The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE) has launched its Food Waste Pilot Program. Certifiably Green Denver, the city’s program that offers free advising services to help business make their practices more green, created the Food Waste Pilot Program to help Denver restaurants prevent wasted food at the source, donate pre-consumer leftovers and recycle food waste via composting.
Restaurants generate about 25% of Denver’s food waste, which is the second-highest sector after households, which stand at 41%. So far, nine Denver restaurants are participating in the pilot program. They include:
· Ale House
· Ash’Kara
· Bar Dough
· The Bindery
· Black Eye Coffee
· Little Man Ice Cream
· Ohana Island Kitchen
· Uncle
· Wooden Spoon Café & Bakery
In addition, Root Down and its parent company, Edible Beats, will participate on a consulting basis. “Working with restaurants on this makes so much sense because chefs already are trained to create their menus using as much of any given ingredient as possible,” said Susan Renaud, community engagement administrator for DDPHE’s Certifiably Green Denver. “Chefs also are such visible and valuable contributors to our community, and their attention to food waste will help us reach a larger audience.”