Food Rescuers give over 15,000 meals to Miami’s homeless post food festival

By: Victor Jorges/Assistant News Director

Thousands of people attend the South Beach Wine and Food Festival every year to taste the latest innovations of the global culinary world. However, few stop to think of one unavoidable component of the festival: the leftovers.

The vendors at SOBEWFF produce more than what’s needed to cover the event, overproducing around 16,000 to 20,000 pounds of food during its eight events. For a while, much of it was thrown away, until John D. Buschman, a University professor in corporate social responsibility, stepped in.

Buschman is the leader of the festival’s Food Rescue team, which is composed of himself and 14 University student volunteers.

“Food rescue or food recovery is collecting all the food after an event, restaurant operation, big conference or convention where they’ve produced a lot of food, they’ve overproduced, usually on purpose,” said Buschman. “Under normal conditions in the past, they would throw that away. What we’ve been trying to do, especially with this festival is to get involved early and collect everything that’s left over.”

Vegetables collected from a vendor’s booth at SOBEWFF on Sunday, Feb. 24. Photo by: Victor Jorges

There are several elements that must be taken into consideration, he said, in order for this operation to be successful.

“There’s a limit to time. There’s a limit to temperature. How long it can be out. If [the food] is cooked, if it’s raw, there are different procedures for handling each one,” said Buschman. “The idea is to have a refrigerated truck as close to the venue as possible, a lot of help, move the food fast. Get it out of production, wherever it’s being cooked or served. It is sealed into these aluminum pans, labeled, weighted, and on to the refrigerated truck.”

His involvement in SOBEWFF started over a decade ago as part of the logistics team, where he worked for around five years before transitioning into the Food Rescue initiative.

I had already seen much food that would not get picked up and therefore wasted so for the third year I asked permission to coordinate a better effort,” said Buschman.

Rather than throw out the leftover food, Buschman’s group of “food rescuers” collect and donate it to the Miami Rescue Mission, an organization that assists the homeless in Miami. This would provide anywhere between 15,000 and 20,000 meals for those in need, he said.

The benefits from his team’s work is also multifaceted, he said.

“One is food waste reduction. The less food that gets thrown out and ends up in the landfill, the better it is for the planet. We’re not producing greenhouse gases with that food,” said Buschman. “On the other hand, we’re also helping feed people that are homeless and have no food. We’re helping to take care of our food insecure community all around us.”

The food collected from the vendors was stored in aluminum containers and brought to a refrigerated truck. Photo by: Victor Jorges.

Second year social work graduate student Huston Ochoa, who worked directly under Buschman at this year’s festival, said that 10 years in fashion photography production inspired him to go back to school for social work.

“Now, I’m using my experience in production to go and bring it to a more ethical practice,” said Ochoa.

Ochoa believes that this initiative not only impacts the members of the homeless shelter that they’re aiding but in the audience members of the festival.

“People are out just to have a good time, at festivals like this, where they see that there’s a good reason, a good purpose, something good going on,” said Ochoa. “They see that ‘oh wait, this isn’t just a wasteful thing, and yeah we’re here having fun, but it can also interact with something of a good purpose.’ I think that’s good for the audience here.”

Ochoa said the vendors are a crucial element to make the food rescue possible.

“The vendors care also. They’re the kind of in-between people. They’re here trying to market themselves. They have their ‘storefront’ per se, but they’re also turning around and helping us,” said Ochoa. “They’re working really hard, and it’s really nice.”

FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, which has become synonymous with SOBEWFF,  plays an important role in this initiative.

Buschman said that while it’s good that hospitality students are exposed to food and event preparation, they must be aware and recognize the food excess. There’s also a humane side to this action and is not just an event solely to indulge, he said.

“It’s important for whatever organization you’re with to be standing in the community, too. You can’t be looked at as only serving the wealthy foodies who are willing to pay $250 a pop for samples of the best wine and food,” said Buschman. “That’s great, but we know there’s food left over and we know there are hungry people in this direction. We’re trying to bridge those two.”

Biology student, Anaiti Arauz, and hospitality student, Edward del Castillo, collect leftover pasta from the Barilla booth. Photo by: Victor Jorges.

Buschman said that his fourteen hospitality management students get hands-on experience and realize that there is a serious need in the community they can address.

“Normally you’d walk by there and go ‘let’s just throw it in the dumpster.’ By the time they graduate from our program, they have this experience of one, two, or three years of realizing where the food is,” said Buschman.

Ochoa believes that this initiative can help people from any career path to see the difference one can make in the community.

“It’s just a reminder for everyone, event planners, participants down to the recipients, the homeless,” said Ochoa. “It is possible to tie this in with an ethical purpose.”

 

 

 

Be the first to comment on "Food Rescuers give over 15,000 meals to Miami’s homeless post food festival"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*