You might call it leftovers. Meggan Uecker calls it food rescue.
During the season of giving — and beyond, she hopes — a national effort is under way toward saving good food from going to waste.
And restaurateurs, bakers and grocers on the North Olympic Peninsula are taking part, said Uecker, waste reduction coordinator at Washington State University’s Clallam County Extension.
Earlier this week, food bank managers Shirley Moss of Port Townsend, and Jessica Hernandez of Port Angeles, were in the middle of rescuing what are called “pre-consumer” goods.
“I’m doing a pickup right now from the Port Townsend Food Co-op deli,” Moss said when reached on her cellphone Monday.
Port Townsend’s Pane d’Amore, Courtyard Cafe, Aldrich’s, Mount Townsend Creamery and Lehani’s also donate leftover breads, other baked goods, cheeses and soups that weren’t served.
“I can take things that come from inspected kitchens,” said Moss, adding that these donors may well enjoy tax deductions.
“Right now I’ve got chili con carne from the Co-op,” she said, which will make a hearty dinner for someone in need.
Mark Ozias, manager of the Sequim Food Bank, said he too receives Pane d’Amore’s frequent donations of bread and pastries. He added that he’d like to develop relationships with more local restaurants with leftovers.
In Port Angeles, Hernandez has a driver who regularly receives donations from the Yong Jin Asian Bakery, Good to Go Grocery and other stores.
At Good to Go, leftover pastries are frozen during the week for a Saturday pickup, said staffer Michael Murphy.
“We have drivers on every day,” said Hernandez, adding that the key requirement is that the food was prepared in a commercial kitchen.
“Franz Bakery just called me a couple minutes ago, with 50 trillion boxes of Christmas cookies,” Hernandez added, possibly exaggerating.
Uecker, meanwhile, notes that the federal Good Samaritan Act was passed in 1996 to encourage donation of not only canned and packaged goods, but also unspoiled perishable food.
“Food waste makes up the largest sector of our municipal waste,” she added.
Much of what is thrown out could be “put in a better place: compost, food rescue, animal feed,” she added.
Food banks such as those in Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend are good hubs, Uecker added, since they have ample cold storage and can redistribute food to other programs and pantries in Forks, Clallam Bay and Neah Bay.
When they give their leftovers, businesses can ask for receipts for a tax write-off, she said.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
