Foodworks debuts nationwide food donation program

Compass Group’s restaurant incubator wants to bring awareness to food waste.

To that end, Foodworks has launched a nationwide food donation program. Via the program, the incubator’s partners will donate leftover food to local charities on a daily basis.

To celebrate the initiative’s launch—and to highlight Compass Group’s Stop Food Waste Day, held this year on April 26—Foodworks’ partners are hosting a variety of special events.

Ben’s Backdraft BBQ, Mac’s Seafood and Baba Nahm’s Mediterranean, all in Asheville, N.C., are encouraging customers to make the Stop Food Waste Day pledge and are distributing recipe cards that provide tips for using up leftovers.

In New York City, bowl concept OneSeed is hosting a pop-up where customers can pick up dog treats containing kitchen ingredients that would have otherwise gone to waste.

Compass Group launched Stop Food Waste Day in 2017, dedicating the last Wednesday of Earth Month to spotlighting food waste in its accounts across the country. The company has also put together a Stop Food Waste Day cookbook of recipes that lean on leftover ingredients.

One-third of the food produced across the globe goes to waste each year, according to Compass Group.