Fermenting Organic Waste to Reduce NYC’s Trash Problem

A start up called Industrial/Organic is working to reduce New York City’s food waste output. The city generates over a million tons of food waste every year, but a large-scale composting facility wasn’t successful due to long breakdown time, which lead to very strong odors. Industrial/Organic’s method is to ferment the food waste, which means the process only takes a week, doesn’t have strong odors, and can be done in the city itself, rather than outsourcing to the suburbs. Their facility is currently in Brooklyn, and is hoping to expand nationwide once they have a successful program running in NYC. This is such a positive organization, we’re excited to see the food waste problem being tackled right in our backyard. Huge trash piles on the streets is a common sight in the city, one that should be disturbing but now is just part of our reality. With a program like this, NYC could be a model for the rest of the country, and within the next few decades the food waste issue could be taken care of. We’re excited to see what happens!

Chickpeas Prove to be an Awesome Vegan Substitute, Again

Vegan cooks have found that the water that canned chickpeas are packed in can be whipped to become an egg white replacement. Now called aquafaba (meaning water and bean in Latin), the use of whipped chickpea water is spreading like crazy. It can be used to make anything from mayonnaise, pancakes, meringues, souffles, etc. Before aquafaba, there was no good egg white substitutes. There were options, but many vegans claim they had no taste or didn’t work well as a substitute. With this product, vegans can now enjoy a wide range of foods that were out of the question before. The chickpea water we all dump down the drain can also now be re-purposed rather than wasted, and who doesn’t love that? Have you tried using aquafaba before? How did it turn out?

Ugly Produce May Be Better For You

We’ve written about ugly produce in the past, and have participated in convincing large chains like Whole Foods to sell those imperfect fruits and veggies. Now, new studies show that scarred or blemished fruits and vegetables may have higher nutrition than their prettier counterparts. The study shows that apples with scars, and grape leaves with fungus have higher levels of antioxidant compounds. The higher levels of antioxidants are due to the stress the plant endures while fighting off disease or pests. By being put under stress from the environment and surviving it, the plant seems to become healthier for us. There are many factors that add into nutrition levels, such as the variety of plant, soil content, chemicals added, etc, so more research needs to be done, however this could be great news for the ugly produce Whole Foods will now sell!