Yesterday’s post raised the question of whether Fancy Food Shows in different cities (there are three every year) donate their considerable amount of surplus food. Here’s a quick follow-up:
The short answer is yes. The National Association for the Specialty Food Trades (NASFT), which organizes the Fancy Food Shows, coordinates donations at their events in Chicago (every spring) and the West Coast (every winter). The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago’s food bank, recovers the leftovers from the annual Spring Fancy Food Show. Last year, they rescued 12,000 pounds of specialty foods.
At this winter’s San Francisco event, unopened non-perishables went to Under One Roof. The organization sold the items in its retail space, with 100% of the profits going directly to AIDS agencies. St. Anthony’s Dining Room, which serves free meals to poor and homeless San Franciscans, collected more than 18,000 pounds of perishable foods from the same show.
While the first Fancy Food Show was held in 1955, it only began donating 18 yrs ago. The amount of food recovered, though, seems to be increasing. In 2006, New York’s City Harvest got 106,100 pounds. This year, 122,700 pounds went to more than 500 agencies in New York City. That’s a lot of fancy food not wasted!