for a whole flock, a whole warehouse of birds that is, to be culled at once. It doesn’t matter how many birds are actually infected or not. It only takes one positive test from one bird for all of the birds to meet their maker. It’s just assumed that given the close proximity of the birds that if one is infected they all are or will be soon. And in that case it’s much “easier” to just kill them all.

Every time there’s an outbreak of avian flu millions of egg laying hens are culled. The supply of eggs goes down. Consumer demand remains the same. So prices go up. Simple economics. One interesting but little discussed aspect of this system that I’ll leave for a different post, is that the farmers who cull large numbers of birds, are forced to do so by the federal government, who then reimburses them for the loss. Funded by tax payer money. Perhaps we could save some money and birds by raising them correctly. But I digress.

But part of the question is, how much should eggs really cost anyway? That is, if egg laying hens were raised in humane conditions and allowed to roam on open pasture feeding on grass and bugs, pecking and scratching, things they enjoy, instead of being crammed wing to wing in a factory and fed conventionally grown grains that are full of pesticides. What would a dozen eggs cost?

I’m not sure what the math on eggs is, but looking online it appears that organic pasture raised eggs are 3 - 4x more than factory farmed eggs. Which is about the same as chicken meat. Chicken purchased in the grocery store can be $2 - $3 per lb, while chicken I buy from my local farm is upwards of $10 per lb. It’s a significant difference. But the way I look at it is the price I’m paying today is an investment in my health and my community. But what would the down stream savings be if all the animals we ate were raised correctly.

How much would our health improve from eating quality nutrient filled meat that’s devoid of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics, and instead is raised in sunshine, fresh air, and free to express their natural instincts, on a diet of grass and bugs? How much would we save in healthcare costs as a nation? How much more would a healthier workforce generate? Innovate?

If factory farms ceased to exist, and the number of family farms increased, how many jobs would return to rural America? What would the return of fulfilling work and community do to the health and economy of these neighborhoods? What would be the impact of giving the majority of the profits to local farms, farmers, and workers, instead of corporate owned factory farms?

What would be the impact on our environment by eliminating factory farms and instead allowing animals to roam freely out on pasture, rehabbing the land as they graze? Re-wilding the soil. How would this positive environmental impact help to reduce the ferocity and frequency of natural disasters? What would be the reduction in costs to rebuild? How many billions would be saved that could be used proactively instead reactively?

What would be the impact on the water if there was no pesticide runoff, no dirt erosion, no manure piles seeping into the ground?

We’ve been led to believe that food should cost an artificially low amount. But it’s never explained that we end up paying for it in the end. It’s never explained what the cost of cheap food is to our health, our communities, and our environment. Wasted water, polluted water, land degradation, deforestation, a collapsing middle class, degradation of our health, are all topics that are given little air time. 

The next time you find yourself questioning the cost of food, ask yourself why it costs that much or that little, and ask yourself what it should cost and why. Ask yourself if you know where that food came from. How it was grown or raised. And if it’s an option for you, find a local farmer who can tell you, and buy your food from them. 

We don’t pay enough for food. Instead we’re paying for it with deteriorating health and destruction of our environment. It’s no coincidence that both are failing at once.

The Psychology of Politics

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The importance of federal nutrition programs and the people who benefit

It was a weird feeling to be volunteering at a food drive on the same day that President Trump paused funding with the potential to impact key food programs in the country. Someone I was volunteering asked, “what do you make of it?” 

“They just don’t fucking get it,” I said. 

The administration claims that it won’t impact federal nutrition programs, but federal nutrition programs have long been in the crosshairs of republicans as a way to reduce government spending. 

The organization I volunteer with recovers food that would’ve otherwise ended up in a landfill. Perfectly good food like organic blueberries, oranges, apples, frozen tilapia, walnuts, canned salmon and tuna, the list goes on. All this food gets redistributed to people in need. If it were not for We Don’t Waste and other organizations like it, all of these items would end up in the trash, and millions more people would end up hungry. 

At least 50 percent of food in this country ends up in landfills. At least 60 million people are food insecure (a number that I personally believe to be extremely under reported).

The people who attend our food drives are a diverse group. Young and old. Americans and immigrants. Able bodied and not. Every ethnicity under the sun. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grandparents. People wait for hours to receive food. Mothers wait in the heat or the cold holding their children. Grandparents wait to get food for their families while their children work. 

This diverse demographic isn’t unique to this organization. It’s been the same across all the organizations I’ve volunteered with. People of all walks of life are hungry, they are struggling, they need food, the same way WE ALL NEED FOOD. Knowing that they have a place to get food eases the burden of their stress just a slice.

It’s a strange thing to think that these people are just trying to “game” the system. I don’t know about you, but if I go to the grocery store and a line builds up in front of me and there’s no extra cashier in sight, I start to get angry. Why do I have to wait at all just to check out? Open another lane!

Here these people wait in line for hours at times. Trying to find shade from the Colorado sun, or keep warm in the frigid winter temperatures. Just to get some food. Completely unsure of what they might get, because every week it’s different. What’s available is dependent on what’s donated by the local vendors. And that varies from week to week. So I find it hard to believe that if they had the option to go to the grocery store that they would choose to wait here, outside, for an unknown. 

They are also the most grateful people. They are constantly thanking us. One young kid even shook my hand today as a gesture of his appreciation for us being there. They are also the most considerate people. Constantly declining food when they already have enough. 

“O no, I already have plenty of rice.”

“We have a lot of macaroni and cheese already in the house.”

“Take as many apples as you want. Do you want more?” I asked someone today. “No, there are more people in line, leave it for them,” was the reply I got.

This notion that these people are not actually in need. That they are gaming the system. That they are not worthy of the most basic and fundamental resource, is an idea that could only be considered by someone who has never seen it in person. 

It can only be considered by someone who just doesn’t fucking get it. 

Tell your lawmakers to visit a food bank and see if it doesn’t change their mind. Only a cold hearted person wouldn’t.

The Cost of Food

My neighbor just told me the supermarket is selling pork shoulders for $.99 per pound. He was, understandably, excited about this. 

I checked the prices for pork shoulder at some of the regenerative and pastured farms I could recall off the top of my head.

Sisu Farms - $11.00 per lb (where I order most of my meat and chicken from)

White Oak Pastures - $10.00 per lb (the farm of Will Harris)

Acabaonc Farms - >$10.00 per lb (a local farm on Long Island, NY where I’ve ordered meat for my family)

That’s what we’re up against. The cost to raise pigs the right way, is at least 10x more expensive than raising pigs conventionally (based on selling price). 

The reason regeneratively raised animals are more expensive isn’t just because they are receiving higher quality food, and have access to land to roam, while conventionally raised animals are stuck in small pens, cages, or overcrowded chicken coops, where they are fed a low quality diet of grains and corn.

It’s because, on top of that difference in the way they are raised, the grain and corn they are fed is highly subsidized by the U.S. government with your tax dollars. 

So, it’s not that pastured animals and regenerative farms are more expensive. Their price, is the right price. The problem is that conventionally raised animals, most of what you see on sale in the grocery store, has been made artificially cheap. At least, that’s how it appears.

Coincidentally, or not, the owner of Sisu Farms (mentioned above) sent out a newsletter this week talking about just that and more. She said that during a long drive to Kansa (700 miles) to have her turkeys processed at the closest USDA approved processing center, she listened to the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (I haven’t read it but it’s on my list now).

Here are some of the stats she rattled off from the book:

• Direct Farm Bill subsidies for corn and wheat - $3 billion

• Tax funded agriculture fuel - $22 billion

• Treatment of food related illnesses - $10 billion

• Collateral cost of pesticide use  - $8 billion

• Cost of nutrients lost to erosion $20 billion

Even though we know that feeding pigs, chickens, and cows, grains and corn isn’t what’s best for the animals or the humans that eat those animals, that’s what the government continues to subsidize. They subsidize it on the front end, and we all pay for it on the back end with all of the expenses listed above, and a $3 trillion healthcare spend.

In her email she also provided a link to reserve one of her turkeys for the holidays, which prompted me to look and compare the cost across three farming practices.

Sisu Farms Pasture Raised Turkeys - $11 - $13 per lb

Bowman Landes Free Range Turkeys - $4.59 per lb

Kroger Conventional Turkey - $1.89 per lb

I was at an Advancing Food is Medicine conference two weeks ago. The goal of the food is medicine movement is to promote regenerative agriculture and increase the availability and accessibility of food to treat diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, fatty liver disease, and more. 

A number of regenerative farmers and ranchers who used to farm conventionally spoke. They said one of the biggest obstacle they face is financial support. Both in the ability to secure loans that grant them the capital they need to transition from conventional to regenerative practices. And crop insurance, protection against lost of crops due to disease, weather, etc., which requires that they practice conventionally (i.e. using pesticides, herbicides, using feedlots, grain, corn) to maintain coverage. 

Financial support and investment seems like the easiest and lowest hanging fruit we could solve for. Shift the dollars that are subsidizing grain and corn, and use it to support the transition away from conventional agriculture. Give farmers a 3 - 5 year runway to make the move. Then take the savings realized from reducing fuel costs, food related illnesses, pesticide use, nutrient erosion, and healthcare costs (every 1% reducing in a diabetic patients A1C results in annual savings of $1,000) and invest it back into the food system.

Now that I’ve been in the room with these farmers and ranchers I can tell you my suspicions about the work ethic and character of these individuals has been confirmed. 

Give them a fighting chance, and they won’t disappoint. Right now they are receiving very minimal support, and they are still making enormous progress. Imagine the possibilities if we invested in them, which would be an investment in our food, an investment in our planet, and an investment in our health.

One of the speakers at the conference, a representative of the Savory Institute said it best, “Personal health is planetary health.”

I did a shift in the kitchen at my local food bank.

Here’s what I learned in 3 hours.

I was lucky enough to have the executive chef, Jon, orient me and bring me back to the kitchen. Along the way, and during my 3 hour session, he gave me a lot of really interesting information, and taught me a couple of cooking tips.

• Food Bank of the Rockies -

  • The Food Bank of the Rockies is the largest food bank in the country. It serves most of Colorado, including the Denver Metropolitan area and surrounding counties, as well as the Western Slope, and all of Wyoming.

  • For every $1 they spend, they are able to provide 3 meals or 4 lbs of food.

  • They are the only food bank with a food dehydrator, located in their Western Slop warehouse. They’re able to secure food from farms in the area, dehydrate it, and store it to serve later.

  • Their after-school food program, the one I was volunteering to work on, feeds 2,700 children per day through a partnership with Denver Public Schools.

• Food is Medicine -

  • In 2023 Food Bank of the Rockies partnered with local primary cary offices, as well as Project Angel Heart, to provide meals at no cost to 300 patients. In 2024 they have increased to 1,000 patients.

  • They’re able to provide one box of food per person, per week, delivered to their door via Doordash, for $28, at no cost to the patient. I’m excited to be volunteering with Project Angel Heart soon.

• Cooking tip -

  • To ferment anything, add fruit or vegetable to a container. Add enough water to cover the produce. And add 2% by weight of salt.

    • i.e. - If you’re fermenting 2 lbs of cabbage, add .04 lbs, or 18 grams, of salt. Keep the cabbage submerged for 6 - 7 days.