Viewpoint: Food upcycling — Maybe the key to food sustainability isn’t growing more crops, but cutting back food waste

[The Salt and Straw] ice cream chain is among those at the forefront of the upcycling movement, the process of creating high-quality products from leftover food. [Head ice cream maker Tyler] Malek’s shops from the Pacific Northwest to Miami now feature flavors like “Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato,” which is made from leftover cacao pulp from chocolate production that otherwise would have gone to waste.

It’s a trend gaining ground as consumers spend more time reading packaging labels and menu ingredients to learn where their food comes from and how it affects the environment. More than 35 million tons (31 million metric tons) of food are wasted every year in the U.S. — about 40% of the country’s food production — costing the national economy more than $200 billion, according to the Upcycled Food Association.

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