In the hours leading up to Super Bowl LVII in Arizona, celebrity chef Bobby Flay will host the 2023 Players Tailgate Party. Following the event, any food that goes uneaten will be donated to a local nonprofit, allowing them to distribute it to those in need.
The Party will bring together active players in the National Football League, celebrities, and guests for food, drinks, and entertainment before the game. But events like these can be major sources of food waste. At the institutional and commercial level, 26 millions tons of food goes to waste each year, according to ReFED.
At the same time, Feeding America estimates that around 10.2 percent of all Americans are food insecure. And in Arizona, where the Super Bowl and this year’s Tailgate Party are taking place, that number is even higher at 14.6 percent.
While not the only solution, food recovery represents a model that keeps food out of landfills while addressing hunger. And previous large-scale celebrity events similar to the Tailgate Party have resulted in the donation of tens of thousands of pounds of surplus food to nonprofits.
These events “can use their status to show others within their industry that food recovery, not food waste, must be the option of choice.” writes Regina Anderson, Executive Director of the Food Recovery Network.
Read more about the food recovery efforts taking place around Super Bowl LVII here.
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Photo courtesy of Thomas Serer, Unsplash
