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WiN-WiN: Turning Food Waste into Community Meals · Talking FACS

• 0:01
  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
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  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  Food waste is a major issue in the U.S. Around 30 to 40 percent of our food supply goes uneaten.
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  Well, right here in Kentucky, about one in six people struggle with food insecurity,
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  meaning they don't have enough food to eat on a regular basis.
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  Today, we're talking about a program that's working to address both problems.
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  Welcome to Talking FACS. I'm your host, Dr. Heather Norman-Burgdolf,
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  Extension Specialist for Food Nutrition.
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  And today I'm joined by Dr. Dawn Brewer to share about an initiative that is
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  taking place right here at UK.
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  Dr. Brewer is an Associate Professor and Registered Dietitian within the Department
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  of Dietetics and Human Nutrition.
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  This project she's working on is titled Win-Win and it relates to food waste
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  and food security, these two important issues right here in Kentucky.
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  Dr. Brewer, thank you for being here today and spending some time with us.
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  Yeah, no problem. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk more about this program.
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  So it certainly seems like a win-win if we're addressing food waste and food security.
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  So can you share a little bit about what is Win-Win and how did it get started?
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  Yeah, sure. So Win-Win stands for Waste Not Want Not.
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  And the idea is pretty simple.
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  It is just connecting farmers, gardeners, markets, and anybody with surplus foods and provide it.
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  We serve as that hub that then we dispense it to different feeding organizations in Jesmond County.
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  So currently, Win-Win is based in Jessamine County as our pilot county.
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  And then we have several local partners that take that food and then they are
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  feeding food insecure individuals.
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  So it's a win-win in the sense that we are doing something with that surplus
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  food rather than it ending up in a landfill and then in the hands of food insecure
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  people to hopefully reduce food insecurity.
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  So you're truly responding to two problems at once. Yes. It is a win-win.
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  Yeah. So who are some of those local partners that you're working with to address this?
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  Yeah, so they're all based in Jessamine County.
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  One of the partners is Revived Life House, and they're a treatment center that helps men in recovery.
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  The Man of Meals program is based through Nicholasville Methodist Church,
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  and we built into their program that has been serving free meals on Saturdays since 2008.
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  They have probably about 120 volunteers from local churches that come,
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  and they have cooking teams.
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  So it's a great program in a sense that when we provide them the surplus food,
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  especially when it's different vegetables, with their cooking team's ability
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  to generate meals, they're able to incorporate food.
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  These vegetables into these meals. So we can increase the nutrient density of
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  the meals that are served through the Manna Meals Program.
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  Another one of our partners is the Jesmond County Food Pantry.
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  They've been around since 2004, and they very much do a good job serving the
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  hungry people in Jessamine County.
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  And another partner is the Kentucky United Methodist Children's They have an
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  independent living program that supports young adults as they transition out
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  of foster care or juvenile justice.
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  So the food donations become part of teaching them life skills of what to do with this food.
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  And plus, it is providing them some nutrient-dense, healthier food options and
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  then teaching them what to do with it, the cooking skill part.
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  So those are these life skills that will help these emerging adults,
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  just another skill for them as they are growing and transitioning into adulthood.
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  And then our other partner for now is Bethel Harvest, which is a local church
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  that runs a feeding program.
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  And they provide essentially a food box to approximately 100 families each week.
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  Every week, every Thursday, they provide these food boxes and they have the
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  most amazing and efficient system of feeding people.
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  And when I say, you know, for now, these are our partners, the idea is of win-win
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  is we're starting with these partners.
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  We're the cog in the wheel that's trying to make sure everybody is connected.
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  What we've been finding is while people are familiar with each other,
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  some most know each other, others are just like, oh, I've never heard of that program.
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  So we're making sure that they are connected. So when the food pantry is overwhelmed
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  with surplus foods, they have another outlet.
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  If Manna Meals, it's just like, well, we really can't use it. We help move it.
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  And once we get a feel for, you know, food coming in, if we can expand our network
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  of, you know, the in and the out part of it.
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  So bringing in that surplus food and then expanding that network of feeding partners.
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  So right now we have those five partners. I would love to keep expanding it in Jessamine County.
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  I love the idea of like a cog, kind of a gear that's helping the machine to
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  work. Because as you listed out all the local partners, these are very common
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  community-based organizations in all counties across Kentucky.
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  And so it's just having someone that can kind of just help direct the logistics
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  piece is often difficult or requires people to do that piece.
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  And, you know, food pantries and faith-based organizations, trying to find ways
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  for them to strategize and work together, I think that is a super smart approach.
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  So besides just getting food to places where it can be used to feed people who
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  need it, does Win-Win offer anything else?
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  Yes. And what you said just really hits the nail on the head.
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  These are common types of organization.
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  Common platforms of how people are fed in different counties.
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  So that's one of the ideas of by picking these partners to start with because
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  of how they're feeding people.
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  So I feel that in each county in Kentucky, there is a similar feeding model,
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  whether it's a food pantry, whether it's a faith-based meal program or just a meal program.
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  So the idea is that when we connect people with food, what we found was a gap
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  in the literature of we don't know what happens.
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  So we want to make sure that food is used within the organization.
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  So this is a part that the public may not see, but we're working in the background,
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  is that we are trying to teach these organizations how to reduce food waste.
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  And many of them already, you know, they're doing practices that are reducing food waste.
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  We are just observing what they're doing. And if there's a place where we can
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  provide advice and if we can help them along,
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  say they need more thermometers or they need certain scoops just to make sure,
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  you know, the portion size is universal across meals, you know,
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  we can provide those type of items.
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  So we're trying to provide them, if there's gaps in education,
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  we're trying to make tools, handouts for them, their staff, their organization,
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  for the people they serve.
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  The food pantry I know was one that is very much in need of recipes.
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  So when we make a recipe, it works.
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  It's a one-pager, and it's very purposeful in, you know, this is what you'll
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  need to cut it up, how to cut it up, how to peel it, how to process it,
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  and then, you know, how to cook it.
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  And then it gives other ideas for meals.
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  So, but that whole theme of reducing food waste.
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  So, by enhancing food safety practices, we are reducing food waste.
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  So, that's our goal within the organizations and giving them other ideas of
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  how to use food. Such a comprehensive approach, right?
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  Like surrounding people with food and thinking through all the knowledge that
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  you have to have in order to use that food wisely and put it on.
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  I think it's really, really smart. So I do want to talk a little bit more about the food waste piece.
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  I mentioned it at the end in the intro, but I'm just curious if you could share
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  with us a little bit why food waste is such an important issue for us to address,
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  thinking about a system of care for people.
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  Yeah, sure. Nationally, 133 billion pounds of food are wasted each year.
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  I was going to say, I'm like, that's a lot of food.
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  And it's loss of money and resources like land and water and labor.
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  And it's just really trying to get that in people's minds that each time you
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  throw something away and you think of the food system that was involved to the point of,
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  you know, where it's been planted and grown and cared for, shipped, packaged,
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  you know, and then it's thrown away.
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  So there's not just the loss of what your household spent on it,
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  it's the loss through an entire food system.
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  So when these foods end up in landfills, it creates methane,
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  greenhouse gas, things that harm the environment.
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  And then you think about the humanitarian part of, you know,
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  there are people struggling to put food on the table.
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  And that's what we're trying to, instead of putting it in a landfill,
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  we're trying to provide it to people to eat.
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  So I know your broader win-win project is kind of thinking about food waste on a broader scale.
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  But, you know, those who are listening probably are wondering,
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  well, what is something that I can do right now today that could help with food waste?
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  So what are some simple ways people can reduce food waste at home or in their own kitchen?
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  Yeah, great question. So before you head out to the grocery store or wherever
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  you shop, check your refrigerator and the pantry and see what's already there.
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  And taking that time to think about meals for the week, snacks for the week.
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  What is needed when you go to the store and make a shopping list that goes with
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  your menu to avoid overbuying.
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  And don't shy away from the misshapen produce, the ugly fruit,
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  because you can use them in a recipe in a way that it really does not matter that it's ugly.
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  And sometimes you can get these
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  items on sale. So store your produce properly so that it lasts longer.
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  So things like cucumbers and the crisper, trimming greens before freezing.
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  Give leftovers a new name so they feel fresh, like calling last night's roasted
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  veggies today's Power Bowl.
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  And use the freezer as a tool. Many foods that can freeze well and then can
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  be pulled out later for soups and casseroles.
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  So do not forget your freezer.
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  And just think of planned overs instead of leftovers by cooking once and planning
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  a second meal from that same base of ingredients.
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  That's smart because leftovers, you're like, I'm having leftovers for dinner.
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  And it's like, that's boring, but kind of planning and how to use them again.
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  I will share this past weekend. I was at the grocery store with my son and they
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  had a bag of apples that was on the discounted produce bin.
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  And there were a couple that looked a little iffy, but it was $1.25 for like seven apples.
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  And I was like, oh, we're going to grab those. I know. Right.
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  And took it home and made like a huge pot of applesauce on the stovetop.
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  You would never know it. Right. But just the way the apples look. But,
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  Yeah, it was a way of a crowd. I know, right? Reducing food waste to the North
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  Shore. That's awesome. Very proud.
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  Okay, so as we kind of wrap, those were great suggestions for what someone could
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  do in their own home and in their own kitchen.
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  Do you have any suggestions of what community members can do to get involved
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  with Win-Win or even other broader initiatives at the county level?
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  Yeah. So if the work of Win-Win and if somebody's heard something just like,
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  oh, you mentioned you were developing something about toolkits and such,
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  we do have a website if you just want to see what we've been up to, what we've developed.
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  You could even Google UKY Win-Win and it will pop up and you'll see all the
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  resources that we've developed.
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  So feel free to use those within organizations. if you're
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  interested in starting something like a win-win program
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  model in in your community you can
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  reach out to me and we can talk about some of the like the really important
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  things that you need in place to get started and what it means to be that connector
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  to help in jasmine county specifically is you know donate some produce if you
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  have any extra fruits and vegetables.
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  You know the farmer's market i tend to point to them
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  because people can find them easily but they
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  accept our donations on our website it
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  has the other drop-off sites if people want to help in the community transporting
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  these foods and connecting it with organizations that are feeding people that's
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  always a need sharing the word and we are on social media and just sharing our posts and such.
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  You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram at win-win-uk-y.
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  So we'll be sure to include the link to your website in the show notes so people
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  can go directly to that and they will have access to your resources.
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  Dr. Brewer, thank you for joining us today on Talking FACs. It's been lovely.
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  I've really enjoyed the opportunity to talk about the program and,
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  yeah, just spend time talking about the work.
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  Yep, you're doing great work. So for our listeners, we hope you've been inspired
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  by this win-win initiative and the incredible work that's happening right here
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  in central Kentucky to fight food waste and food insecurity.
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  So whether it's donating extra produce, volunteering your time,
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  or simply rethinking how you use food and leftovers at home,
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  every small action really does add up and count.
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  So this episode of Talking FACs is presented by the Martin-Gatton College of
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  Agriculture, Food, and Environment at the University of Kentucky,
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  and we're available on all major podcast providers.
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  Thank you for listening to Talking FACts. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition,
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• 15:12
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• 15:17
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• 15:29
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• 15:36
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• 15:40
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• 15:43
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