A zesty ginger beer made completely from upcycled food was sampled by those brave enough to try in Dunedin yesterday.
The soda giveaway at the University of Otago’s Union Lawn was one of many demonstrations bringing attention to International Food Waste Awareness Day.
Upcycling is the process of transforming waste materials or unwanted products into something new.
The carbohydrates in the ‘‘rescued’’ bread were converted to sugar which was used to make the ginger beer.
The flavour came from the upcycled sugar, ginger, coriander and a syrup made from damaged, slightly mouldy or ugly citrus fruits supplied by a local store.
While the operation could theoretically be done on a larger scale, it served mainly as a way to demonstrate just how much value was in the food people threw away.
The group had previously made a hoppy pale ale where half of the barley grain was replaced with rescued bread, he said.
Other demonstrations included visual representations of how many resources were used up by wasted food.
One display showed 1kg of potatoes alongside water bottles that could hold 250 litres of water, which is the average water footprint associated with producing and processing that many potatoes, globally.
Food science associate professor Miranda Mirosa said most people thought about the social impacts of wasting food but it was important to shed light on the environmental issues too.
Everybody was guilty of wasting food to some degree and it was important people should think about what small changes they could make to help reduce their wastage, she said.
‘‘It’s really bad for the environment and it’s bad for our wallets.’’
The demonstrations were organised by NZ Citizens of 12.3, in collaboration with the Otago Food Waste Innovation Theme and other food waste organisations.
