Gourmet Foods International Culinary Scholarship

I was interviewing at the kitchen where I would work for my culinary school internship when I saw it for the first time: an intern standing over a large barrel, scraping a pan of chicken into the trash. That first impression of food waste has never faded. Meanwhile, out in the city, I often drove by a heartbreaking sight on the street corners - individuals with dirty clothes and downcast eyes, holding up ragged cardboard signs: “Homeless and Hungry.” “Single parent – Anything helps.” “Will Work for Food.” What saddens me most about these needy people – and the thousands they represent across the country – is that there is no shortage of food in the United States. Farms, processing facilities, restaurants, and grocery stores across the country waste millions of pounds of usable food before it ever reaches consumers. Hoping to shed light on these sister issues of food waste and hunger, I researched the topic and learned that 30-40% of usable food in the US is lost on its journey from producer to consumer (www.USDA.gov/foodwaste/faqs). Ten years of working on a farm and a college course in agricultural studies had already taught me that blemished produce is considered unfit for market, while low market prices or insufficient harvesting staff can lead to vegetables being left to rot in the fields. Similar waste occurs at every level of processing, long before the final product ever reaches the consumer. In the multiple restaurants I have worked in since that internship, the fate of leftover food continues to appall. Upper-class restaurants, dedicated to serving only the best to their high-paying patrons, make their profit from the best food. Usable but less-than-prime leftovers that cannot be repurposed for the menu (everything from mashed potatoes to leftover meats and vegetables) go to the trash at the end of a busy service. I have grown weary of watching wholesome food - food that could be donated to organizations feeding the hundreds of homeless and needy people in my city - go instead into the overflowing dumpsters behind the restaurant. The main reason for not donating seems to be fear of legal liability; but the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 1996 was enacted specifically to protect restaurants, grocers and others who donate food for those in need. According to the Act, “A person or gleaner shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of apparently wholesome food...that the person or gleaner donates in good faith to a nonprofit organization for ultimate distribution to needy individuals.” (Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act). The law effectively makes food donation accessible to every individual and business in the food production and service industries, removing many barriers that might keep usable products from reaching those in need. As a student and a professional in the hospitality industry, it is my passion to spread awareness of this law and the responsibility of each one of us – producers, cooks, chefs, consumers – to help put an end to the wanton waste of food and the problem of hunger.

Growing up, my favorite meal to eat was American Chinese takeout. I have memories of a young Kelsey doodling potstickers on the side of my homework instead of doing the long division assigned that day. Now, I know that the idea of Chinese cuisine is way different in the United States, but that's what got me to explore the path of Asian food and culture. Enjoying American Chinese food with my family on the weekends was such a cherished memory for me that I went as far as to change my open-mindedness to trying new food. It started off as just eating orange chicken, which slowly turned to going to a dim sum place to try traditional chicken feet. I knew that culinary arts was going to be in my future, but I wasn't quite sure how at that point. As I grew older, I became way more adventurous both in my diet and in my inspiration to cook at home. From folding my own bao buns at home to designing plates for my culinary competition team in high school, there was always some sort of Asian influence in what I created. Flash forward to culinary school, I was exposed to a brand new community, which made me change my mind a million times as to what I wanted to do for my career. So many friends, chefs, professors, all of them forced me to question what I really want to do and how I'm going to do it. Then, I took my Asia's course. It was the fastest, most educational three weeks of my life, and I felt so out of place every single class. Not because I was bad, but because I knew absolutely nothing about Asian cuisines. I thought that I knew so much about Asian food before I came to school, and that I would be bored in that class. That was the complete opposite of what happened, and I couldn't have been happier for that. Asian cuisine is not just soy sauce and sesame oil. I learned that I barely scratched the surface of what the cuisine is, and how it's prepared compared to other types of cuisines in the world. The fact that I found a category of food where I can be challenged even with experience leads me to believe that I will never be bored doing what I do. Because of my chef, my passion, and the support of my family, I am now on course to continue my education of Asian cuisines in Singapore for my last semester of culinary school.