Recent college graduates are increasingly valuing innovation, social justice, and sustainability in their professional goals. Like many other ambitious, problem solving, social justice and environmentally minded young people, I joined the U.S. Peace Corps, dedicating two years of my early professional life to international development. Any RPCV (Returned Peace Corps …
Most of us have had that two-week-old gallon of milk in our fridge we weren’t too sure about. When we check the expiration date and find that it expired two days ago…we become skeptical. Hesitantly, we take a whiff…non-conclusive. Some brave people might bite the bullet and actually have a …
When I say composting, what’s the first word that comes to your mind? Is it soil? food? dirt? worms? It’s almost definitely not flies–but maybe that’ll change soon. Using the foundation I built in my first year at Bard’s Center of Environmental Policy through classes in food policy, systems, and …
My internship with Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County’s (CCEOC) Gleaning Program came to a close at the end of December. In the five months I spent working for the Glean Team, I learned A LOT about the wide variety of fruits and vegetables that grow here in the Hudson Valley. …
With the midterms approaching, it seems that New York political ads are focused on the corruption and graft in Albany. Yet just an hour south, five municipalities in Northern Dutchess County are working together on issues with global implications. Last year, the Village and Town of Rhinebeck, the Village and …
“When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow…” –Deuteronomy 24:19-21 With 40 million Americans currently dealing with food insecurity and 30-40% …
There’s always been something very appealing to me about waste. This interest has led me to investigate the inevitability as well as the unfortunate reality that is food waste. I am a current Master’s student at Bard’s Center for Environmental Policy (Bard CEP). All Bard CEP students are expected to …
Over the last several weeks I have had the pleasure of working for New York City’s Department of Sanitation (DSNY) as an Organics Outreach Graduate Intern. Most broadly DSNY is concerned with the collection of all residential trash and recycling, street cleaning, and snow removal within the 5 boroughs. This …
Everybody eats. Everybody also accumulates some amount of food waste. Growing up, and well throughout my undergraduate career I thought like this: If you lived in a city, that food waste ended up in the trash can under your sink. At some point, the bag was tied up and tossed …
This past July, I played a large role in the planning and execution of the first-annual NYC Food Waste Fair, but it definitely was not a solo effort! Louise Bruce, Senior Program Manager, NYC Organics, Elizabeth Balkan, Director of Policy and Senior Advisor, Office of the Commissioner, Marcel Howard, fellow …
