Would you eat something called trash pizza?
Year-old San Francisco restaurant Shuggie’s Trash Pie is challenging diners to try it.
No, they don’t dive into dumpsters to find their ingredients.
They use recycled toppings for their pizzas, like ugly mushrooms, misshapen peppers and discolored tomatoes, but also use leftover meat, like ground beef hearts, to make meatballs.
All of the ingredients are perfectly safe and often delicious, but would otherwise have been thrown away.
It’s part of the growing upcycling food movement that aims to prevent food waste.
According to the Upcycled Food Association, over 35 million tons of food is wasted in the US each year, about 40 percent of the food produced in the country, costing the US economy over $200 billion.
To raise awareness of the issue and to do its small part, Portland-based chain Salt & Straw Ice Cream is now crafting flavors from recycled ingredients like ephemeral and ground cacao shells that are normally discarded in chocolate production.
The ice cream maker also uses products from Renewal Mill, an Oakland-based upcycling food company that converts plant-based milk byproducts into pantry staples like baking flour.
All Renewal Mill products, as well as Salt & Straw’s new ice cream line, carry the official Upcycled Food Association’s ‘Upcycling Certified’ seal to raise consumer awareness.
30 products received the seal when the association first launched it in 2021. 450 products now carry the award.
