Take a year-long journey learning the truth about the food we throw away.

Join BriarPatch Food Co-op for a year-long exploration to better understand the impact of food waste and what you can do to help reduce it. Throughout the year, we’ll share resources, links, activities and recipes. We hope to feel more empowered, have fun and make a difference, as we go on this journey together! Be sure to check in to this page each month to get the tools you need for your food waste journey.

Save the Date! BriarPatch presents Wasted: The Story of Food Waste Feb. 27

BUY TICKETS

Join BriarPatch Food Co-op at Sierra Cinemas on Thursday, February 27 at 4 p.m. for a screening of the film, WASTED! THE STORY OF FOOD WASTE.
 
This important film aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle and eat food. Told through the eyes of culinary heroes like Anthony Bourdain, Dan Barber, Mario Batali, Massimo Bottura and Danny Bowien, audiences will see how the world’s most influential chefs make the most of every kind of food. Chefs will transform what most people consider scraps into incredible dishes that create a more secure food system.WASTED! exposes the criminality of food waste and how it’s directly contributing to climate change and shows us how we all can make small changes – delicious ones – to solve great social and environmental problems of the 21st Century.Short Q & A with BriarPatch General Manager Chris Maher and Sustainability Coordinator Lauren Scott to follow the film.
 
$5 General Admission Tickets
$15 tickets VIP Prime Seating & BriarPatch Branded Merch
 
Attendees who are looking to round out their “dinner and a movie” evening can present their ticket stub at participating restaurants and receive $5 off any entrée. Participating restaurants include Kane’s Bar & Grill, Maria’s Mexican Restaurant, Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Co. and Tofanelli’s.
 
A percentage of proceeds benefits Sierra Harvest’s Gold Country Gleaning Program.

Watch the Trailer

Download the Food Too Good To Waste Guide

By making small shifts in our daily habits–how we shop, store and prepare food–we can keep the valuable resources used to produce and distribute food from going to waste.

Track Your Waste. Use the 7 Day Waste Journal to track how much food you waste and where it goes!

Download the Weekly Food Waste Diary

Get the Tools. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as we bring you new resources and tips each month to help reduce your waste.

Set a Goal. What changes can you make to reduce food waste?

Join the Conversation. Share your successes and challenges on social media with your friends and neighbors at community events throughout the year.

Tackling Food Waste–Topics of 2020
January – Getting Started
February – Where Do We Go From Here?
March – Having a Plan
April – All About Bulk
May – Storing Food
June – Composting
July – Dining Out
August – Pantry Prepping
September – Kids
October – Donating Food
November – Party Planning
December – Putting It All Together

Did you know?

Getting Started

Food Waste is a big problem and there is a wealth of amazing resources out there. Here’s a list to get you started.

WASTED! TAKE ACTION

SAVETHEFOOD.COM

FOOD PRINT

COOKING SUSTAINABLY

FOOD WASTE & COMPOSTING

ReFED 

Love Food Hate Waste 

EPA “Food Too Good to Waste” Guide & Toolkit 

Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center

CalRecycle

Film & Video 

Just Eat It

We all love food. As a society, we devour countless cooking shows, culinary magazines and foodie blogs. So how could we possibly be throwing nearly 50% of it in the trash? Filmmakers and food lovers, Jen and Grant, dive into the issue of food waste and pledge to quit grocery shopping and survive only on discarded food for 6 months. Featuring interviews with author, activist, and TED lecturer Tristram Stuart, food waste expert Dana Gunders, and acclaimed author Jonathan Bloom, JUST EAT IT looks at our systemic obsession with expiry dates, perfect produce and portion sizes, and reveals the core of this seemingly insignificant issue in a cinematic story that is both deliciously entertaining and truly shocking.

The Extraordinary Life and Times of Strawberry 

Follow the journey of a strawberry from the farm to the refrigerator to understand all that it takes to bring your food to you. Did you know that 40% of our food ends up wasted? Wasted food is the single largest contributor to landfills in the US—not to mention that it wastes water, labor, fuel, money, & love! Courtesy of The Natural Resources Defense Council.

Books 

Waste Not, How to Get the Most from your Food, published by James Beard Foundation

Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook: A Guide to Eating Well and Saving Money By Wasting Less Food

Cooking with Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals