Food with a purpose

Staff at Carolina Dining Services made it their goal on April 22 to give students something free to eat and an idea to chew on: food waste.

Hundreds of students dined for free on Latin-style pork, dogfish and tomato fennel stew, English peas and pepper ragout and mango cobbler — all of which contained elements that normally might have landed in compost or trash.

Through Feeding the 500, CDS aimed to shine a light on the issues surrounding global food waste. The event followed in the steps of last October’s “Feeding the 5,000” (F5K) event in Chapel Hill. UNC was the first college or university in the United States to host the international campaign that launched in 2009 by Tristram Stuart, an English author and campaigner entrenched in the fight against global food waste.

“The point of ‘Feeding the 500’ is really to carry the message on,’’ said Kaitlin Strahler, marketing manager for CDS. “This is something that has helped our campus and our dining program significantly. We really want to see what the trajectory is for other campus dining programs.”

The purpose of the F5K and F500 events is to educate and enhance the campus’ awareness around food waste and to modify perceptions around “ugly” or unwanted foods.

October’s F5K sparked key partnerships with suppliers, farmers and vendors. Rather than composting product that was overproduced, unsold or slightly blemished, the partners utilize CDS as a resource. CDS staff also have gleaned fields at local farms to gather edible and delicious vegetables that did not fit the specific Grade A requirements.

“It happens on occasion where someone places an order then backs out of an order,” explained Residential Chef Hunter Stegall. “The suppliers end up sitting on it until it begins to deteriorate … then it eventually becomes garbage.”

But the process for getting would-be waste from a food supplier is often just a just a phone call away.

“Dessert, we were able to secure mangos,” Stegall said. “As well as some fresh cranberries they couldn’t seem to get rid of — we’re going to make a cobbler!”

As students ate during the April 22 event – they particularly liked the Latin-style pork – they said they would happily eat the meal again. That was another win for CDS and its effort to reduce food waste.

“We’re able to make magic out of little, and if we can get those items in hand, we can find a use for them,” says Chef Stegall.

Organizers said at the end of the day, they met and exceeded their goal: 543 people had a free meal — and a new kernel of knowledge about food waste.

“We really had a wonderful program back in the fall. It initiated some critical conversations around food waste,” said Strahler. “What we want to do is continue the conversation.”