Far too much food is just binned if somebody is too full, needs to leave early, or similar, and if food wasn’t wasted, there would not be nearly as large of a hunger crisis. Encouraging the reduction of food waste is great, but I’m wondering whether the inevitable food waste could be collected in special bins and be reprocessed into a mixture of various foods, a bit like recycled plastic almost. This obviously could be bad for those with allergies, and there’s no clear expiry date for such a mixed assortment of food. There is also the trouble of people throwing in non food items, like tissues and plastic wrapping. This is already a big problem in recycling!
An alternative could be to separate food waste into multiple bins (meats, vegetables, nuts, dairy, etc.) that could be individually processed, kind of like how recycling is separated into paper, plastic, and cans. Then, allergens could be separated, vegetarian unfriendly products too, and the reprocessed food would be less of a mix and could be portioned into balanced diets.
Some food waste is already processed to become compost, but I’m wondering whether it’s possible for reprocessed food waste to be edible and eaten over being dumped in landfills?
as soon as food starts the process of production, before it even hits a preparation or cooking surface it has bacteria on it. nothing is completely clean.
freezing, washing and cooking ingredients reduces these or makes them go dormant. but it does not get rid of them entirely.
when it’s plated and served, that bacteria is already stating to revive and reproduce. by the end of a meal, between all the new nutrients from the human body added to the plate from the utensils, the leftover food is a breeding ground. this is why leftovers are generally considered risky if not handled properly.
you simply cannot reliably disinfect them and the only things you can do is store it in a chilled environment to slow bacterial growth and reheat to aid in killing some but not all of that new growth off.
if you start mixing these together, the salavia, which is unavoidable as spittle occurs whether you notice it or not, and trace amounts are on your utensils from mouth contact. plus any airborne contaminants from the person are in the food.
it basically becomes a Petri dish. as it’s a perfect microcosm for bacteria and mold…
we used to grow mold, yeast and fungus by spitting on potatoes and rice. to later harvest it. we understand it well.