Franklin County residents and businesses send more uneaten food to the landfill than any other type of waste.
This weekend at the Jazz & Rib Fest, Columbus is trying to "rescue" some of that food before it ends up in the trash.
The collaborative effort between the city's Departments of Public Service, Public Health, and Recreation and Parks and the nonprofit Columbus Food Rescue will work with Jazz and Rib Fest vendors to collect leftover, uncooked food at the end of the event.
Columbus City Councilman Christopher Wyche said when vendors come from out of town, they often buy food when they arrive and don’t take it with them when they leave.
"A lot of times they do not want to leave with raw items, and so most of the time that food is just essentially thrown away at the end of a festival, and that food waste ends up in our landfills,” Wyche said.
The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio collects about one million pounds of food waste every day, according to SWACO Director of Communications Hanna Greer-Brown.
“Whether it's waste coming from a home or a business, the single most common item arriving at the landfill is food waste,” Greer-Brown said. “That really equates to a lot of important resources being thrown out.”
At least this year, some of the waste from the three-day Jazz & Rib Fest will be diverted. The event starts Friday and runs through Sunday at West Bank and Bicentennial Parks.
On Sunday, Columbus Food Rescue will take the raw foods they collect to a local restaurant to be cooked before it's distributed to those in need. The plan is to host a dinner for the homeless community.
Depending on how much food is collected and cooked, the food may be distributed through other partners as well, Wyche said.
It’s the first time the city is attempting a food “rescue” event at a festival.
“Jazz and Ribs is just kind of a great opportunity to try it out, because it's one of the bigger events in which the city is heavily involved in,” Wyche said.
Wyche said if the program works, the city may try it at larger events.
