Baldor’s McQuillan gives sustainability tips with NY Times chef

NEW YORK, N.Y. — When it comes to sustainability in the food world, think of fully using food, not avoiding food waste, Thomas McQuillan told about 50 people at the International Restaurant and Foodservice Show.

“Food is food. Let’s eliminate that ‘W’ word. What’s giving us an excuse to not utilize food is we label it something negative. Food is 100% usable at all times,” said McQuillan, Bronx, N.Y.-based Baldor Specialty Foods vice president of strategy, culture and sustainability, at the March 9 event at the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.

“Food can be used to feed humans, feed animals, create energy and create future soil systems so there’s no reason to discard food for any reason at any time,” he said.

Baldor partnered with New York Times Executive Chef Max Cavaleri to create recipes with less commonly used produce parts at a demonstration called The Food Asset Potential.

McQuillan and Cavaleri, who works at the famed newspaper café, part of Restaurant Associates, have been collaborating for some time on different recipes.

“What we’re trying to accomplish is going back to zero waste, 100% usage,” Cavaleri said.

They made crackers with carrot peels, a creamy tapenade with zucchini scraps and a bubbly, gingery beverage with soft and flavorful pineapple core ice cubes.

“We need to own the whole supply chain, we need to buy food products thinking about the whole supply food chain, the impact that food has from its creation to the recycling of the box at the end — to try to influence the most sustainable system possible and to be willing to make decisions that support a sustainable food supply,” he said. 

Cavaleri said his company is drawn to Baldor because of similar sustainability priorities.

“They’re trying to take charge and offer these different solutions,” Cavaleri said.

It’s important to cut down on produce leftovers that would typically go into the garbage, to find new ways to use what people commonly call scraps — beyond using it in stock, he said, because after you make the stock, you throw it away. 

There is so much more to do, they said.

“It’s something that we need to work on together” throughout the supply chain, McQuillan said. “We can build these solutions together. All of a sudden, we’re creating economic value for our organizations, we’re protecting our environment, we’re providing food that remains for the food insecure. So, it is a win-win-win.”

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