PAGU + Lovin' Spoonfuls

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Television Food Personality Andrew Zimmern, Tito's Vodka, and 11 million pounds of rescued food may seem like an odd combination, but there is one Boston event each year that brings together such unlikely ingredients to create something truly extraordinary. This year's Lovin' Spoonfuls' Ultimate Tailgate brought together dozens of New England's best restaurants, chefs, celebrities, and donors for an event that raised over $375,000 to support the organization's food rescue efforts.

If you're not familiar with Lovin' Spoonfuls' work, you should be. Founded in 2010 by Boston-native, Ashley Stanley, Lovin' Spoonfuls is on a mission to serve those facing hunger and mitigate the environmental impact of food waste by rescuing healthy, fresh food that would otherwise be discarded and distributing it to those in need throughout Greater Boston. To date, the organization has rescued over 11 million pounds of food and serves 30,000 clients on a daily basis. Every $100 raised by Lovin’ Spoonfuls rescues more than 300 lbs of food and provides 240 meals to people in need.*

PAGU has been a seasoned supporter of Lovin' Spoonfuls’ efforts (well... as seasoned as a two year-old restaurant can be). In addition to participating in the 2018 Ultimate Tailgate event, where we prepared our chef-favorite Giant Vegetable Paella, PAGU also hosted an International Women's Day Event last March benefiting the food rescue organization. We gathered five local chefs to create dishes, donate raffle prizes, and rally the community for an evening to celebrate the work of Lovin’ Spoonfuls.

PAGU also teamed up with neighbor Whole Heart Provisions (WHP) and Chef Rebecca Arnold to create a month-long campaign of a dish swap, where one PAGU special was featured at WHP in Cambridge and Allston, with proceeds going to Lovin Spoonfuls and vice versa with one WHP special at PAGU. A small feat to start, but PAGU plans to extend this dish swap challenge to more chefs and local businesses around town in 2019.

PAGU is rooted in Food, Community, and Collaboration, and it’s difficult to think of a mission that embodies these three pillars more than the work undertaken by Ashley and her team at Lovin' Spoonfuls. We are proud to support their foundation, and look forward to participating in future collaborations, including 2019's International Women's Day this coming March, where PAGU will once again be bringing together a group of incredible chefs and industry leaders to raise funds, awareness and action with Lovin’ Spoonfuls.

*If you you would like to find out more about Lovin’ Spoonfuls or donate, you can visit lovinspoonfulsinc.org