Leftovers are on the menu thanks to Leftovers YEG and NAIT.
In partnership with Global Shapers, Leftovers YEG presented the Leftovers For Dinner event on October 21st. Held at Ernest’s, the event featured student chefs engaged in a cooking contest. The only catch was students only had leftover ingredients at their disposal.
Close to 200 tickets were sold, raising nearly $8,000 for the charity.
Leftovers YEG was created in January 2017 to take excess food from vendors and transport it to partnered agencies in and around the Edmonton area. The charity hoped the Leftovers For Dinner event would attract more volunteers in the future.
“It’s great to be able to make an impact in the community on a very local level,” said Global Shapers Communications Director Kady Hobbins
“Being a young[er] person, it’s sometimes hard to make a strong impact if you don’t have a lot of money to give… Leftovers YEG provides that opportunity.”
Canadians waste 96 billion pounds of food annually. Between Leftovers Calgary and Leftovers YEG, the charity recovers over 4,000 pounds of food, per week, and delivers it to over 30 agencies around the province.
Food waste is most common in households and restaurants, with close to fifty per cent of all prepared foods going to waste. NAIT’s Culinary Arts department acknowledges and praises Leftovers’ mission.
“In the kitchens, we see a lot of waste,” said Department Head of Culinary Arts, Jeff Gordon.
“I think this connection with Global Shapers and Leftovers sheds light on that.”
NAIT’s Culinary Arts department continues to speak with Leftovers YEG in hopes to make this an annual event moving forward.
