Who gets what's left after big food and drink events, like Taste of the Nation? In South Florida, two food rescue organizations have joined forces to tackle food waste and make a difference for those in need.
In the United States, food waste is estimated at between a staggering 30-40 percent of the food supply. Food that could help feed families in need ends up in landfills, according to the USDA. In South Florida, two residents are working to combat that food waste and feed others.
Ellen Bowen is the Miami-Dade and Broward location director for Food Rescue US. Johan Gutierrez is founder and chairman of Enriched Foods. Their individual work and joint projects are bringing food to South Florida’s neediest individuals.
Bowen was inspired to get involved with Food Rescue US after attending several dinners and repeatedly hearing chefs talking about food waste, especially after large events.
“I began researching ways to become involved and discovered Food Rescue US, an organization that was rolling out nationally and had developed an app,” Bowen says. In March 2018 she met one of the program’s founders, Kevin Mullins, pastor of a Connecticut church where they had been gathering food from local restaurants to bring to local shelters. They created an app that enables them to engage volunteers and move extra food from grocers, restaurants and other services to social service agencies that feed people, an idea that appealed to Bowen. “I approached them about starting an operation in Miami,” she says. The app “has made it almost foolproof to pick up donations. It’s incredibly user-friendly.”
Bowen started the South Florida operation in Miami Beach, which she feels “is the most giving community, especially the restaurant community.” One of their stops is the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach – sometimes twice a week – where they’ve picked up 1,200 pounds of food in huge aluminum pans. They’ve also done massive food rescues at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens after football weekends and the Miami Open.
Other big donors are 1Hotel on Miami Beach, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Markets. Supermarkets get daily deliveries, so “we get what’s left on their shelves,” she says. Other participants include the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, Richard Hales from Bird & Bone at The Confidante Miami Beach, Brad Kilgore from his restaurant Alter in Wynwood and BRAVA at the Arsht Center, Daniel Roy from The Jim & Neesie in the Generator Miami and Peter Vauthy from Red the Steakhouse.
“However, we don’t collect that much from restaurants because good chefs don’t waste,” says Bowen. “It’s mostly when they’ve hosted an event or for some unanticipated reason there’s leftover food.”
Big events are a big source of food to rescue, including the annual Taste of the Nation event and the Miami City Ballet’s gala in March. They’ll be rescuing food from Super Bowl LIV in February 2020.
Where does it all go? To Camillus House, the Miami Rescue Mission – they do 1,500 meals a day – and Lotus House Women’s Shelter, where they’ve been providing food to them almost every day from Trader Joe’s. “It’s also helpful for their residents’ chef training program for which we’re their biggest donor,” Bowen says. They’ve also expanded north, helping the Broward Outreach Center and Broward Partnership for the Homeless.
The food rescues are coordinated through the app, through which participants register either as a volunteer rescuer or receiving agency. Bowen then receives an alert on her phone, reaches out to them and coordinates according to what they’ve registered for.
Those registered can tap on the “Schedule” button and get all the information they need. “For at least 90 percent of the rescues, there’s no need to talk to anyone because the app is so user-friendly. Rescues take half an hour or less thanks to the app efficiency,” she says.
The work is immensely gratifying. “To see the chefs’ and volunteers’ faces after a rescue, you feel like you make a difference,” she says. “It’s a real sense of community.”
In addition to helping the food-insecure, their mission helps the environment by keeping decomposing food out of landfills and avoiding generating gas emissions. “We want to reduce food waste, feed the hungry and reverse climate change,” she says. They’re planning a benefit for Food Rescue on April 1; check their site for details.
Bowen works very closely with another organization, Enriched Foods, founded by Johan Gutierrez, an accountant who owns Oceanview Financials, an accounting firm that works with hospitality businesses and restaurant owners. After a trip to San Francisco he was inspired to find a way to help people and tackle food waste at the same time.
“It was summer 2018 and I began formulating the concept for Enriched Foods and the idea of providing a five-star meal experience for those who can’t afford it,” says Gutierrez. “That’s the whole idea, diverting food from waste and providing a glamorous and luxurious event for those less fortunate.”
He spoke to a few friends who loved the idea and within a few weeks, they set up a 501(c)(3) within a month and a half. “We were up and running,” he says. Enriched Foods is fully supported by Oceanview Financials.
Enriched Foods hosts at least two events per month, including a second Saturday event called Soul Food at the Redland Community Farm and Market, formerly Verde Gardens. Soul Food began in early 2019 “and we’ve been doing them ever since,” says Gutierrez. “Chefs come in and cook all the food in the commissary kitchen, and then our volunteers, including the organization’s board members, put on the event with full sit-down service with an appetizer, entrée and dessert, to give it that five-star experience,” he says.
Based in Brickell, they currently work with several companies on a regular basis, including Whole Foods Markets; Netuno, a fish company; Prolimes; and Publix, who provides them with gift cards for their events. Bowen, through Food Rescue US, donates food for his events on a regular basis.
“We work on an events basis like the event we did with the Homeless Trust during Homelessness Awareness Week, which is the biggest event we’ve done,” Gutierrez says. For the event, held at Williams Park in November, they brought in seven non-profits and provided people with food as well as showers through portable shower stations, clothes and medical attention.
They also host an event every other month at the Mother Teresa Missionary House near Jackson Memorial Hospital, providing food for the homeless, preparing it and serving just like at their other events.
Like Bowen, Gutierrez believes in the mission of diverting food and providing it to those in need to eliminate food waste. He connected with her after seeing an ad for Food Rescue US. “Since then, we’ve helped each other tremendously at each other’s events,” he says.
Another huge supporter of Johan’s is DJ Font, who comes to every event and provides music pro bono.
In the works for Enriched Foods is market research to find out how many people are going to bed hungry and how much food is wasted in the tri-county area. “We’ll be working with Florida International University on this, partnering with one of their economics professors. It will be a full partnership and is currently in the development stages.”
Got surplus food? Turn it into meals for your hungry neighbors. Want to volunteer to help? Are you part of a group that should be on the receiving end of food donations? Find out more:
Food Rescue US
Enriched Foods
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