Dustbin dining

Supermarkets proudly display bins full of pristine, perfectly ripe vegetables and fruit. But what happens to the produce that is overripe or blemished? Chefs in France wanted to bring that point to the public’s attention, and to do so they prepared a banquet for 5,000 entirely from ingredients rescued from the trash. As reported in The Telegraph, five French celebrity chefs created the meal entirely from “bruised, misshapen potatoes and stringy, overripe avocados collected from supermarkets and groceries that were about to throw them away.”

The Michelin-starred chefs promoted the event through full-page newspaper advertisements sponsored by a TV channel. The goal of their campaign is to raise awareness of food waste in France, where the average person wastes 20kg (44lb) of food each per year. Says Yves Camborde, a chef from the Basque country, “People are wrong to think that ingredients that don’t look pretty aren’t good to eat.”