Meet The Chefs Cooking Up Meals For The Poor Using Olympic Food Waste

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by Luke Miller Truth Theory

A group of chefs led by Massimo Bottura are tackling the growing hunger problem in Rio De Janeiro by using leftover foods from the olympic village to feed to the impoverished.

There has certainly been no lack of controversy surrounding the olympic games this year with the threat of the zika virus outbreak, sewage sanitation which contain disease-causing viruses and bacteria and the over 77,000 people who have been displaced as a result of the games.

However alongside this there also seems to be some good  coming out of it as RefettoRio Gastromotiva the catering company contracted to cook for the 11,000 olympic athletes has promised to pay it forward by supplying meals to the hungry.

The initiative was introduced by chefs Massimo Bottura and David Hertz who are aiming to produce 5,000 daily meals using ingredients destined for the bin.

Mr Hertz told Reuters. “RefettoRio Gastromotiva is going to work only with ingredients that are about to be wasted … like ugly fruit and vegetables, or yogurt that is going to be wasted in two days if you don’t buy it,”

He continued “We want to fight hunger and provide access to good food.”

The plan is to keep Gastromotiva active until the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, after which it will continue as a “social business” is which “Customers at the restaurant will help a person in need with every meal they buy.”

The business will also offer support and training for those interested in becoming restaurant professionals- such as chefs, bakers, and servers.

Food waste is a massive and unsustainable problem that the world is currently facing with approximately 1 third or 1.3 billion tons of food being discarded every year. This has prompted law changes in Italy, France and Germany and is starting to open up a dialog in many other places. So Rio following suit for the games is certainly a step in the right direction.

Please hit the share button if you have found this article in any way useful and we would love to hear from you in the comments section if you have an opinion! Much love, Luke.

Sources-

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/rio-olympics-2016-massimo-bottura-chefs-surplus-food-hunger-gastromotiva-a7185941.html

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-olympics-rio-brazil-food-idUKKCN10G1IC

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