As Jazz & Rib Fest wound down, volunteers with wagons went from vendor to vendor, asking them to donate usable food that they would otherwise throw out.
The goal was to divert food from the landfill and to feed those in need in the city.
“Surprisingly, a lot of the vendors were really happy to have this option and to not throw away food,” said Columbus City Councilman Christopher Wyche. “And even more surprisingly, they really didn't want credit. They just wanted to do the right thing.”
All in all, the effort that included multiple city departments and Columbus Food Rescue managed to “rescue” around 780 pounds of food.
Emily Rials, co-director of Columbus Food Rescue, said that the food was distributed to about nine locations, including five crisis housing centers like Van Buren Shelter and Star House Columbus. Some food also went to a case worker at a supportive housing location that assists people who have housing, but don’t necessarily have consistent access to food.
“One of the most exciting things about this really is this was celebratory food, right? This was festival food,” Rials said.
The "rescued" food included ribs, macaroni and around 90 pounds of grilled corn.
“Being able to take that kind of summer food to people who didn't necessarily get to experience the loveliness of Jazz & Rib Fest in person was extraordinarily powerful,” Rials said.
Thanks to a freezer van rented by the city, Columbus Food Rescue was able to collect more food and distribute it to more locations than it otherwise could have, Rials said.
The van cost the city about $2,000, but was extra handy when a vendor donated popsicles in bulk, Wyche and Rials said. Along with heading to other locations, some of the popsicles made their way to Columbus Early Learning Center, Rials said.
Rials was also excited to save one particular rack of ribs that they were able to finish in Columbus Food Rescue’s Ro’s kitchen.
“It was like mostly cooked, but they hadn't fully finished it, and they were getting ready to throw it away because they couldn't sell it. And we were able to say, ‘we've got a chef and our chef knows how to finish these ribs,’” Rials said.
She said the finished ribs likely made their way to a meal for about 120 people at Outreach Ministry on West Broad Street.
Rials said that Columbus Food Rescue has saved leftover food at events like the Memorial Tournament and the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival, but in those cases, the food was gathered days later after local vendors took inventory. At Jazz & Rib Fest, many vendors were not local and were on their way out of town.
“In this case, it was really exciting to actually get to wander around while the festival was still sort of winding up,” Rials said. “The smells and the sights of all of these different stalls were fabulous, and it was exciting to be able to pick up from so many different locations.”
Rials and Wyche said they would do a food rescue at a festival like Jazz & Ribs again and that they may even try it at larger events.
“It was definitely a success,” Wyche said. “There was definitely some learning that we had from going through this experience, one being get more volunteers.”
