Food for thought festival offers a new spin on dining out

Timo Croonen from Te Aranui Trust, Ian Mikkelsen from Robert Harris and Marcus Mazzola from Te Aranui Trust dig in at Food for Thought: Rescued Food Festival. Photo / Andrew Warner

A festival to celebrate food destined for the dumpster was held on Saturday.

Ian Mikkelsen from Robert Harris was among the many people taking part in the Food for Thought: Rescued Food Festival at Our Place in the Tauranga CBD.

The premise of the event was to celebrate rescued food in the Tauranga community, offering delicious dishes made entirely from food that would have usually gone into the rubbish bin.

Chefs from throughout the city joined in on the fun by helping to create 1200 innovative dishes, including a duck spring roll, from rescued ingredients provided by supermarkets.

There were also workshops and entertainment for the children including a pedal-powered smoothie maker and facepainting.

Mikkelsen said it was great to see a large number of people supporting the cause, especially the number of families.

"It's good to get the children involved, so they can continue this in the future," Mikkelsen said.

"I am grateful for Good Neighbour and all the companies and chefs that took part and for involving me in this great cause."