Katrina Kong

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foodprint.org

Articles

What is Europe getting right about food waste in schools?

Nov 15, 2024 | foodprint.org | Katrina Kong |Naomi Kaye Honova

At my youngest child’s daycare, in Munich, Germany, parents are asked to fill in a chart at least a week in advance noting any specific days the child will be absent, like for scheduled travel. This allows the caterers to reduce the amount of food they prepare and serve, so that there’s less likelihood of leftovers.
Are plastic bag bans working?

Nov 11, 2024 | foodprint.org | Katrina Kong |Jodi Helmer

The introduction of single use plastic bag bans mean that “paper or plastic” isn’t an option at supermarkets in some cities and states. In response to growing concern about the volume of single-use plastic bags in landfills or the ocean — as well as the carbon footprint required to produce those bags — states started passing bag bans. In 2014, California became the first to ban single-use plastic bags.
Manure digesters aren’t clean energy

Nov 6, 2024 | foodprint.org | Katrina Kong

A self-declared “nerd” scientist shares with a giggle that her job is “turning poop into energy.” A narrator explains that Chevron is “partnering with farmers” to turn “everything from plants to cow manure” into clean energy. You might have seen ads like these painting a hopeful picture of oil companies using the methane emissions of factory farms as green energy, presenting it as a brilliant way to repurpose waste while also slashing fossil fuel use.
Julie Guthman explains why Silicon Valley will not hack the future of food

Nov 4, 2024 | foodprint.org | Katrina Kong |Alicia Kennedy

Bon Appétit’s May 2022 issue had a blue cover accented with light pink and green, the usual platter or table full of insouciantly styled food forsaken that month in favor of beakers and glass laboratory measuring cups. Its centerpiece was an avocado with a glistening clear orb for a pit rather than nature’s ruddy seed. This issue was titled “The Future of Food,” and from the cover onward, it was clear what they meant: Not soil, but technology.
Fermenting and freezing are your secret weapons for preserving root vegetables

Oct 17, 2024 | foodprint.org | Katrina Kong |Julia Skinner

You’ve pickled cucumbers, made sauerkraut and frozen your summer berries, but have you ever used these techniques on your root vegetables? As our gardens and CSAs wind down and temperatures cool, there are still plenty of wonderful in-season root vegetables to enjoy, including carrots, potatoes, beets, onions, ginger and more. But what if you’ve roasted, and fried, and made soup for days, and you’re ready for something different?
Resources to help you pickle, ferment, jam, can and more

Oct 16, 2024 | foodprint.org | Katrina Kong

Farmers’ markets and CSAs are still exploding with produce, but shoppers are suddenly holding pumpkin spice lattes instead of iced coffees: the end of peak produce is certainly near. How do you bottle sunshine? How do you save some of that harvest for the dreary winter months? You don’t have to go full Ballerina Farm to set yourself up for success: Some preservation techniques can be super simple, and don’t require much, if any, special equipment.
Greenhouse gases in the food system, explained

Oct 11, 2024 | foodprint.org | Katrina Kong |Ryan Nebeker

This past September, experts and policymakers from around the world converged for Climate Week NYC, an annual event held in partnership with the United Nations General Assembly, to talk about the increasing impacts of global warming and to strategize about how to reduce the emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause it. Until fairly recently, food and agriculture were largely left out of these conversations, but this year was different, both at the conference and in the media.
Vandana Shiva is still mad

Oct 2, 2024 | foodprint.org | Alicia Kennedy |Katrina Kong

To Vandana Shiva, the Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate and ecofeminist, diversity is the rule of life. Overlooking the significance of biodiverse interdependence in the natural world has come with a high cost, and industrial agriculture has, in her perspective, committed a grave and heinous act of hubris by believing man-made interventions could somehow dampen the earth’s appetite for heterogeneity.