You really can judge yourself by the company you keep…why do they say that…because good friends inspire you to do great things, bad friends do the opposite! At Mendo, we are honored to have some great friends like Kim and Tyler Malek from Salt & Straw. Earlier in the year, they created a few new flavors of ice cream made from rescued ingredients ranging from whey from cheesemakers to discarded beet tops to bruised fruit.
Kim & Tyler really helped remind us that we all need to think about how we can play a role in being more mindful of the resources that are given to us and that it is our responsibility to engage our guests to become aware of the role they can play!
In the United States, 40% of our food supply goes into the trash. Not all of that food is spoiled, a good amount is edible ingredients that could help reduce hunger in our underserved, vulnerable communities.
So, we asked ourselves at Mendo… what could have the biggest impact? A couple of days later, some of us were getting juice from our favorite Pressed Juicery, down the street from our Base Camp (support center) and it hit us…Where does the pulp go after they press it for this juice?
So, we reached out to our friends at Pressed Juicery and asked them if they would partner with us, offering us there upcycled pulp to make into a delicious veggie burger. They loved the idea so much that their follow up question was simply- how much? We told them that it was up to our guests embracing the flavor and the idea- but, maybe 500 pounds of pulp! So, hopefully, you try and love this new sandwich and continue to order it and get your friends to do the same- because every sandwich ordered sends a message of inspiration to our other restaurant friends and their guests…just like Kim & Tyler’s message…do your part!