Calgary chef battles food waste one dish at a time

A Calgary chef is putting the spotlight on eliminating food waste one dish at a time.

Amit Bangar is encouraging Calgarians to rethink tossing out leftovers, by instead using them to create something new.

“The idea of having food waste is essentially just throwing money in the trash, ” he said. “You don’t know how far your dollar is going to stretch when you go to the grocery store.”

Using day-old butter chicken, Bangar is reimaging the dish with a rigatoni pasta.

While the idea is far from groundbreaking, the National Zero Waste Council says Canadians dispose of almost 2.3 million tonnes of edible food every year.

Bangar’s attempt to inspire Canadians comes via a partnership with Skip the Dishes.

While the idea is to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfills while saving cash, it’s also an integral part of running a restaurant.

“Numbers are always going to be tight. Our profits are never going to be huge at a restaurant,” the chef said. “So wherever we can save a few pennies here or there, at the end of the year it adds up a lot.”

So, next time you’re finishing up at the dinner table, whether it’s takeout or from the grocery store, Bangar suggests saving the scraps, and maybe some energy too.

“You’re not cooking a completely new meal from the ground up. Half the work is already done for you,” he said. “Then that way you’re making the most of all your scraps.”