Students join Auckland Council to promote cutting food waste
Auckland Council has been working with AUT culinary students to inspire Aucklanders to love their leftovers and reduce food waste.
AUT students created crafty dishes of Bread and Butter Pudding and filled Bread Pies from food that would’ve been wasted for the council’s Love Food Hate Waste event in Britomart.
Programme Leader at AUT’s catering school, Glenys Casci, says the Love Food Hate Waste philosophy is ingrained in how they teach.
“We aim to maximise the use of every ingredient and generate as little food waste as possible. Food is a precious resource that should be treated with respect.
“We love working with the community and it’s been fantastic for the students to help out with Auckland Council’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign. It’s been good practice too as often this is just the type of ingenious, bulk cooking that happens in commercial kitchens.”
Culinary Arts Student Dhruv Mohan was part of the class cooking with the products due to be binned, “It may not be in its prime but this is good produce which is still edible. There’s so many ways to maximise food, like using bones for stock etc., that letting fresh produce go to waste is such a shame.
“Professional chefs use every technique they can to try and reduce food waste in the kitchen - wasted food is wasted profit.”
In September AUT Master of Gastronomy students went out with Kiwi Harvest, an organisation which collects food which would otherwise have been thrown away for being passed its ‘best by’ date. The students used the ingredients to prepare meals for Ronald McDonald House.
The catering school has its own sustainable methods for disposing of food waste including electric composting and a worm farm which in turn fertilizes the school’s own rooftop garden.
Auckland Council is supporting Love Food Hate Waste activities in Auckland throughout November. For more information and event schedule please visit makethemostofwaste.co.nz
For leftovers inspiration and more check out lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz.