Contributing to Food Loss Issues at the Office! The “SSU NO FOOD LOSS” Project Launches to Utilize Surplus Ingredients

As the term SDGs spreads around the world, SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP is gradually taking action with awareness, starting with what we can do.

At the heart of SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP’s office is a large kitchen called “Central Kitchen.” Here, drinks and all-you-can-eat tamago kake gohan (rice with raw egg) are available every day! It is also a popular space for communication and relaxation among members, as well as during work hours (beverages and meals are provided with thorough infection prevention measures in place).

My introduction is overdue. I am Hirahara, the “Smile Keeper” writing this blog post. I work daily on various initiatives to create new “fun excitement” and “smiles” from Central Kitchen!

Please see here for details about a day’s work.

“Smiles” Are Born from Central Kitchen! A Close Look at a Day in the Life of a Smile Keeper Supporting Daily “Fun Excitement”!
https://blog.ssu.co.jp/blog/18721/

At Central Kitchen, we are focusing on the food-related issue of “food loss.” Today, we would like to introduce our first project launched from the kitchen: the “SSU NO FOOD LOSS” project.

■ Still Edible but What a Waste! What Is “Food Loss”?

Food loss refers to food that is still edible but ends up being discarded.

Many of you may have experienced putting food in the refrigerator to eat later, only to have it pass its expiration date, or having vegetables spoil because you couldn’t use them all in cooking!

As one of the SDGs goals, Goal 12 “Responsible Consumption and Production” specifically states the target to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 2030” and “reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.” This is a major environmental issue facing the world.

■ What Is the SSU NO FOOD LOSS Project?

SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP has many members who work with full dedication to create fun excitement! When you’re working hard, you get really hungry. We often see hungry members around the office.

“An army marches on its stomach!” With this in mind, the kitchen prepares meals and snacks to energize our members. The “SSU NO FOOD LOSS” project was born from the idea: Could we use ingredients that would otherwise be discarded as food loss to create these meals? Could we contribute to the environment while enjoying delicious food?

■ Transforming Surplus Ingredients at Central Kitchen!

This time, in collaboration with bills, the all-day dining restaurant from Sydney, Australia, operated by SUNNY SIDE UP… we utilized surplus ingredients at Central Kitchen!!

Here are the ingredients we received this time.

・Cilantro stems
・Spinach stems
・Lettuce
・Baguette ends

bills implements various measures to avoid wasting ingredients on a daily basis. Looking at this, you can see they use vegetables down to the very last edible parts.

Now, let me introduce some of the dishes we prepared using these ingredients that delighted our members!

Spinach Stems → Nozawana-Style Rice Balls

These spinach stems were transformed into furikake by mixing them with fried tofu, sesame seeds, and seasonings.

We mixed it with rice and made rice balls!

Using the highly nutritious stem parts of spinach, we transformed them into a light meal for easy energy recharging!

Cilantro Somen

Somen noodles that you crave on hot summer days. We chopped the cilantro stems to create a refreshing condiment!

While the classic condiment of green onions is delicious, using cilantro updates it to Asian-style somen!! It became a dish that lets you enjoy summer even while inside the office.

Mini Baguettes (Using Cilantro and Lettuce as Toppings)

We use the baguette ends by baking them until crispy.

We chopped the cilantro stems and combined them with tomatoes for taco-style toppings! The lettuce was paired with prosciutto. The palm-sized baguettes were so popular as snacks that they sold out instantly.

How was that? In this way, by adding a little arrangement to vegetable ends that are usually discarded or ingredients that remain in small amounts, and simply “eating instead of throwing away,” we can contribute to the food loss issue.

Please try participating in this delicious social good activity with your home cooking as well!