Trash to Table
Gather Food Studio highlights food waste, Summa adds jazz nights, a bounty of beer events + more food & drink news
“Each year, 119 billion pounds of food is wasted in the United States. That equates to 130 billion meals and more than $408 billion in food thrown away each year,” according to Feeding America. “Shockingly, nearly 40 percent of all food in America is wasted.”
Ok, so now that I have your attention and possibly have crushed your spirits for at least a few minutes of conscious awareness, let’s talk about solutions. Something many organizations have been working on for some time, including Colorado Springs Food Rescue, who I rode along with several years ago to see what they do firsthand.
Chefs David Cook (State of Plate, Ep. 5, “Food Fight”) and Cortney Smith at Gather Food Studio have gotten in on the action with a series of cooking classes called From Trash to Table. Here’s how they describe it:
“In our new From Trash To Table Series we’ll be bringing you a new topic each month. And since we’ll be using food scraps, it reduces our food cost… which means that we can donate it back into the community! All of the profits from our From Trash To Table Series will be donated to Food To Power. Food To Power has redistributed over $6 million of healthy groceries since 2013 in the Colorado Springs region. Using a ‘direct redistribution’ model, Food to Power transports surplus healthy foods from local supermarkets, backyard gardens and cafeterias to 20-plus nonprofit and community-based grocery programs.”
Class sizes are small, so April 16’s “Vinaigrettes, Pestos & Sauces” and May 21’s “Retail Grocer Waste” session are both sold out already. But June 25’s “Whey Wasteful” has slots open and more dates will be announced for a monthly class through year’s end.
The chefs actually started this series in February, starting to educate around food waste in the kitchen and offering unusual recipes to capture would-be waste, such as a cereal milk tres leches cake. Another example: Cook will be offering a Thanksgiving-themed class about how to incorporate waste items during the holiday celebrations. Smith launched her classes (the two switch off monthly for this series) by focusing on soups and stocks, classic ways to utilize veggie scraps and bones and such. They say that through the classes they’ve been able to donate a minimum of $500 monthly so far to Food to Power.
Click into the above class links (even the sold out ones) to read more specific descriptors of how the chefs approach repurposing certain ingredients that would otherwise be bound for a compost pile (for those diligent enough to manage those) or worse, the landfill (where the rotting food contributes to methane release and global warming … more fun stuff that makes our waste doubly absurd and upsetting). You’ll also see what delicious recipes they’ve devised — let’s be clear that just because you’re utilizing potential waste items you are certainly not making dull or non delectable meals.
Want some more stats, courtesy some of Gather’s class notes from a March session? You got it:
• The average family (of 4) throws away $1500/yr. in food. In 2018, America threw away 206 Billion pounds of edible food (which is the same as 450,000 Statue of Liberties). This averages out to 1 pound of food per person/day. The annual loss of discarded food is $161 billion dollars.
• In 2019, 37 Million people (11M of which were children) were food insecure. In 2020, the number raised to 54 million (18M children) – the rapid rise was attributed to the COVID virus. In 2020, the population of America was 331.5M, meaning 1/6 of Americans were food insecure.
• Why is there so much Food Waste in America? Some common reasons: Food Production (20%), Retail/Distribution - Unrealistic Visual Appeal/Expiration Dates (12%), Consumer Waste (28%). The effects of Food Waste trickle down into other resources: water, energy, labor and fuel.
• The #1 most wasted food product in America is bread. #2 is milk. And something particularly insidious about milk, according to the class notes: “Approximately $300 Million dollars of unopened/unused milk cartons are thrown away at schools every year. As part of the Federal School Lunch Program, the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs (NSLP), established in 1946, is a USDA regulation that is wrapped up in dairy industry lobbying. Under the NSLP, schools are required to serve dairy milk in order to be reimbursed for meals. Federal regulations stipulate that program participants ‘cannot discriminate against the drinking of cow’s milk before school, after school, on school grounds, or at any school-sponsored event.’” (Not to mention the waste of all the milk cartons themselves. Cook was referencing this article above, but a quick Google search leads to a list of supporting materials that relate lots of data about milk waste, including this one from the National Institutes of Health.)
Ok, so point made. Food waste is a huge, ongoing problem, and our society (read: leadership influenced by special interest forces) clearly doesn’t have its shit together when it comes to solving the problem. But good people in small kitchens are trying to do their part to at least not be part of the problem.
Brief digression: There’s also four free online cooking classes — including “Cooking with Bourbon” and “Weeknight Thai Dinner” — offered in April between the 17th and 20th, and you can register for them here. They’re opening 100 spots in each class in hopes everyone interested will be able to tune in. If you’ve followed my writing and their cooking, you might recall my April, 2020 article in the midst of the early pandemic when I wrote about Gather’s transformational pivot to online classes, which proved highly popular.
And a final note about about Gather Food Studio: I’m pleased to announce a partnership between the outfit and Side Dish with Schniper. In the coming newsletters I’ll periodically share some of their recipes and more educational tidbits. We’re in the early stages of ironing out exactly what that’ll look like, but expect to see their name somewhat regularly as I borrow some of their content that’s often limited to the small classes. As well, we’re discussing an upcoming Gather food class (or a few, who knows) that I will teach, related to food writing and how I approach professional food reviewing. (There may even be field trips … this should be fun. I’ll share details when I have them.)
Get Dizzy with it
Man that headline slaps. Ahem. … Anyway, Summa is introducing Dizzy Charlie's Pop-Up Jazz nights upstairs above the bar/eatery. Keep an eye on their schedule on Dizzy Charlie’s Facebook page. Shows are on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. (Performers for April 13, 20, 27 and May 4 are already announced.)
Sara Vaas of the Old Colorado City Partnership and CONO is the event organizer, who explains in her “about” section that she’s “inspired by [her] grandpa, David Charles Vaas, who was a composer, big band arranger and who toured with a jazz band and visited the Broadmoor in the late 40’s.” She’s borrowing Fannie Mae Duncan’s famous “Everybody Welcome” slogan to encourage anyone to show up in any attire to enjoy music together.
Summa has created some drink specials for the jazz nights and a special event menu featuring items like a sweet n’ spicy mac n’ cheese, a cheese ball flight (think charcuterie board type thingy, not the little orange cheesy poof junk food for stoners) and a lemon cobbler. Summa also recently announced their own new happy hours (2-5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays) with new dishes like a mini meatball marinara burger and chips and queso, plus $1 off drinks.
Relatedly, if you haven’t been in for brunch at the spot you should consider it (9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays). We recently dropped by and enjoyed the house chilaquiles and a plate of fried chicken crepes with mushroom cream sauce, plus pineapple cobbler for dessert. We also got to sample an early prototype for a Bloody Mary wherein managing partner Phillip-Pierre Rooks had infused a gin with horseradish and black pepper for a really nice spice kick. (See photos in Lauren Hug’s March 10 post on Culinary Colorado Springs.)
Yak tracks
The Warehouse recently released its spring menu, noting that they’re now “featuring PB&J Cattle Company yak.” I asked chef/owner James Africano (a guest of State of Plate, Ep. 2, Drunk in the Walk In) which yak cuts he’s using, and he told me “We started with chuck and arm roasts to make a ragout with olives and celery root. Toss it with gnocchi and dandelion greens. This is where the weight of product was. We will work on some other cuts as inventory grows.”
Breaking that down some more, you’ll find the dish on the menu listed for $34 as the Rocky Mountain Yak Ragout, with “PB&J Cattle Company Yak, Tomato, Celery Root, Olives, Spring Greens, Pecorino Romano, [and] Potato Gnocchi.” By the sound of it, Africano’s helping PB&J’s owners the Burton family run through excess inventory — that’s the tight (more synergistic) relationship chefs and local growers can have, compared to what comes in off the commercial delivery trucks (which understandably play their role).
Last week in this newsletter, I was transparent about a community connector role I played between Formosa Bites and The Well, and this week I’m noting a similar thing that happened between myself, Africano and the Burtons. As you can read in the February article I wrote about the yak farm, located in Divide, I took some yak cuts and ground yak to The Warehouse to have Africano make us burgers and steaks for sampling and contrasting to PB&J’s grass-fed beef products. He was impressed with the tasting, and later made his own contact with the Burtons to become a customer.
“The time has come”
I confess it got my attention when I read the cryptic message “The time has come. April 7-12, 2023” on Story Coffee Company’s instagram page last week. (“Time for what?! … What?! Tell me I have to know right now!” I naturally yelled at my phone.) So I reached out to owners Don and Carissa Niemyer to find out.
Turns out they’re finally hosting a grand opening celebration for their new-ish Old Colorado City location, which I already wrote up a small review for here back after they first opened doors this past fall. Don explained: “Because of ongoing building construction we weren’t able to fully invite the community in. Story was done but not the rest of the building. But everyone’s made a big push to wrap up the final construction bits so we can have a true GRAND opening.”
For their part, Story’s hosting a Latte Art Throwdown that starts at 6 p.m., Saturday, April 8 ($5 to enter, baristas), and they tagged more than 20 local independent coffee shops on the post, so turnout could be good for the fancy foam battle. (If you’re new to the format for these, check out my colleague and good pal Bryce Crawford’s now-dated-but-still-insightful writeup circa a 2013 friendly competition.)
Story’s also promoting a free gift with each visit throughout the week, plus triple loyalty stars, free stickers and access to ordering from a secret menu, along with some other perks. You can also tour the wider facility, The Sluice Building (named such because it was once a general store for gold miners in the late 1800s), home to art spaces like Surface Gallery and area outfits like Design Rangers, Schmid Studios, Caro-line Clark Studio, Stellar Propeller, and Echo Architecture and Interiors. There’ll be live music sessions and new exhibits, and Gold Star Pies will park outside from 5-9 p.m. on April 7; Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. catch the always-epic Lucy I’m Home food truck.
Beer happenings this week ahead (and beyond)
• Bristol Brewing Company’s Prohibition Party goes from 7-10 p.m., Friday, April 7 in in Bristol's Barrel Room and Fermentation Hall at the Ivywild School. “Illicit gambling, sugar cigarettes, cops breaking up the joint at the end of the night — it's a good time,” wrote Bryce Crawford in the Indy back in 2014; I attended too that year and snapped the below photo of these fancy flappers. Seeing everyone’s costumes offers reason enough to go, as if 33-cent Yellow Kite Pilsners weren’t enough of a draw. Note that you must be in 1920s/30s attire to enter and you’ll need the secret password — hinted at on Bristol’s social media pages, so know before you go.
• Participate in the The Great Craft Beer Easter Egg Hunt all around town at local breweries on Sunday, April 9.
• Cerberus-run Seven’s Gate Tap Room now hosts West Side Pride Night every Wednesday. Find the below image on their instagram page to show to your bartender and get buy-one-get-one on your first round of drinks.
• Smiling Toad Brewery is about to retire from the industry. Here’s what they wrote on their Facebook page earlier this week:
“Hello Awesome Toad Family. We have news to share. After 10 fantastic years of brewing up a storm, Smiling Toad Brewery is calling it a decade. Don’t worry we are not hopping away just yet. We want to thank you for joining us on this wild adventure filled with good times, great beers, and unforgettable memories. We could not have done this without you! As we begin the process of wrapping up, we will keep the taps open for the next 6 weeks to 2 months (or until the beer runs dry). Come on down and reminisce about the good old days. Thanks for being such amazing guests and making part of your family. It’s been a blast. Cheers, The Smiling Toad Team.”
How the Solsage is made
I want to thank Solsage Food Truck for their kind (unsolicited) endorsement of this newsletter on their Facebook page last week. They told the brief story of our meeting and my favorable review of them. Here’s what they wrote:
“In the heart of Covid and less then a month after opening our doors in 2020, Matthew Schniper found us at Lost Friend Brewing Company one October evening. We were as ‘green’ as could be with absolutely no decals on our truck yet, a branded banner hung by magnets and our menu written out on a chalkboard. We didn’t know him, he didn’t know us, but he gave a few items on our menu a try and came back to introduce himself and chat with us. He then proceeded to write a killer full page review about our food that absolutely catapulted our name into the industry and bolstered our popularity around town right out of the gate! We benefitted enormously from his writing and his opinion. His readers listened, and they patronized us in return. What a cool experience.”
