Three weeks after signing onto a sustainability plan that will redirect surplus food from the NFL Draft, nonprofit 412 Food Rescue has announced a special zero-waste meal. On April 26, the day after the draft ends, Fourth & Feast: From the Field to the Table will serve a family-style, zero-waste meal created from rescued food, the organization said on Monday.
The invitation-only meal for 25 volunteers, contributors and donors will take place at the Food and Energy Hub in Millvale, site of 412 Food Rescue’s Good Food Project.
Alyssa Cholodofsky, CEO of 412 Food Rescue, said the event will be a rolling meal beginning at 3 p.m. Natalie Bencivenga will emcee a fireside chat featuring Jamilka Borges, co-owner and chef at Lilith in Shadyside, 412 Food Rescue CEO Alyssa Cholodofsky and representative of Visit Pittsburgh. Food will arrive with help from “a yet-to-be-revealed Steelers legend.”
The sustainability plan released earlier this month estimated volunteers will redistribute the equivalent of 50,000 meals to people in need as a result of the NFL Draft. Overall, the three-day event is expected to draw 500,000 to 700,000 visitors, and has been consistently referred to by officials as the largest event ever hosted in Pittsburgh.
Launched in Pittsburgh in 2015, 412 Food Rescue is a volunteer-driven organization that diverts fresh food from going to waste by redirecting it to people facing food insecurity. Cholodofsky said on Monday that 412’s team and hundreds of volunteers are preparing to safely transport extra food from Acrisure Stadium and other official NFL Draft events taking place April 23-25.
“A lot of what we’re doing right now is communicating,” Cholodofsky said. “We’re really thinking through the logistics of how to get out and rescue as much food as possible, given how difficult it will be to travel around the city. So we’re thinking (of) how to be nimble in those situations, how to work with some of the hotels and restaurants where we know people will be eating.”
To prepare for the influx, 412 Food Rescue has spoken with past NFL Draft locations including Detroit. Cholodofsky also compared the logistics to last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, which drew roughly 200,000 people. 412 Food Rescue uses a proprietary technology platform called Food Rescue Hero that guides volunteers from food pickup to delivery. Volunteers can join pick-up efforts through the app at any point during the NFL event.
“We expect donations from hotels, restaurants and some of the catered events, and concessions that are going on during the draft,” Cholodofsky told TribLive. “We think it’ll be ready-to-eat meals, some catering trays, snacks. We hear there’s lots of bottled water. That’s always a really great thing, because that can go out to many of our partners.”
Following the conclusion of the three-day NFL Draft, the Fourth & Feast meal will also provide an opportunity to debrief. The event includes a talk about the impact of Pittsburgh sports teams on the region’s sustainability and food security. While on site at 412’s Good Food Project in Millvale, dinner guests will also get a chance to see how the project transforms bulk surplus food into hundreds of nutritious community meals delivered weekly.
To date, 412 Food Rescue has redirected more than 39 million pounds of food from Western Pennsylvania landfills, equivalent to more than 33 million meals.
“This dinner on Sunday afternoon will be a way for us to celebrate, to think about who we can thank for being partners, and to talk more about how this (event) hopefully opened some doors for us,” Cholodofsky said. “Like everybody else, we’re really excited to see how our city is going to come together to create these opportunities for our neighbors … and that people leave in their minds as well that the city was able to accommodate everybody and was mindful of the sustainable aspects of this event.”