Home Northside Planning Council Food waste for thought and for dinner with Healthy Food for All

Food waste for thought and for dinner with Healthy Food for All

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Food waste for thought and for dinner with Healthy Food for All
Josey Chu of Madame Chu's Delicacies used rescued food to create a dinner that was influenced by her native Singapore traditions. Photo by Ben Johnson

By Chris Brockel
Healthy Food For All Dane County

Curried potato puffs, carrot fritters, beef satay and peach/rhubarb crisp made from local organic fruit are just a sampling of the menu items that attendees were treated to at Healthy Food for All’s Food Recovery Dinner held Saturday, Jan. 20, at Warner Park Community Recreation Center. Josey Chu, who operates Madame Chu’s Delicacies out of FEED Kitchens, was the guest chef for the evening. Josey put together a four course dinner entirely from ingredients that were potentially headed to our landfill but were rescued from becoming waste by Healthy Food for All.

“It would have been easy to simply reheat the items Healthy Food for All presented me to make a perfectly fine meal, but I wanted to challenge myself to come up with new dishes that represented my culture and culinary background,” offered Josey. The guests for the evening, who had no idea what the meal would consist of before they showed up, were left impressed and satisfied.

Besides the abundance of food, guests were introduced to the issue of food waste and the work that Healthy Food for All is doing to capture good food before it becomes waste and use it to feed families in our community. Chris Brockel, Healthy Food for All coordinator, introduced each course and gave a short talk about the ingredients, where they came from and why they were destined to become waste even though they were perfectly safe and edible.

According to the Environmentaly Protection Agency, 40 percent of all food produced in the United States is never eaten. At each point in the food chain, from farmer to consumer, food is lost for a wide variety of reasons. Healthy Food for All aims to demonstrate that with small changes to our food system, our expectations and perceptions of food and a little thoughtfulness, this food can be saved from the landfill and used to feed our community.

If you missed this one, watch for more food recovery dinners coming in 2018. In the meantime, if you have an interest in donating, volunteering or simply learning more, contact Healthy Food for All at coordinator@hffadane.org.