Ottawa Tourism launches event food recovery programme

Ottawa Tourism has launched a pioneering partnership with the La Tablée des Chefs organisation to maximise food recovery from the event sector. The initiative aims to reduce food waste and address food insecurity in the community via a new programme to equip major venues with tools to facilitate the donation of surplus food to local community organisations. La Tablée des Chefs collaborates closely with donors and community groups to ensure a sustainable and organised food recovery process, integrating into the operations of participating venues. “This partnership represents a significant step forward in our efforts to build a more resilient and sustainable tourism and event industry,” says Michael Crockatt, president and CEO of Ottawa Tourism. “We are proud to join forces with an organisation as talented and thoughtful as La Tablée des Chefs, with whom we know we can make a meaningful impact on both environmental and social fronts, towards the broader well-being of our community.” Jean-François Archambault, founder and CEO of La Tablée des Chefs, adds: “We are really encouraged by Ottawa Tourism’s leadership in being the first Destination Organisation to directly join our efforts to move the industry in the right direction. Food waste is a real concern, and I am happy to see we can turn this into something so positive for everyone involved.” Ottawa’s Destination Stewardship Plan emphasises the necessity for the tourism industry to elevate sustainability and social responsibility and this food programme aligns with the Plan’s goals. La Tablée des Chefs offers its sustainable food recovery programme in 47 establishments in Canada, allowing the recovery of 246,172 portions of food. Since 2013. The organisation says it has also distributed over 17.6m cooked portions of food to the needy. More information: https://ottawatourism.ca/en as well as https://www.tableedeschefs.org/en/