September 2019

Do you waste food? I’m talking about the extra tomatoes you bought that you end up throwing away. Or the extra gallon of milk that you think you’ll need only to find that it goes bad and you pour it down the drain. Or the bundle of salad greens that you are convinced you’ll use in the next week, but then have to throw away a good 25% of it because it has wilted and become coated in places with that slimy wetness that many people don’t like! It is amazing how much food we human beings waste, in a world of climate change, daily hunger for millions of people around the world, not to mention the strain on our own financial resources. Do you waste food? Do you want to do something about it?

First things first, become educated about how much food you, our nation, and the world wastes.  Here are some numbers from the National Resources Defense Council:

• American throws out up to 400 million pounds of food per person per year.
• This includes 21% of all freshwater used in its production.
• This food waste produces carbon dioxide equal to that of 37 million cars.
• If we could redirect only a third of that waste, we could meet the food needs of all Americans.

There is much more to read in a 2017 report prepared by the NRDC entitled Wasted. Please read it!

So, the first step is to get educated on the problem of food waste. A second step is to learn the relatively easy things you can do, in your family and at your work place, to reduce food waste. This is why on Saturday, September 28^th,  The Courier-Post and the Farm and Fisherman Tavern are hosting a #WasteNot event at the Camden FireWorks in the Waterfront South neighborhood of Camden, NJ. Tours of the gardens of CFET begin at 5:30PM and the #WasteNot kicks off at 6PM, lasting til 8:30PM.This is a very unique event, and you will not want to miss it.

To raise awareness of the food waste problem and to offer positive ways forward, #WasteNot brings together chefs from around Camden, as well as some bakers and brewmeisters, to make us of vegetable and fruit scraps to create amazing appetizers. The chefs include Chef Todd Fuller of the Farm & Fisherman Tavern, as well as chefs from Square Meal, Food Bank of South Jersey, Cathedral Kitchen, the Neighborhood Center, and Hungry Harvest. Also present will be Tonewood Brewing Company and Revolution Coffee Roasters.

There will also be live music by The Quixote Project, great conversation, some information on how to reduce food waste, recipes and an opportunity to tour the gardens of the Center for Environmental Transformation. The chefs involved at this event are using scraps from the CFET gardens to prepare their scrumptious creations.

The event takes place in the beautiful Camden FireWorks, an old City Fire Department Station that was lovingly brought back to life by the Heart of Camden and is a growing space for the physical, and some vocal, arts in Waterfront South.

The funds raised from this event will benefit CFET. The cost is $40/person, $75/couple.  Get your tickets at www.wastenot2019.eventbrite.com. Tickets are going fast. If you show up at the door on Saturday, you can get a ticket for $50, but only if there is space. If you prefer not to use the electronic option, let us know and we’ll set aside some tickets for you. Send a note to director@cfet.org.

So, first, educate yourself on the food waste that plagues our world, and then take some action to learn what you can do. Start by visiting this site to purchase your tickets to #WasteNot on September 28^th, and come enjoy good food, great music, wonderful conversation, and identify ways that you can be part of the solution to this enormous challenge. Of course, you also support CFET, not a bad way to spend a pleasant autumn evening!

Oh, and bring a friend!!!

Peace,

Mark Doorley, Ph.D.

Treasurer, CFET Board of Trustees