Wellness Wednesday: Sustainable Supperclub brings awareness to food waste
What started off as a modest idea as a shared passion between two friends to eliminate food waste led to the creation of Sustainable Supperclub.
In 2017, Mayela Lanza learned of a New York-based dinner that started the dialogue on sustainable food systems. Loving the idea, Mayela shared her discovery with her good friend, Jennifer Weinberg, and both women were inspired to take action. They decided to modify the idea for a Miami audience and bring awareness of the challenges regarding food waste and sustainability to their city. Mayela and Jennifer also wanted to take the idea one step further by giving back to the community as a result of their efforts.
Giving back was nothing new to either Mayela or Jennifer. Mayela has been volunteering at Vous Church in various roles and capacities including working with local organizations such as Lotus House, Floridian Nursing Home, Cards for Kids & Feed the Homeless for the past 3 years.
Over the years, Jennifer has volunteered in South Africa, for the Humane Society, and has sat on the Executive Committee of Friends of the New World Symphony for the past 6 years, where she currently serves as Vice President.
Mayela and Jennifer, who worked together in hospitality for 10+ years at Morgans Hotel Group called a mutual friend for support. "We asked to borrow some forks and knives, not even knowing where we'd have the event," Jennifer says of the initial call. "The next thing we knew Verde at PAMM was offering to host our first dinner. We were truly blessed!"
That initial dinner, a vegetarian meal prepared by Top Chef Janine Booth, was a huge success. "Hungry Harvest came on board to provide the produce and they've been a great partner of ours ever since," Mayela notes. "We supported Lotus House as our non-profit of choice that first evening, and since then have supported not only them, but Flipany, Wellness in the Schools, Debris Free Oceans, Kristi House and No Kid Hungry and look forward to supporting non-profits for years to come."
Having 3 events under its belt, Sustainable Supperclub's goal is to host 4 events per year with a variety of partners in order to keep the conversation about sustainability going, grow the sense of community found at each dinner, and support non-profits in line with its commitment to reduce food waste and improve the environment we all live in. Reducing food waste is the #3 solution to reversing the negative impact of climate change. And much of what we routinely dispose of can be repurposed into other meals.
On Thursday, September 26th, Sustainable Supper Club presents the “One Night in Asia” event held in La Cava, Faena's exclusive private dining room. Surrounded by the world's finest wines, attendees will enjoy a multi-course, decadent meal prepared by Pao by Paul Qui, and a wine pairing. This dinner , which is currently sold out, will benefit the Surfrider Foundation, which is "dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's ocean, waves and beaches through a powerful activist network". Guest Speaker for this event is Luxury Travel specialist, Brandi Rowan of Nomad Hill.
But don’t despair, because Jennifer and Mayela are already in the planning stages for their next Sustainable Supperclub dinner: Tuesday, November 5, 2019!
For more information or to get involved contact:
https://sustainablesupper.org/about/