Frequently, restaurants serve such large portions that there's about 2 meals' worth of food. So, The Motley Monk isn't shy about taking home leftovers whenever he dines out and warming the leftovers up or making something else out of them. For example, a piece of leftover steak makes for:
That's fine for people, like The Motley Monk, who take the leftovers home and let them go to waist. "Creative cuisine," it's called.
But what about all those who don't and, by law in many municipalities, toss their leftovers straight into the trash? Couldn't all of that food be reclaimed in some way that would benefit the hungry in our midst? It is estimated that 40% of all food goes to waste in the United States.
The answer to those questions makes for a great story of legal immigration.
The son of Korean immigrants, Robert Lee, was taught by his parents never to waste food. (Ditto for The Motley Monk's parents.) Reflecting upon all of the leftover food in New York City going into the trash, Lee started a nonprofit--Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC)--to collect fresh food that would otherwise be thrown out. After a "rescue," the RLC distributes the leftover cuisine to people in need.
- a great sandwich...take a cibatta, thin-slice the steak, slather with horseradish sauce, add thin-sliced red onion, and top with some green leaf lettuce;
- a beef burrito...warm a burrito, thin slice the steak placing it in the center of the burrito, add some good pico de gallo sauce (corn and black beans is best), top with shredded Mexican cheese mix, fold the burrito, heat in the microwave, and top with some sour cream.
That's fine for people, like The Motley Monk, who take the leftovers home and let them go to waist. "Creative cuisine," it's called.
But what about all those who don't and, by law in many municipalities, toss their leftovers straight into the trash? Couldn't all of that food be reclaimed in some way that would benefit the hungry in our midst? It is estimated that 40% of all food goes to waste in the United States.
The answer to those questions makes for a great story of legal immigration.
The son of Korean immigrants, Robert Lee, was taught by his parents never to waste food. (Ditto for The Motley Monk's parents.) Reflecting upon all of the leftover food in New York City going into the trash, Lee started a nonprofit--Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC)--to collect fresh food that would otherwise be thrown out. After a "rescue," the RLC distributes the leftover cuisine to people in need.
RLC approaches the two large issues of hunger and food waste in three ways:
- Localizng the issues into sets of communities that can help sustain themselves. After identifying the homeless shelters of a needy community, RLC proactively finds restaurants, hotels, and catering companies with excess food in that vicinity that could help support these disadvantaged communities. That's real "sustainability."
- Leveraging technology to facilitate the identification and handling of excess food. Thus, these partner food providers will be using a smartphone application to report when excess food is occurring, and the same app is used to engage community members, because volunteering with RLC can be as easy as taking a brisk walk. That's a "smart" use of technology.
- Tackling food waste at its root, aiming to eliminate as much food waste as possible and bringing the remaining excess food to where it is needed most. The data of when food waste occurs is used in RLC's analysis of what types of food waste could be avoided, and RLC suggests ways that partner food providers can reduce waste at its root. That's principled leadership: "Waste not, want not."
Restaurants--including Starbucks and Panera--as well as other organizations are working with RLC to fulfill its mission of ensuring that fewer people and families go hungry!
To date, RLC has "saved" 100k+ pounds of food and Lee plans to expand RLC to expand to other cities.
An immigrant who already is giving back to his new homeland! That's what real immigration does...it enriches the nation, adds to its diversity, and builds "e pluribus unum."
Meanwhile, the nation's Food Police and their Chief, Michelle Obama, continue to turn out all of those so-called "healthy choices" for the nation's public school students. Where are those meals going? Right into the trash bin.
Perhaps RLC could salvage those?
Not a chance...their mission is rescue leftover cuisine.
Let the discussion begin...
To learn about RLC, click on the following link:
http://www.rescuingleftovercuisine.org/
http://www.rescuingleftovercuisine.org/about
To date, RLC has "saved" 100k+ pounds of food and Lee plans to expand RLC to expand to other cities.
An immigrant who already is giving back to his new homeland! That's what real immigration does...it enriches the nation, adds to its diversity, and builds "e pluribus unum."
Meanwhile, the nation's Food Police and their Chief, Michelle Obama, continue to turn out all of those so-called "healthy choices" for the nation's public school students. Where are those meals going? Right into the trash bin.
Perhaps RLC could salvage those?
Not a chance...their mission is rescue leftover cuisine.
Let the discussion begin...
To learn about RLC, click on the following link:
http://www.rescuingleftovercuisine.org/
http://www.rescuingleftovercuisine.org/about
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