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Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

theguardian.com

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Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#21

Post by eigenspace »

pipe2devnull wrote: post #14
cjbgkagh wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if things like tipping culture will encourage people to eat at home and be more mindful about their consumption. I hate being extorted for 25% tips and then told if I can’t afford the 25% then I shouldn’t be eating out. Kind of how the hatred of dealing with printer companies and their extortionist ink prices accelerated the shift to paperless. So maybe we’ll get to a better state, perhaps not through the me…

25%? That’s so high. Most places in the USA I feel like 18-20% is the norm

18-20% is already completely insane.

Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#22

Post by hx8 »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #9
vacuity wrote: post #4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox Food waste will not be addressed properly without cultural shifts. Granted, certain technological improvements may prompt them, but that's a bit backwards of a problem solving method.

I wonder if things like tipping culture will encourage people to eat at home and be more mindful about their consumption. I hate being extorted for 25% tips and then told if I can’t afford the 25% then I shouldn’t be eating out. Kind of how the hatred of dealing with printer companies and their extortionist ink prices accelerated the shift to paperless. So maybe we’ll get to a better state, perhaps not through the me…

I'm not sure that eating out solves the food waste problem. I'll agree that in theory centralizing food preparation could lead to increased efficiency, but in practice eating out is most often either a luxury or convince experience and emphasizes those two things much more than cost or efficiency. Maybe one day automation can reduce labor costs allowing restaurants to sell cheaper food, but no one has seemed to figure out that problem yet.

In addition to price (which is a function of efficiency), I wouldn't shift any more of my eating behavior to out of the house until the following problems are solved.

* Portion sizes. I usually eat 600-800 calories in a sitting at home. This portion size is considered a light meal in restaurants, and generally has less appealing options and ordering it sends weird social signals.

* Healthier food. Most restaurants use more oils and salt than my preference. The vegetables and fruit are usually less fresh than even Walmart/Kroger offers.

* Time investment. I can cook and clean maybe 25 different dishes in less than 20 minutes of focused work at home. Much more if you count semi-prepared foods that come frozen or in boxes. The only thing that competes with time investment is hot food delivery, which comes at about a 8x price premium compared to cooking.

Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#23

Post by batch12 »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #9
vacuity wrote: post #4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox Food waste will not be addressed properly without cultural shifts. Granted, certain technological improvements may prompt them, but that's a bit backwards of a problem solving method.

I wonder if things like tipping culture will encourage people to eat at home and be more mindful about their consumption. I hate being extorted for 25% tips and then told if I can’t afford the 25% then I shouldn’t be eating out. Kind of how the hatred of dealing with printer companies and their extortionist ink prices accelerated the shift to paperless. So maybe we’ll get to a better state, perhaps not through the me…

I used to wait tables. With that said, I also don't like that wait staff costs are hidden from the menu price of a meal. It also seems very rich person cosplay to decide how much I should pay my servant wench after a meal. Even more irritating is the request to tip now for almost any food purchase and to-go order at the register. One doesn't even know where that tip goes. The food prep person? Cook? Expo? Split? To the restaurant? Who knows?

Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#24

Post by morkalork »

maury91 wrote: post #13

I have noticed that putting bananas in the fridge has a weird effect, the peel turns black like if it's outside, but the inside of the banana stays yellow and hard. It is very weird to peel a full black banana and find the inside normal without any browning

I see this all the time with bananas that go from green to brown without turning yellow, I always heard people blame the bananas getting too cold during shipping.

Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#25

Post by marky1991 »

vacuity wrote: post #4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox Food waste will not be addressed properly without cultural shifts. Granted, certain technological improvements may prompt them, but that's a bit backwards of a problem solving method.

From the wikipedia article: "As an example of where the paradox did not occur, large improvements in farming productivity (including the Third Agricultural Revolution) led to lower food prices but did not result in increased demand for food. (Demand for food is inelastic.) This instead led to lower employment in the farming sector, which declined from 40% of Americans in 1900 to less than 2% in 2024.[14]"

But generally, I don't see the relevance. Jevon's paradox is about lowered costs driving further demand; how does a non-browning banana lower the cost of bananas?

Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#26

Post by marky1991 »

pipe2devnull wrote: post #14
cjbgkagh wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if things like tipping culture will encourage people to eat at home and be more mindful about their consumption. I hate being extorted for 25% tips and then told if I can’t afford the 25% then I shouldn’t be eating out. Kind of how the hatred of dealing with printer companies and their extortionist ink prices accelerated the shift to paperless. So maybe we’ll get to a better state, perhaps not through the me…

25%? That’s so high. Most places in the USA I feel like 18-20% is the norm

I was always taught that 15% is the standard and that's all I give.

Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#27

Post by vacuity »

marky1991 wrote: post #25
vacuity wrote: post #4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox Food waste will not be addressed properly without cultural shifts. Granted, certain technological improvements may prompt them, but that's a bit backwards of a problem solving method.

From the wikipedia article: "As an example of where the paradox did not occur, large improvements in farming productivity (including the Third Agricultural Revolution) led to lower food prices but did not result in increased demand for food. (Demand for food is inelastic.) This instead led to lower employment in the farming sector, which declined from 40% of Americans in 1900 to less than 2% in 2024.[14]" But general…

Thank you for pointing out that food demand is inelastic, that does shift my perspective somewhat. A complication about demand for food is that American culture promotes luxury and overindulgence. Still not elastic, but more food waste than is "normal". In general, buying more food should cause more food waste.

> But generally, I don't see the relevance. Jevon's paradox is about lowered costs driving further demand; how does a non-browning banana lower the cost of bananas?

I think cost is not as relevant here, moreso that people will buy more bananas, as they will brown less quickly, but will often overshoot.

Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#28

Post by partiallypro »

owlstuffing wrote: post #20

Most banana varieties actually taste best and last longer as they start to brown (ripen). The Cavendish—the dominant grocery store banana—is one of the few that turns mushy and unpleasant when it does.

I think the Cavendish is better when slightly browned too, it's much sweater. Basically, not edible to me when it's just yellow. There is just a certain point when it stops being good.

Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#29

Post by dehrmann »

marky1991 wrote: post #26
pipe2devnull wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

25%? That’s so high. Most places in the USA I feel like 18-20% is the norm

I was always taught that 15% is the standard and that's all I give.

It was in 1995. We briefly flirted with 18%, but it's 20% now. At least for restaurants, taxis, and barbers. I've been prompted for tips at self checkout kiosks and tip a generous 0%.

Re: Gene-edited non-browning banana could cut food waste

#30

Post by throw-qqqqq »

owlstuffing wrote: post #20

Most banana varieties actually taste best and last longer as they start to brown (ripen). The Cavendish—the dominant grocery store banana—is one of the few that turns mushy and unpleasant when it does.

I prefer the cavendish a little green and unripe, but not so green it leaves my mouth dry from the tannins.

When slightly green, it has a more veggie-like taste and not the super sweet and pungent banana smell/taste. I don’t like them when yellow/browning.

Horses for courses I guess :)

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