Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
As the weather gets cooler, I’m preparing to hunker down for the long winter ahead. That includes more meals in as I am disinclined to brave the dark, wet, dreariness – even to patronize my favorite spots.
Cooking anything elaborate during the week is usually a hard “no.” By the time the workday is done, I am usually spent and looking for quick sustenance. Also, I’m not a big fan of eating heavily at night, hewing largely to the proverb: “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dine like a pauper.”
On the weekends, when I have more time, I like to try out new recipes and am a big fan of the NYT Cooking section. Most recipes are scaled for at least four servings, and even when I halve them I often end up with leftovers after feeding two people with appetites that trend toward the lighter side.
I am a big fan of leftovers, but my other half is generally not. I try to be frugal about my meal planning and shopping, and freeze things judiciously. But I am ashamed to say that I often forget about what’s in the freezer or the back of the fridge and too often end up throwing food away.
Sadly, I am not alone. In 2024, the latest year for which data is available, about 29 percent of the U.S. food supply – some 70 million TONS – was surplus (uneaten), according to ReFED, a national nonprofit that focuses on solving the food waste problem.
Theoretically speaking, tat’s enough to feed somewhere between 105 and 150 million people for an entire year, depending on the nutritional density/type of food in question, as the average adult eats between 3and 4 pounds a day, including water content. When you consider that an estimated 645 million people faced hunger across the globe that year, the significant lost opportunity in food waste really comes into focus.
Food waste is bad for business. and was forecasted to reach $540 billion by this year, up from $526 billion in 2025, according to a report released at the beginning of the year. It’s also bad for the environment, according for up to 10 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN.
Here’s some good (?) news: 70 million tons is actually an improvement – a 2.2% reduction from 2023, ReFED found. This drop – the first meaningful decrease since the pandemic, when people were eating almost entirely (save for takeout) at home – was largely driven by households reducing the amount of unsold or uneaten food they threw away, to the tune of close to 950,000 tons.
This stands to reason in the age of affordability, as sky-high grocery prices are spurring Americans to pay more attention to their overall food costs. More people are meal planning, eating in, growing their own food, and generally trying to do more with less.
Today is the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. Again, according to the UN, reducing food waste is “central to securing efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, and to improving food security, nutrition and health.
There are a variety of solutions to the food waste problem, some of which have to do with policies, agricultural practices, and businesses. But there are also simple steps that households can take to reduce the amount of food they throw out – most notably by paying more attention to what’s in your pantry and refrigerator, planning ahead, and making better use of leftovers and scraps through composting.
In addition, educate yourself on what the “sell by” and “use by” dates mean, which probably isn’t what you think.
We’re getting a break from the rain, but not the clouds. It will remain overcast today, with high temperatures peaking somewhere in the low-to-mid 60s.
In the headlines…
The Trump administration imposed an import ban on some Canadian products, including alcohol, dairy products and motorcycles, at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.
Though the bans affect just a tiny proportion of Canada’s exports to the United States, they are a sign of how much the relationship between two formerly close political and economic allies has unraveled.
Experts say most American shoppers are unlikely to immediately notice the ban on Canadian alcohol, in part because of workarounds, exemptions and the fact that distributors have had time to stock up before it took effect.
Three news outlets that were barred from the White House this month — CNN, MS NOW and Politico — asked a federal court on Monday to extend their access to the grounds and protect their participation in pool coverage.
“The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity,” the filing said.
The Senate approved a sweeping remake of collegiate sports regulations hoping to restore stability to a landscape that has been upended by constant transfers, frequent shifts in conference membership and an infusion of money from boosters eager to lure talent.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week instructed the Pentagon to prioritize and deploy “advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities” to track down, disrupt and neutralize “foreign actors to protect the 2026 midterm elections”.
Recent polling showing Democrats performing strongly in Senate battlegrounds and more reliably red states is fueling optimism that the party could clinch both chambers in November.
The centrist New Democrat Coalition is expanding its endorsements into firmly Republican territory, another sign of the party’s ballooning confidence in their midterm prospects.
Senate Democrats at their weekly caucus lunch today will talk strategy on a number of measures that could split members who have stuck together on other recent high-profile votes.
An AARP poll released Monday showed Democrat Roy Cooper leading Republican Michael Whatley by 11 percentage points in the North Carolina Senate race, while recent polls have shown Democrat James Talarico tied or leading Republican Ken Paxton in Texas.
Gov. Kathy Hochul joined officials from New York and New Jersey to mark the ceremonial launch of tunnel boring for the Hudson Tunnel Project, which will create a new rail connection between New Jersey and New York Penn Station.
Hochul signed two measures into law aimed at increasing retention within the NYPD, including raising the mandatory retirement age from 63 to 65.
Hochul signed a bill on Monday that creates a statewide rebate for electric landscaping equipment. The law leaves the exact total budget and individual rebate amounts to be determined by the NYSERDA during a forthcoming rulemaking process.
The New York State Department of Labor announced that it will shut down all unemployment insurance services for anywhere from nine to 12 days starting November 2 at 5 p.m.
Many school districts are still telling students to just not have sex rather than teaching them how to stay safe if they do, according to a study by the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Advocates from across the state are calling foul on the Hochul administration’s efforts to update the state DOT guidelines for creating safe streets for cyclists and pedestrians.
Prosecutors in New York have reopened an investigation into an alleged rape that took place at Cornell University in 2024. Tompkins County DA Matthew Van Houten confirmed Monday that he was starting to pursue criminal charges against the alleged perpetrators.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted Cornell University over claims it let off a gang of students accused of gang rape with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
The beleaguered Ivy League institution did not deny it ordered the seven accused young men to pen essays after the alleged horrific incident — but claimed there were other consequences, too.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler and Democratic challenger Cait Conley clashed over immigration enforcement, data centers and President Trump’s tariffs in the first televised debate of their hotly contested race with five weeks to go before the election.
The debate, which took place in the afternoon and aired later on News12, was the first time that Lawler and Conley had appeared onstage together during the campaign.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has confirmed that he will campaign for Hochul in her bid for reelection against Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
Mamdani’s inner circle is reportedly plotting a string of coordinated smears on top New York CEOs, deploying the mayor’s 200-strong “influencer army” to bash Big Apple business leaders and drum up support for his tax-and-spend agenda.
Mamdani allies are hosting a big New York City fundraiser Monday night for Senate Democratic hopefuls James Talarico of Texas and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
Mamdani revealed the secret to his chummy relationship with President Trump in a special Big Apple broadcast of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” – they both love NYC.
The mayor unveiled a plan last week to give away 70,000 free tickets to the Metropolitan Opera House, firing up critics on social media who argue there are more pressing issues facing New Yorkers.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson gave Morgan Stanley a big “howdy!” on Monday, blasting out an announcement that makes the banking giant’s expansion into the heart of Texas official.
Mamdani is opening a permanent walk-in jobs center in Lower Manhattan where New Yorkers can get help navigating public-service hiring, as city agencies continue to carry more than 14,000 vacant authorized positions.
The City Council has issued a rare subpoena to compel testimony from Elon Musk’s SpaceX for a hearing it is planning on the dangers of artificial intelligence.
SpaceXAI was the only company to not respond to the council’s inquiry and commit to sending a representative to the Oct. 5 hearing on AI safety, thus prompting the subpoena, a spokesperson for the council said.
The cost of riding the NYC Ferry may rise to $5 from $4.50 next month, a more than 11% increase. Discounted tickets for middle schoolers are also on the table.
Lenders and developers alike have not shied away from office-to-residential conversions in the city, even in the aftermath of a near-collapse at one of the most high-profile conversion projects in the country.
A campaign to build the first new Hudson River rail tunnel in more than a century took a sizable step forward with the launch of the first 1,700-ton machine that will bore through rock beneath the New Jersey Palisades en route to carving out a new two-tube rail link.
A 33-year-old man was stabbed to death during an argument in a Manhattan homeless shelter on Sunday morning, the Police Department said.
Kenita Lloyd, who has served as chief of staff to the NYC Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels since 2024, is resigning after nearly five years of service
Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who has led the Brooklyn Democratic Party for the past six years, is stepping away from the helm amid a contentious battle for the party’s future.
Bichotte Hermelyn explained her decision in a Daily News op-ed, in which she defended her record and referred to herself as a “Mother of Dragons.”
Some New York City police officers used Flock Safety, a system of automated license-plate readers that has been criticized as an invasion of privacy, to run searches even though the Police Department did not have a contract to do so.
New Yorkers searching for an escape from the city’s punishing housing costs are increasingly eyeing a familiar neighbor — Philadelphia, where homes cost less than half.
A dump truck driver struck and killed a bicyclist on a busy stretch of West 34th Street in Midtown on Monday morning, then left the scene, according to the NYPD.
Upstate New York is experiencing a renaissance of new development as a wave of energy-intensive projects are planned or underway across the state.
A former inmate at Albany County jail alleges in a federal lawsuit that he suffered a concussion and other injuries when a “gang of jail officers” assaulted him last September in what he contends was an unprovoked attack.
Two Amish children were killed and another was in critical condition following a buggy crash involving nine children who were driving without adult supervision Friday on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario in Oswego County.
Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs will unveil the city’s 2027 budget on Thursday. It will be the most important action of her mayoralty to date and a pivotal moment for the city’s future.
The family of Marcos Alcaraz, who burned to death in his cell at Eastern Correctional Facility in July, announced Monday that they intend to sue New York state for $50 million.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
