Rio 2016: Olympic chefs turn leftovers into food for poor

Chefs turned leftover food from the Rio athletes' village into meals for poor Brazilians. / Courtesy of Wikimedia commons

By Choi Ha-young

Renowned chefs are turning leftover food from the Rio athletes’ village into meals for poor Brazilians, The Telegraph reported Friday.

“We want to fight hunger and provide access to good food,” Brazilian chef David Hertz said.

He and his Italian colleague Massimo Bottura were motivated by an example in Italy, where 65 chefs created meals using donated ingredients from the Milan World Expo.

The village restaurant feeds about 11,000 Olympians.

The team will continue the project during the Paralympic Games.

However, several countries including South Korea are operating their own restaurants to provide athletes with foods that taste familiar back home. But it produces considerable leftovers.

“We are going to work only with ingredients that are about to be wasted, like ugly fruit and vegetables, or yogurt that is going to be wasted in two days if you don’t buy it,” said Hertz.

Brazil has overcome extreme hunger, but 5 percent of the population is still short of food.