The Adlington Post

The annual inorganic roadside trash collection has begun in my area. I cruised around in the van on Sunday & scored a 25kg bag of cement. This year there are even more people trawling through the kerbside offerings - most of them after scrap metal, but there are lots of other goodies and freebees out there as well.

A recent freeganing trip netted a 350grm tub of (still chilled) chicken livers.  A while ago while trash trawling I found a well-used copy of Leah W. Leonard's 1951 book of "Jewish Cookery" on p. 301 is the recipie for molded chicken liver ( a firm favourite with my Jewish friends): "Combine broiled chicken livers,hard cooked eggs and greben. Run through food chopper, season to taste with salt, pepper, celery salt or garlic salt, add chicken or goose fat, or salad oil. Use as a canape spread.Top with tiny bits of pimento or green pepper, minced parsley or water cress, or stuffed olive. Or press into a well-greased mold. Unmold on shredded greens and garnish." OR on p. 382 Leah gives the recipie for "Chopped Liver and Peanut Butter"!: "Two parts chopped liver to 1 part peanut butter makes a delicious spread".

A friend has groceries delivered weekly from the supermarket. When the delivery arrives, last week's veges get thrown away. We brought these home last night: mushrooms, apricots, an avocado, a pack of celery, & some spring onions. For more of my dumpster diving, freeganing & trash trawling adventures see my blog trashzilla

Yesterday I was privileged to address  Room 16 pupils at Owairaka School in Mt Albert on the subject of making sculptures from pieces of bicycles. Bicycle parts were kindly supplied by Marissa Oakley Browne from the Waitakere Recycling Station in Henderson. Watch this space for the results.

Let the Hunger Games Begin Celsias.co.nz reports: "The Great Drought of 2012 has yet to come to an end, but we already know that its consequences will be severe. With more than one-half of America’s counties designated as drought disaster areas, the 2012 harvest of corn, soybeans, and other food staples is guaranteed to fall far short of predictions.  This, in turn, will boost food prices domestically and abroad, causing increased misery for farmers and low-income Americans and far greater hardship for poor people in countries that rely on imported U.S. grains. This, however, is just the beginning of the likely consequences: if history is any guide, rising food prices of this sort will also lead to widespread social unrest and violent conflict. In 2008 a similar scenario led to “food riots” in more than two dozen countries, including Bangladesh, Cameroon, Egypt, Haiti, Indonesia, Senegal, and Yemen. In 2010 a surge in food prices resulted in widespread social unrest, t...

Last November I visited the Waitakere Refuse and recycling Transfer Station to see what happens with the stuff from our recycling bins. I went with my chum Alan, and Marissa Oakley Browne showed us around. Marissa is the Waste Minimisation Educator- Solid Waste Business Unit (Infrastructure & Environmental Services) at Auckland Council, in Mt Albert. Many thanks Marissa.