Composting is slowly becoming a more viable alternative to inundating landfills with food waste. Some cities in the U.S. have started commercial composting programs that pick up food waste and take it to a plant for composting.

In support of this, companies are offering practical and compostable alternatives to plastics, especially in the food service industry. Excellent Packaging & Supply , based out of Richmond, California, sells biodegradable plates, coffee cups, and Spudware, eating utensils made out of potato starch rather than plastic. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle explains that compostable products break down easier in commercial composting plants than in landfills or backyard composts, and to maximize the environmental benefits of their biodegradable nature, municiple composting programs must expand into other cities.

According to an October 2, 2007 CNN article, composting can play a substantial role in reducing green house gas emissions from landfills. As food breaks down in landfills it produces methane, a gas that traps twenty-three times more heat when released into the atmosphere than carbon dioxide(34% of the methane emissions in the U.S. come from landfills). But when food waste is composted in commercial facilities, the green house gases can be contained and used to produce biogas, a renewable resource that can be used for heat, light, and fuel.

To reduce the amount of food waste going into landfills and green house gas emissions coming out, restaurants can influence their cities to establish composting programs, buy compostable products, and begin to institute composting systems into their waste management efforts.

Scientists say reducing the consumption of red meat can help to reduce global warming.  In a special energy and health series in The Lancet, a British medical journal, Tony McMichael of the Australian National University in Canberra and John Powels of University of Cambridge in Britain released their findings.  They said that reducing the global average red meat consumption from 100 grams per day to 90 grams per day “would prevent the levels of gases (from meat consumption) from speeding up climate change.”  

The farm animals that produce red meat - cows, sheep, and goats - also produce methane, a green house gas that is twenty times stronger than carbon dioxide.  Agricultural activities account for approximately one-fifth of total green house gas emissions and the methane from farm animals accounts for the majority of these agricultral climate change inducing gases. 

This study indicates that people can help reduce global warming through adjusting their eating habits.  If people, especially in developed countries where red meat consumption is disproportionatey high, made an effort to decrease how much red meat they ate, not only would they decrease their risk for heart disease and cancer, but they could make a significant difference in the effort to curb global warming.

Burger King is jumping on the healthy option band wagon with a Sept 12th announcement that it would offer and advertise healthier options for kids under twelve.  The fast food company announced that it is testing a concept for “apple fries” this fall and winter, and that they may be widely available by the spring of 2008.  BK’s apple fries are slices of apple washed in a lemon-water solution (to keep them from turning brown) and served cold in a “frypod,” the same packaging in which the french fries are served.  I wonder how this marketing tactic will affect kids’ perception of the apple fry.  Will they taste better to kids if they are served in french fry packaging? 

There is a big difference though in the nutritional value between apple fries and french fries.  A 2.4 ounce serving of apple fries contain 35 calories, while a small order of french fries contains 230 calories and 13 grams of fat.  But it seems that for the sake of optics that the apple fries will be served without the skin, the most nutritious part of the apple.

This is a commendable option that Burger King is offering - an alternative to fries that is approachable to children.  Will this mean more parents will feel comfortable feeding their children at Burger King?  Or, will they just make better choices once they are there?”

Attention Parents!!  A study funded by the Food Standards Agency of the British Government, found that food additives, such as food colorings and preservatives, can be directly related to an increase in hyperactivity in children.  Jim Stevenson, a professor of Psychology at the University of Southampton, conducted the “community-based, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover trial” on 297 children in two age groups- 3 year olds and 8-9 year olds, as explained in the September 6, 2007 article in The Lancet.  Another article, in Forbes on the same date, elucidates the nature of the possible connection between our “highly processed food supply” and the increase of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children.        

Next time your child hankers for a soda, a candy bar or some other kind of processed food, keep this in mind, it’s not just the sugar that could have Junior bouncing off the walls.  Sodium Benzoate, a preservative used in many sodas and fruit drinks, was linked in the study to hyperactivity in children, as was food colorings such as sunset yellow (E110), a coloring frequently used in fruit drinks, and carmoisine (E122), which is often used to color jams.  Sodium Benzoate was also linked in other studies to cell damage and increased risk for cancer.  The study found that these additives increased levels of hyperactivity and shortened attention spans, which over time can affect children’s educational development, especially the development of reading skills.  

This study illuminates some reasons why increasing the accessability of healthy food is becoming a priority for many parents.  As the lives of parents and their children get busier, eating healthy must also become more convenient.