Meanwhile, Tourism Ottawa understands that it is vital that the tourism industry plays its part in sustainability and social responsibility, which is also outlined in Ottawa's Destination Management Plan.
In cities where many major events and business conferences are held, it can be difficult to predict the exact amount of food needed to satisfy attendees, which can pose an obstacle to sustainability.
“We really pride ourselves on being great hosts, and one of the by-products is a lot of leftover food. We want to salvage as much as we can and make sure it has a positive benefit in the community,” said Mary Seywich, director of strategy and projects for Tourism Ottawa. “We want to keep leftover food out of landfills.”
Inspired by this challenge, Tourism Ottawa began searching for a solution, and their team stumbled upon La Tablée des Chefs at a conference, an organization that collects surplus food and redistributes it to community groups that help people in need.
They quickly realised their mission was a good fit and began working on the first partnership between La Tablee des Chefs and tourism organisations that would act as liaisons with partners in the hospitality industry.
Launched in partnership with TD Place on May 31, Ottawa hospitality partners include the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Casino Lac Leamy, Lord Elgin Hotel, Ottawa Marriott Hotel, Shaw Centre, Westin Ottawa and My Catering Group, who are currently partnering with La Tablee des Chefs through Tourism Ottawa.
Grassroots Initiatives
Archambault studied hotel management at the Quebec Tourism and Hotel Industry Institute in Montreal and worked at Fairmont Hotels before moving on to become Director of Sales and Marketing for Marriott Hotels, eventually opening their own hotels.
“We were practicing in cooking classes and eating what we made, but a lot of fresh food was still going in the trash,” he said. “I really wanted to do something about it, but the industry at the time wasn't ready for change.”
But after talking to leaders in the culinary, food and hospitality industries, the project quickly came together. Workshops were held at the youth center in 2012, and the food recovery program was launched a year later.
During that time, sustainable food recovery efforts were implemented at 47 facilities, collecting more than 246,000 meals. In the 22 years since, 12 million meals have been collected across Canada.
“We essentially act as a middleman,” Archambeau explains, “training hotels, event venues and catering companies to store food for our community partners. We also provide soup and sauce containers, plastic bags and buckets for safe collection.”
“We are excited to bring this program to our local community and hope others in the community will join in,” said Seywich, emphasizing the tourism industry's commitment to being an engaged and responsible part of the community.
