NFRD Who's Who: Q&A with Jenny Rustemeyer of "Just Eat It"

This is the sixth post in our NFRD Who's Who series, a collection of interviews with the fantastic leaders who will be speaking at the National Food Recovery Dialogue from April 2-4. Stay tuned – we'll be sharing more interviews as we count down to the NFRD.

Jenny Rustemeyer is a Leo Award-winning producer with Peg Leg Films, a tiny production company that makes socially conscious films to inspire big personal action. Along with her partner Grant, she produced "The Clean Bin Project", a documentary film and blog about a year-long competition to live zero waste. More recently, she spent 6 months living off discarded food and produced "Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story", a film that won 13 festival awards, garnered more than 12 million trailer views on Facebook, premiered prime time on MSNBC, and has played in hundreds of communities around the world. A dedicated recycler, zero-waster, and community-builder, Jenny has collaborated on many public events including the first Feeding the 5000 food waste awareness event in Canada and a self-supported, 30-city, cross-country film tour by bicycle.

FRN: What are you looking forward to at the conference?

JR: Hearing real stories of what others are doing to combat food waste! (I may be a little star struck by the other keynote speakers.) 

FRN: Why are you passionate about food recovery?

JR: Food is essential; having access to healthy food is a basic human right. Creating equity in the food system is the starting point for making a more equitable world.

FRN: Tell us your proudest professional accomplishment.

JR: Going from making a movie in our basement to being prime time on MSNBC. And conquering my fear of public speaking.

FRN: We like to have fun here, so here's a silly question. What's your spirit vegetable?

JR: My spirit vegetable is a carrot -- sweet, homegrown, and sometimes wonky. 

Interested in learning more about Jen's film Just Eat It? Register for the National Food Recovery Dialogue today to meet Jen and secure your tickets for our screening in Washington D.C. on April 3. 

FRN at Michigan's 4th Annual Food for Thought Dinner

This blog post is brought to you by Madi Togrul, current president of FRN at Michigan, University of Michigan's chapter. Madi has been involved with FRN at Michigan since her freshman year and has been an active leader of the chapter for the past three years. She can be reached at mtogrul@umich.edu.

Madi (standing, left, with scarf) introducing FRN at Michigan's 2016 Food for Thought Dinner speakers. 

This year was our fourth annual Food for Thought Dinner and the biggest so far! We had over 70 students come to hear panelists speak on issues of food waste and sustainability. Each year, we reach out to local businesses and ask if they would be interested in recovering food for us in the days leading up to the event. This year we had donations of recovered food from Amer’s Mediterranean Deli, Babo Market, Silvio’s Organic Ristorante and Pizzeria, Mezes Greek Grill, Afternoon Delight, and the student-run organization Student Food Co. We served recovered food to clearly demonstrate our mission of fighting waste while feeding people. In previous years, we have had facilitated group discussions about issues of hunger and waste. This year, we invited five community members involved in sustainability and food work to come to our campus and speak about what they do and how they contribute to the Ann Arbor community. 

A full crowd of students and members from the greater U-M community turned out for FRN at Michigan's annual Food for Thought Dinner.

Our first panelist was Noelle Bowman, the Chairwoman of the Waste, Recycling, and Packaging Policy Action Team for the Washtenaw Food Policy Council and the Solid Waste Program Specialist of the Washtenaw County Office of the Water Resources Commissioner, Solid Waste Division. She spoke about the kinds of packaging waste generated in food service facilities, its negative impacts on the environment, and shared ways to reduce that kind of waste. The second panelist was Sebastian Wreford, the Manager of Food Donor Relations at Food Gatherers. Food Gatherers is our local community partner and the food bank that serves Washtenaw County. Sebastian spoke about the role FRN plays in Food Gatherers’ distributions and about how and where they serve the food we recover. He also thanked our organization for our continued involvement with Food Gatherers. The third panelist was Chef John Merucci, the head chef at U-M's South Quad’s dining hall. John spoke about Michigan Dining’s role in our recoveries and shared the ways that Michigan Dining is working to reduce waste in its kitchens and dining halls. The fourth panelist was Amanda Sweetman, the Program Manager for The Farm at St. Joe’s. She spoke about her work as a farmer at St. Joseph Mercy’s hospital farm, sharing her perspectives on environmental stewardship, education, and community building. She also spoke about the ways that the hospital utilizes the farm as a healing tool for patients. The fifth and final panelist to speak was Professor Joe Trumpey, a professor in the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan. Trumpey spoke about his own personal farm and the creative work that he does both there and on campus that focuses on biodiversity, modern agriculture, and ecological sustainability. 

A student enjoying the refreshments, all of which were recovered from local restaurants in Ann Arbor.

This dinner is important for our community because it provides us the opportunity to share what we do with the greater student body at the university. This year we engaged the local community as well, bringing in active community members to speak about their involvement with sustainability efforts and food waste in Ann Arbor. We share our mission with both those who attend the event and those businesses that donate food by serving only food that would have otherwise been thrown away. We recover all the food we serve and the event is entirely zero-waste, thanks to compostable utensils and plates supplied by the University’s Student Sustainability Initiative. 

Students line up to grab fresh, recovered produce from U-M's Student Food Co.

At this year’s Food for Thought Dinner, I learned about a wide variety of ways that people in the Ann Arbor community are working to reduce food waste and promote sustainable and responsible practices regarding food. I also came to realize that students at our university are invested and interested in the greater Ann Arbor community and vice versa. Seeing so many people come together to speak about preventing waste and fighting hunger was truly inspiring. 

I would tell other FRNds looking to host events like this to plan ahead! Organizing panelists, booking a location, and reaching out to potential food donors are the most important aspects of the event and require advanced planning. Advertising is also hugely important; we had such a great turnout because we advertised through a variety of mediums and we started advertising early and continued it all the way up to the event. Finally, I would urge FRNds looking to host events like this to sit down together and talk about what FRN’s mission means to them! The best part about hosting a large, involved event like this is sharing your mission with so many different people. Make sure you know what you want to say about FRN and the work that we do, as well as what kinds of advice and encouragement you want to offer to those who attend the event. The more passionate you are about the mission you’re communicating, the more people will see that and feel motivated to get involved.

Inspired by what you read? Keep up with FRN at Michigan and their future events on Facebook and Twitter.

From Regina's Desk: 5 Things I Do to Combat Food Waste

Individuals play a strong hand in reducing food waste! Not only do we use our voice to tell restaurants and other businesses that we expect them to source-reduce food; we too can play a part. I wanted to share with everyone five things that I do as an individual to reduce my food waste. Keep reading for some tips on how you can do your part.

 

#1 Host Smarter

When hosting, I’m trying to cut down on my surplus food. This is a hard one, but it’s not impossible! If you’re like me, you’ve grown up with parents and friends who’ve always provided more than enough, and we’re trained to do the same thing when we host friends. It can be a tricky balance—to have enough food for my guest to feel sated and not run out, and to not provide so much food that we end up being wasteful. So I’ve started talking to all of my friends about my job at FRN, and they immediately get it—what it feels like to have so much food leftover. When I do host my friends, I always have extra to-go containers handy so I can share the leftovers with my guests, or I'll ask them to bring some containers with them, and keep for my family what I know we will actually eat.

#2 COLLABORATE FOR ACTION

I collaborate for action. I recently joined a Sustainable Food working group here in Washington, D.C. composed of individuals who work in a variety of sustainability roles for their day jobs and want to combine the power of our collective knowledge to put together events in our community, and support our larger community in being more aware of food recovery and other sustainability issues. From this collaborative effort, I know that I’ll also gain new knowledge for ways to be an ever-more conscientious community member. I’ll definitely share with the network how things progress! 

Regina's dog Gus enjoying leftover broccoli stems. Feeding animals is the third recommendation in the U.S. EPA's Food Recovery Hierarchy.

#3 Follow the Food Recovery Hierarchy

My dog Gus always reminds me that on the U.S. EPA's Food Recovery Hierarchy, after source reduction and feeding hungry people, the next recommendation for recovering surplus food is to feed animals. 

#4 COMPOST WHAT CAN'T BE SAVED

Compost Cab is a local business that picks up my compost right from my front porch. They service the Washington, D.C. area, and I know there are similar models gaining traction across the country, like the company Compost Pedallers in Austin, TX. For the food that is not recoverable, I am so happy I am able to compost! I can also toss in many paper products like napkins that might otherwise be tossed in the trash. And, at the end of the composting season, Compost Cab will give me back fresh compost for my garden!

#5 FREEZE! FREEZE! FREEZE!

I freeze the heck out of everything I can! I am a big believer in freezing food. When my garden exploded with tomatoes, what I couldn’t eat right away, give away, or can, I put in the freezer. When I make a big batch of soup, I freeze it in small batches. I not only say what the food is, I also make a note like, “Mmmmm!” if the dish was particularly tasty. And, if I made something that was just okay, I don’t freeze it; I eat it right away. I only reserve my freezer for foods I’m going to want to eat again with zeal. 

To read more from our Executive Director, Regina Northouse, check out her most recent posts in our From Regina's Desk series: A Love Sonnet, Growing Stronger Every Day, and more!

Lessons Learned from Rooting DC

HC snagged some of the free seeds Rooting DC offered.

I’ve killed a lot of plants. The succulents somehow stay alive, but the herbs, those never last more than a month. It’s disheartening to watch a basil plant shrivel up and die. The cilantro, the rosemary, the parsley -- all gone. When someone told me about Rooting DC, I realized that was exactly where I (and my anything-but-green thumb) needed to be. I even registered to volunteer sorting seeds before the forum, hoping to bring some good luck to my gardening.

DC Greens, the forum’s host, stacked the roster with major players in Washington, D.C.’s urban agriculture world. I could spend three paragraphs listing the awesome presenters, or you could just browse the program and find those who stand out to you. Many of the presentation notes will also be posted on the forum's website, which should be super handy for the garden I’m planning. That’s right: I’m going to GROW THINGS! (I’m laughing a little while writing this because it’s potentially an outlandish goal, but I want to give it a shot.)

I was only able to attend Rooting DC's morning sessions, but they were insightful and inspiring. The first was lead by Amanda Marino, food growing coordinator at Capital Area Food Bank, and she shared knowledge on starting and improving your garden game with as little money as possible. I learned where to get free compost and that you can save roughly $30 on 10 pounds of tomatoes if you grow your own.

After that, I went to a presentation by Josh Singer, the community garden specialist at DC Department of Parks and Recreation, on growing vegetables. I learned so much! Like the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomato plants (can you tell I like tomatoes?) and how to organize a garden bed so that it will produce food all year long. He also told me that there are nutrition in some weeds. It turns out that purslane is full of Omega 3 fatty acids and dandelions taste great in salads!

I’m so excited to sow some seeds and watch things grow! Only time will tell if I’ve turned over a new leaf and can keep them alive. Maybe one day I’ll be able to share pictures of the 10 pounds of tomatoes I grew from seed...

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Some fellow coworkers were also able to go to Rooting DC, so I asked them if they’d share their thoughts. Below are the some other lessons our FRNds picked up at the forum.

Hannah G. is excited about the energy that exists behind food justice in her new home.

As a recent transplant to D.C., Rooting DC was an incredible experience I'd heard rumblings, but I didn't quite realize how many amazing things are happening here in sustainable food and food justice. D.C. is full of leaders working aggressively to change our food system from the inside and out -- and it's working. Attending Rooting DC, I learned that we're on our way to building a more sustainable, inclusive food system here in the District. I can't wait to get more involved!

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Cassidy was inspired by the diversity of the speakers and how well they represented the demographic of our city.

Of the sessions I attended, I found "Food Justice: 7 Talks Each in 7 Minutes" the most influential. It highlighted the work of different organizations and individuals changing the ways people approach issues of food access in the District. Speakers included Jeremiah Lowery of DC Fair Food, Chris Bradshaw of Dreaming out Loud (catch him at the NFRD in April) and Dominique Hazzard of DC Greens, among others. Refreshingly, most of the speakers were people of color. When it comes to issues of food insecurity in our city, theirs are the voices that must be heard because they are the most reflective of the communities in which these issues are most deeply realized. One of the speakers, Brandy Brooks, remarked "we are the ones who have been doing this work for decades," yet she also mentioned that it's still rare to see people of color in decision-making roles within the food justice movement. Everyone has a part to play in affecting a more equitable city, but we should look to long-time residents to lead us toward that future and here in the Chocolate City, that typically means the leaders won't look like me.

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Mika learned quite a few things to make her successful green thumb even better!

One session I attended was on growing gardens in challenging spaces, put on by Love & Carrots. Here are some tips that they provided:

1. Sunlight is the most important factor to consider when choosing a growing site. Don't just guess -- track and record how many hours in the day your growing site will receive sun and compare it to the needs of different crops.

2. If you have limited space in sunny areas, utilize wall space to grow food up on trellises.

3. If you have limited space, plant foods that will provide a continuous harvest (lettuce, kale, tomatoes, etc.) instead of produce that takes a while to cultivate one carrot/beet/radish. That way you will maximize harvest throughout the season.

Another session I went to was on MUSHROOMS!

It reaffirmed everything I love about them -- they're literally magical and most plants couldn't grow without them. They help distribute nutrients between different organisms in an ecosystem to maintain the best ecological balance. They have a lot of medicinal properties and are the only produce you can get Vitamin D from (tip: leave mushrooms out in the sun for an hour before you cook them and you'll get more Vitamin D from them!).

It's actually pretty easy to grow your own mushrooms -- you just need a sterile substrate (cardboard, straw, woodchips, sawdust) to grow them on. To inoculate the substrate, you can actually just break apart a mushroom on a sterile piece of cardboard (boil it to sterilize it) and put them in a plastic bag. You can check out info from Good Sense Farm and MycoSymbiotics for more resources!

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Sara’s a fan of Rooting DC, and this year she focused on food systems and access in our area.

This was my third visit to Rooting DC, and because my backyard is fully shaded and full of vicious, blood-sucking vampires (did I say vampires? I meant mosquitoes) I attended not to boost my gardening skill-set but to find out more about the DC food system and how I can get involved in making it stronger and better. I participated in an interactive session to help shape priorities for the DC Food Policy Council, I got a sneak peek of Xavier Brown's incredible work with The Green Scheme, a local nonprofit focused on community healing through gardening and environmental education [you can catch him at the NFRD!], and I learned more about the work of UDC and Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture to bring local produce to food deserts via Urban Food Hubs and Mobile Markets. DC has so many problems related to food access and it was inspiring to hear about so many creative, people-powered solutions.

Like what you read? Interested in learning more about the DC food community? Find out more about Rooting DC on their blog, Facebook, and Twitter. 

NFRD Who's Who: Q&A with GEORGE JONES OF BREAD FOR THE CITY

This is the fifth post in our NFRD Who's Who series, a collection of interviews with the fantastic leaders who will be speaking at the National Food Recovery Dialogue from April 2-4. Stay tuned – we'll be sharing more interviews as we count down to the NFRD.

George A. Jones became Chief Executive Officer of Bread for the City (BFC) on January 2, 1996. BFC’s mission is to alleviate the suffering caused by poverty and rectify the conditions that perpetuate poverty. The agency achieves this goal by each month providing free food, clothing, legal, medical and social services to more than 5,000 D.C. families living in poverty, while also advocating for racially equitable public policy reforms that seek to eliminate socio-economic disparities that disproportionately affect people of color and those living on low-incomes. Jones was recently named by Georgetown University the winner of the 2015 John Thompson Jr., Legacy of the Dream award for his almost 20 years of social justice efforts in D.C. He also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the DC Primary Care Association, is a Board Director for the Capital Area Food Bank and Life Pieces to Masterpieces, and serves as a Commissioner on the DC Access to Justice Commission.

FRN: What are you looking forward to at the conference?

GJ: I'm hoping the conference combines insights about food security and its intersection with poverty and socioeconomic disparities that effect people of color disproportionately in D.C. and across the country. 

FRN: Why are you passionate about food recovery?

GJ: For over the past 30 years, I have been passionate about ending poverty and creating a more economically just Washington, D.C.  and United States. I think that food insecurity is one of the major consequences of persistent poverty, and ensuring the adequate access to healthy foods for everyone is one of the major imperatives to creating more economically just society. 

FRN: What's your proudest accomplishment of your career?

GJ: I am really proud that Bread for the City has maintained a strong reputation for providing strong and quality programs and services and doing important and effective public advocacy work in D.C., during my 20 years at the organization.

FRN: Time for some fun. What's your favorite pizza topping?

GJ: Believe it or not, my favorite pizza topping is pineapple, usually combined with ham.

Interested in learning more about George's work with Bread for the City? Register for the National Food Recovery Dialogue today and follow Bread for the City on Facebook and Twitter.