Choosing Taste, Not Waste

Taste-Not-Waste-Chef-Tom-ColicchioBy Molly Steinkrauss

​Americans waste 28 percent of the produce they bring home. That adds up to $500 thrown away each year.

We want to stop that waste.

The Hidden Valley® brand, a longtime advocate of getting kids and parents alike to love their veggies, is now trying to get families to love all of their veggies, including the weird and the wilted. We’ve partnered with restaurateur and food activist Tom Colicchio for the Taste Not Waste Campaign, an effort to fight food waste. Through the program Chef Colicchio will be providing original recipes and tips to help families cut down on their waste in the kitchen.

“Food waste is becoming a leading cause of waste, and veggies are among the top items to end up in the trash. The Hidden Valley brand has always been about loving veggies, and our Taste Not Waste campaign inspires more people to move those imperfect veggies from the scrap heap to the center of the plate,” says Brian Steinbach, associate director – Marketing.

This supports a bigger goal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reduce U.S. food waste by half by 2030. We’re joining the effort and encouraging folks to post a photo of their less-than-perfect veggies along with #tastenotwaste to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The Hidden Valley brand will donate $1 per post (up to $10,000) to Great Nations Eat, a campaign from Share Our Strength that helps raise awareness and drive solutions for the problem of hunger in America.

To help change the perception of what “perfect” veggies look like, the Hidden Valley brand has created three limited edition bottles, changing the iconic Hidden Valley label to one that displays imperfect veggies. These bottles are available for purchase on eBay through the holiday season, until sold out, with all proceeds benefitting Great Nations Eat.

Taste-Not-Waste-Hidden-Valley-Limited-Edition-Bottles