Go to your refrigerator, if you can. If not, take a mental inventory. Pull out the chicken, the kale, blueberries, ketchup, whatever and pick out about 40% of all the food inside. Now picture throwing it in the trash.
This happens every day. Up to 40% of all the food in America — from farms to restaurants to what’s in our fridge — ends up wasted, spoiled or in the trash, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Ellen Bowen does something about it.
She heads the South Florida chapter of Food Rescue US. It’s just one organization that helps get surplus food into the hands of people who need it.
Fresh veggies left over from grocery stores or farms. Food that was cooked but wasn’t served at restaurants. Even rescuing food from cruise ships. Food Rescue gets that surplus to shelters, rescue missions and food pantries.
The annual South Beach Wine & Food Festivalis this week. Every year the festival donates 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of food that’s prepared but not served during its events.
Food Rescue US, and other groups like it, swoop in to save food while it’s still fresh.
We’ve spent this month talking with people throughout the food industry — chefs, cooks and restaurant owners. On the Feb. 22 episode of Sundial, Bowen joined host Carlos Frías to talk about her work addressing food insecurity.
On Sundial's previous episode, we were joined by two of the best-emerging chefs in the country, who are in Miami. Akino West is the chef and owner of Rosie's in Little River and Cleophus Hethington is the chef de cuisine at Zak the Baker in Wynwood. They were both nominated for the same James Beard Award, one year apart.
Listen to Sundial Monday through Thursday on WLRN, 91.3 FM, live at 1 p.m., rebroadcast at 8 p.m. Missed a show? Find every episode of Sundial on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.
Stay in touch with us via text by joining our Sundial text club. Send us your thoughts, ideas or questions by texting the word “join” to 786-677-0767. You can also email us at sundial@wlrnnews.org.
