CINCINNATI — Dozens of Greater Cincinnati’s best restaurants will soon be preparing food downtown for one of the city’s largest annual festivals. But what happens to all the extra food?
Local food waste experts say events like Taste of Cincinnati have the potential to lead to thousands of pounds of wasted food. The team at Last Mile Food Rescue is making sure that doesn’t happen.
“Weather comes up, and people don't sell as much as they're hoping to, or there’s just unplanned overages,” said Erik Hyden, food donations manager with Last Mile Food Rescue.
Hyden and his team of volunteers will walk around the booths at Taste of Cincinnati on Monday to collect unused food to ensure it goes to someone in need.
“Anything that's been held safely, (if) it hasn't been fully served out to the public,” he said. “If they've got leftover ingredients, prepared items.”
The organization delivers food to various nonprofit partners, including soup kitchens and food pantries.
“Studies show that 40% of the food that’s brought to market in this country goes into the landfill and becomes greenhouse gases,” Hyden said. “We've rescued over 8.9 million pounds of food since our inception in 2020 and we work with over 300 donors regularly around town.”
At previous events similiar to Taste of Cincinnati, the group has collected roughly 1,000 pounds of food.
The organization estimates there are over 270,000 people in our Tri-State region experiencing food insecurity.
“It's also important that we're out raising awareness in the community that food rescue is a safe and easy option for anybody in the food service industry,” Hyden said.
It’s also something consumers can do. Hyden recommends shopping intentionally and meal planning in advance. It should help shoppers save a few bucks at the store, too.
“Then also getting out the word to your favorite grocery store or restaurant,” he said. “Ask them what they're doing to help with food rescue and food insecurity.”
The group is always in need of more volunteers. You can learn more here.
