Dive Brief:
- Organics recycling is gaining in popularity nationwide, as using every part of an animal - from nose to tail, or vegetable - from root to tip, is celebrated, becomes a trend shared by chefs and households alike.
- Seattle's food waste ban started on Jan. 1. San Francisco was an early adopter, if not the first city to embrace widespread composting requirements. Seattle is the first to fine citizens who do not comply.
- Food waste reduction is looking to be an easier sell across the board: food waste is trending among chefs, who list "reducing food waste" as a top 20 food trend on the National Restaurant Association’s "What's Hot in 2015" survey.
Dive Insight:
Chefs are aware that the best restaurants are moving toward not wasting anything edible, spurring a greater number of eateries to move in this direction. Think of it as peer pressure with a purpose. One instructor, Brandi Henderson, teaches cooking classes that encourage experimenting with using ingredients instead of tossing them, said, “If we leave the recipe behind and get back to technique cooking,” she said, “kitchen waste will go away.” She said the people enrolled in her class care about the volume of food that ends up in the landfill.
