5 Questions with Chef Allison Trinkle - Chartwells Higher Education @ UMBC
1. What’s your take on all the attention food waste is getting lately?
Food waste is a problem that affects every aspect of our food system, from the product in the fields, to the family table and the landfills. We will run out of usable farm land to make way for landfills at the rate we are going.
2. What are your best tips to make it easy to reduce food waste in the professional kitchen?
Training is the key. Educating associates on the importance of proper cleaning and trimming of vegetables and proteins, using scaled recipes and using production records leads to accountability. Waste management should be woven into the fabric of our daily execution.
3. How about in the home kitchen?
Write out weekly menu and make a grocery list. We all are guilty of getting to the grocery store and buying items that are on special or that are a good price, but then not having to plan to utilize them and we end up throwing them away.
4. What is one small change every person can make in their daily lives to make a big difference?
Recycling you will be surprised how much glass, plastic, aluminum, paper and cardboard are used in your household. We are fortunate to have a recycling center near our home and make a monthly trip.
5. What is your favorite way to repurpose leftovers?
We have a weekly meal we loving call “Must Go”. We create a delicious meal cleaning out all the items that need to be used up in the fridge, we have fun contributing to the dinner and limiting our waste.