AI Is Spying on the Food We Throw Away

The New York Times reported in April 2024 that Winnow's AI system, which uses cameras placed near kitchen bins, helps restaurants and hotels see exactly what food they throw away. Winnow founder Marc Zornes told the paper that professional kitchens typically waste 5 to 15 percent of the food they buy, calling it "a problem that literally gets swept away." The article set that figure against a larger climate problem: food waste accounts for an estimated 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, roughly on par with aviation and shipping combined, and around one-third of food grown in the United States is never eaten. A Hilton Hotels deployment of Winnow's technology reportedly surfaced oversized breakfast pastries and uneaten baked beans as major, previously unnoticed sources of waste. The piece also profiled Afresh, an AI grocery-inventory startup used by the supermarket chain Albertsons.