NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee is in its third year of Food Waste Prevention week — April 1 to 7 — and is hosting a statewide food drive along with several events to learn more about sustainable food practices.
The week is meant to help inform Tennesseeans about why reducing food waste is important, what food recovery looks like, and other strategies surrounding food.
In Nashville, the week begins with an event at Tennessee State University with a panel discussion and a chef demonstration. It's called the No Food Left Behind Panel, a waste-to-waste cooking demo & tasting, on April 1 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. CT. You can join in person or on zoom.
There is also an event on April 6 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Yazoo Brewing with food demos, worm bin composting, family activities, prizes and more to top off the week. Guests will be guided through the life cycle of a food system, starting at the production stage of food, (growing and farming) and journeying all the way to disposal (composting) — according to the website.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is partnering with several organizations to help with outreach and education for the week's events:
- The University of Tennessee,
- Clean Memphis, New Terra Compost,
- Zero Waste Nashville
- Urban Green Lab, Tennessee State University,
- The Network of Sustainable Solutions
- The Society of St. Andrew
“TDEC is proud to be a part of this effort to bring awareness to the issue of food waste,” said TDEC Commissioner, David Salyers. “This is a collaborative approach, and we want Tennessee to be a leader in this cause.”
This event happens nationally as well, with more than 600 partners across 48 states and 11 countries.
To learn more about food drive locations and events, visit the website.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
