This past September I was fortunate to have the opportunity to take part in a Food Network Special, “The Big Waste.” The show is about how much food we waste in America and what we could do with that food if it wasn’t wasted. The chef’s had 48 hours to get the food and cook a banquet. They were tasked with gathering the food from farms, grocery stores and apartments in the NY/NJ area.

Thanks to a good friend of mine who works for the network and really wants dibs on throwing barbeques on my rooftop deck, she suggested they use my apartment for part of the shoot. The plan was the chefs would come to my door and then rummage through my fridge to get items that I would throw out. They would then have to incorporate those items into their meal. I loved the idea. I mean how often do you buy produce that goes bad or is about to go bad but you still have leftovers to eat? What about that jar of jam that just sits there till you do your seasonal cleaning and toss it?

So on the day of the shoot chefs Bobby Flay, Michael Symon, Anne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli went out to gather the food starting with several family owned farms and then local markets. Unfortunately they ran out of time and weren’t able to make it to my apartment. However, I still had a delicious banquet to attend!

Produce at Donaldson Farms

The path up to the pumpkin patch at Donaldson Farms

Now I don’t want to spoil all the surprises, you’ll have to watch the show tonight on Food Network at 10pm EST, but I wanted to share some of the really interesting things I learned. I was seated next to Katie & Greg Donaldson of Donaldson Farms. (side-note: if you live in NY or NJ I greatly suggest you visit the farm for strawberry picking in the summer and pumpkin picking in the fall. Their farm is like no farm I have ever seen! They grow an incredibly large array of produce, and my friends and I left the farm with bags full.)

The Donaldson’s told my friend Cara, who attended the banquet with me, and I, about how their cornfield was destroyed by the hurricane. All the corn was still in good condition but it fell to the floor, and thereby according to federal regulations the Donaldson’s were not allowed to sell it. They also told me how when people go apple picking, everyone wants the best apples so when they find one’s better than the one’s they have in their basket, they put the old ones on the floor. Those apples are now not usable as well. What about the peaches that have slight blemishes? The rest of the peach is fine, but we have trained ourselves to only eat a perfect peach. Well, those leftover peaches are tossed into the compost pile.

We then asked them why such a large farm like theirs doesn’t sell to more supermarkets. (They are in the local Wegmans). They told us that the US has such strict produce regulations that most of the time it doesn’t pay for them to sell the produce in supermarkets. We also learned that supermarkets like the Key Food near my apartment are required by law to toss the unused produce every night. And why throw it out instead of giving it to a shelter, a restaurant, or the homeless man who lives on the corner? Because if someone would get sick off that produce, then the supermarket is held liable. So they must put it in the dumpster. The same produce that I bought at 6pm that day is tossed at 12am that night. Do you see the wheels turning in my head? These laws that I were completely unaware of, are now staring me at the face. These laws must change, but so must we.

I’m not about to buy rotten produce, but that peach with the blemish…I can cut around it. And from one of those peaches came one of the most delicious desserts at the banquet. And from that corn, think lick your bowl good crème brulée. I encourage you to watch “The Big Waste” at 10pm on Food Network, as I think it will be an eye-opening experience.

nothing gets better than dining on the food of alex guaranschelli and anne burrell...

...and the food of bobby flay and michael symon!

Donatella Arpaia about to pop!

look who i ran into - kelly bensimon, todd english, and claire robinson