3 Restaurants Serving Food Waste
After the United Nations served 30 world leaders “landfill salad” and “bruised beet ketchup” at its annual lunch in September, the environmental focus has been on reducing the amount of food waste sent to landfills. Progressive restaurants around the globe are doing their part to cut back, too.
Blue Hill in Manhattan: One of New York City’s trendiest restaurants set the stage earlier this year when Chef Dan Barber transformed his high-end eatery into wastED. The pop-up restaurant served still-edible food waste like grain leftover from distilling and salad recovered from a major producer. Barber also now runs Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, where the restaurant is designed to promote sustainability.
Daily Table in Boston: This restaurant-supermarket hybrid serves up affordable and healthy meals from food that would otherwise end up in a landfill. For the most part, the goods are either extras or overstocked items from grocery stores and other purveyors. Much of the food would have otherwise been thrown out because it was passed its “sell by” date, which has nothing to do with whether something is still good or fresh.
Real Junkfood Project in the U.K.: Real Junkfood Project’s chain of “Pay As You Feel” cafes are stocked by food waste donations from nearby restaurants and grocery shops. And it’s not always a basic menu, either. In the past, featured dishes have included treats like caviar, truffles and even smoked salmon! The company’s model allows for one other bonus to consumers, too: Eat at one of the cafes and you decide what you want to pay for the meal.
If food waste isn’t acceptable to be served on a platter, restaurants can turn table scraps into clean, green energy through anaerobic digestion.