DENVER — In the tunnels of Empower Field, chefs are doing more than preparing meals for thousands of fans — they're helping feed the broader Denver community.
Shannon Demaree, executive sous chef for Epicurean, oversees catering for the suites on the second and fourth floors of the stadium. Preparation for a single game begins nearly a week in advance.
"We cook all the food in this kitchen, and then send it all over the stadium," Demaree said. "I do a ton of math every week, trying to figure out how much food to cook for 3,000 people."
That scale of cooking means surplus food is inevitable. When suite guests don't show up or are too focused on the game to eat, food is left over.
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"We cater to as many people as we think are going to be in that suite. If that many people don't show up, or if they're like really invested in the football game and they don't end up eating, then we do have some leftover food," Demaree said.
To address that surplus, Epicurean partners with We Don't Waste, a Denver-based food recovery nonprofit.
Caroline Hissong, senior communications and marketing manager for We Don't Waste, said the organization collects surplus food and redistributes it through a network of more than 140 nonprofit partners across the Denver metro area.
"We're here to ensure that all of the food that had so much care and talent poured into it ends up actually feeding people," Hissong said.
Without that intervention, much of that food would go to waste.
"Oftentimes, surplus ends up going straight into the landfill, and up to 40% of all food produced in the U.S. ends up in our landfills, and that's a huge shame," Hissong said.
Hissong said food insecurity is a significant and growing issue in Denver, with demand increasing over the past year.
"There are so many folks that are reaching out to us that are in need of food, and so being able to turn this surplus food into meals for our community is really what we're here to do," Hissong said.
For the chefs at Epicurean, the partnership is a natural extension of their work.
"Knowing that we can divert some of this food that would have been in a landfill somewhere to people that it could really turn their life around makes us feel great," Demaree said.
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