Trashed X Wasted Event

What:       Trashed & Wasted for Second Harvest
Where:     Artscape Wychwood Barns
When:      March 1,  2017
Why:        An event to divert food waste from landfills and raise funds for Second Harvest
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/trashedandwasted/

I was really looking forward to attending the 1st Trashed & Wasted event which was sparked by an idea from the Gourmet Soup Kitchen that Michelin Chef Massimo Bottura created from the excess food from the RIO Olympics.  I saw the documentary Theatre of Life about this story and thought the same thing as Trashed &Wasted founder Brock did.  I really wanted to do an event that used the excess food that was usually tossed out but my idea was to do a public event to educate and feed street people.  Trashed & Wasted was more of a curated event that used local Chefs and vendors to produce creative bites to raise funds for Second Harvest which is one of the best food recovery Charities in the city.  Held at the Wychwood Barns space at Christie and St. Clair in Toronto.  It was fairly small with about a half a dozen food vendors and a Brewery.  It was only the first one but I bet if there are more to come there will be a lot more vendors that will jump on the food diversion train.

 The good thing about it being a smaller event was the fact that there weren't any lineups for food.  Yes that might change if it grows but I think people are afraid of what they think is food waste because they don't know what they are eating.  Two of my favourite things weren't strange at all.

 From Arepa cafe they made a mixed vegetable like ratatouille mixture that they put on tostones (fried plantains)  and on mini Arepas.  It was delicious, and I wish I had asked them what the food waste part was because it just tasted amazing.
The other bite I loved was the pureed cauliflower on Bannock from Oliver and Bonnacini's Bannock restaurant.  The cauliflower was just the stems that people usually toss and they were pureed with cheese I think.  Nothing weird about it, just the stem that is tougher but totally edible.

The event was a bit expensive but I think that if they do more and get more vendors the cost might decrease.  It's always hard to launch your first event.  People don't want to jump in until they see something is successful usually.

I would say this event was very successful.  People seemed really happy about the food.  I even spotted Marion Kane long time food industry insider checking things out.

Oh my favourite dessert was of course the chocolates from CXBO Chocolates by Brandon Olson .  OMG, they are beautiful and delicious.  I think those were chocolates left over from special orders because there was nothing wrong with them, that's for sure.

Some of the other foods to try included Chicharons with whipped lamb brains, yeah this one sounds weird but it wasn't bad.  Pickled Lamb tongue on rye which was just like corned beef.  Fried chicken tails,  they tasted good but there is a bit of cartilage in them which wasn't as appealing.  Hooked made sushi with Pickerel and their own caviar.  There was also a curry carrot soup,  I am not sure if it had curry in it because it just tasted like carrot soup.  My friend really liked the mushroom on Bannock from O&B.  There was also a spent bread and whipped butter that tasted like amazing whole grain nutty bread.  And pictured above was a pickled Kohlrabi, who knows what to do with Kohlrabi?

The other cool thing about the event was the booths were made using recycled materials and they had a table that you could create a collage from old magazines.

Second Harvest was on hand selling raffle tickets for some amazing things in their silent auction.  I wish I had the money to buy a bunch of tickets.

One thing that was really smart was the grocery stand display at the entrance.  They had paper bags so you could take some of the vegetables home.  Smart no waste display and no junk to toss away when you get home.  I took home some tomatoes, potatoes and lettuce.  I really appreciated that little thing that really did a lot of good.  I have a BLT,  Potato Salad and Tomato soup with it so far.  I will use the rest of the lettuce later.

I think it was a great smart event that I hope carries on so that we can educate people to use their resources a lot better so that we don't run out of food in the future.

Follow them on Facebook and maybe you will be able to attend another event soon.
https://www.facebook.com/trashedandwasted/

Twitter https://twitter.com/trashed_wasted