I just returned from a research trip to New York. In addition to visiting a food pantry and speaking with the former USDAÂ coordinator of food recovery, I observed more stadium food recovery.
Last summer, I went to a Mets game to witness Shea Stadium food donation (baseball). There, I tagged along with a concessions manager as he collected hot dogs, burgers, pretzels, chicken and fries after the game was rained out.
This weekend, I drove to Giants Stadium with Reverend Mary Thompson, the director of the collecting food pantry, We Care, the Bronx. We arrived at the stadium after the Giants game (football) had ended and drove into the bowels of arena. There, we waited as an ARAMARK employee collected the excess food from concession stands.
At about 5:45 pm, the worker pulled up in his cart with the haul: 11 boxes of hot dogs, sausages, burgers and pretzels. Still, that was less than usual for a football game at Giants Stadium, said Syd Mandelbaum, director of Rock and Wrap it Up!, the non-profit that oversees food recovery at many U.S. venues.
Mandelbaum said that Giants Stadium collection can range from 10 to 30 boxes, or 150 to 500 pounds of food. Perhaps the light haul was a result of the Giants getting crushed, which could have caused fans to eat away their sorrow (Note: WastedFood.com does not recommend this practice).
The collected food was enough to ensure that Thompson didn’t have to cook much the next day. She said she planned to serve a modified franks ‘n beans, which the soup kitchen’s clients love. We Care is a program of the New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ located in the Soundview section of the Bronx.
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