Cincinnati, OH. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — There is a staggering hunger crisis in America today. There are 44 million people across the United States who are food insecure. 13 million of those are children. Most of them don’t know where their next meal will come from or when and if you think not in my community think again. Feeding America reports one hundred percent of counties in the country have people who are going to bed hungry. But shockingly, 38 percent of all the food in America is left unsold on store shelves, wasted in restaurants, and thrown in the trash.
“She had seen that she had gotten off the bus and she went looking for, and the child was too weak from hunger to go up the steps and take the class. This kid had not eaten since Thursday. It was Monday, I kind of just said, well, that’s just dumb. I can do something about that,” said Suzy DeYoung, Chef, La Soupe Founder.
That’s when Suzy DeYoung, a chef for 40 years, decided to create La Soupe. It’s a non-profit that relies on rescued food.
“It has been over ordered, overproduced, overgrown, but perfectly good for human consumption,” explained DeYoung.
Professional chefs from the Cincinnati area donate their time to create whatever they can with whatever food is donated from local grocery stores, food manufacturers and restaurants.
“25,000 pounds of food a week, on average, and that’s produce, protein, dry goods, dairy,” said Jarred Beckman, Shipping & Receiving Manager, La Soupe.
“We take whatever you got and make something delicious out of it,” explained Edward Wolfe, Chef, La Soupe.
Last year, La Soupe rescued one point three million pounds of food from hitting the landfill. Making one point one million meals. La Soupe supplies local food banks like at Northern Kentucky University.
“To have these rescued food items that we can offer to our students at no cost to them or to us is a huge relief for our students,” Nick Blevin, Fuel, at Northern Kentucky University.
They also help shelters, schools, the elderly and deliver seven thousand medically tailored meals annually.
And now Suzy is creating a game plan to help other cities across the country do the same.
“If you can find something that you’re really good at and then donate that what you get back is millions of times better than the financial reward,” said DeYoung.
La Soupe also takes the damaged food that cannot be used and donates it to local pig and chicken farmers. They also found a way to put freezer burned meat to use. They donate that to a local wild animal sanctuary, just a few more ways to divert food from landfills. If you would like to find out more about the program and how to start one in your community, go to lasoupe.org.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Bob Walko, Editor, Matt Goldschmidt, Photographer
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