![]() ![]() It sounds like we're trying to do a lot at once (and we are!), but really we’re taking a broader approach to looking at the different aspects of our local and regional food system and trying to bring together coalitions of stakeholders, organizations, and community members around these issues to set common goals and help us to push for better policy that supports these things in the city. residents by affecting positive policy change. Food Policy Council started last August, so we're a relatively new organization and our mission and vision is to create a just, healthy, sustainable, and equitable food system for all by engaging, empowering, and informing D.C. Food Policy Council because of the fact that, although we’re a little late to the game as far as being formally organized, our community has been involved with individual policy efforts for years, and it’s a huge priority for the city. SM: I was personally inspired by the Los Angeles and Baltimore Food Policy Councils, but there are a lot all across the country which do really great work. Can you explain how the policy council model works, and how you envision it changing the food system around the country? Food Policy Council, and Laine, you’re its food policy director. I actually drafted and wrote that.” So I’ve reached out to him to see what possibilities there are to take this existing piece of legislation and improve it. I was on a panel a few months ago, and I mentioned the act, and afterwards, a man came up to me and said, “I’ve been so bored at this conference, but I perked right up when I heard you mention the Emerson Act. I don’t think it really struck a chord back then as much as it could now, so I always just throw it into conversation to remind people that there’s a really important piece of legislation that allows you to donate food. The Emerson Act, which was passed in 1996, builds on the Good Samaritan Law, and says you’re able to donate food without liability as long as you prepare and package it properly. ![]() SM: One of the main things that prevent restaurants and companies from donating food is their concern over potential liability. JBF: How is Food Rescue’s work related to the Emerson Act? It’s going to be a lot of little things that we just make part of our everyday routine in order to fix it, and this is a great example of that. I always tell people that food is wasted in so many different ways, there’s just not going to be one big idea to come save food. And large corporations use Food Rescue, too: I pick up a lot of the Sodexo route. It’s a great way for restaurateurs and small business owners to do their part and make sure extra food is not being wasted. And the app keeps track of your route and what you were able to rescue and give to people. Any given route feeds from 25 to 100 people, depending on how much food you rescued that day. You can either volunteer to pick up a route whenever you can-that’s what I do, because my schedule is all over the place, or you can adopt routes, so if you know you’re going to work from Monday to Friday and there’s a route that you pass by every single day, you then have the opportunity to pick up food and just deliver it somewhere. The gist is that when you open the app, there are all these routes available. Spike Mendelsohn: Food Rescue is a platform that allows people to take time out of their day on a volunteer basis and help get food that otherwise would be thrown away and it gives the chance for that food to actually go directly to a human being that is in need of a meal. Can you talk about what that app does and how you’re involved in it, individually and at your restaurants? JBF: You’re a big supporter and promoter of the app Food Rescue. ![]() ![]() We caught up with the chef and the FCP’s food policy director, Laine Cidlowski, to talk legislation, food recovery technology, and more. metro-area to Saudi Arabia), Mendelsohn clocks hours as a CARE ambassador, and as chair of the D.C. When he’s not overseeing his empire of restaurants (which stretch from the D.C. Chef Spike Mendelsohn may best be known for his appearances on Top Chef and the Barack and Michelle Obama–tailored burgers at his Washington, D.C.-based Good Stuff Eatery, but the Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change alum is also a committed advocate working to further good food in the nation’s capital and around the country. ![]()
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