Homeless and struggling families that are usually just thankful for free staples such as milk, bread and potatoes are receiving a donated leftover smorgasbord of gourmet treats — including pricey caviar and foie gras with truffles — from a Javits Center food show.
“For the people we serve in New York City every day, when they don’t have enough to eat, we normally deliver potatoes, cabbage, onions, apples — a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables,” said Matthew Reich, a vice president at City Harvest, the food-salvage organization that joined with industry group Specialty Food Association for the annual giveaway.
“We normally don’t deliver $30-a-pound cheese or pâté,” Reich said. “So this is a treat for all.”
The city’s food pantries and soup kitchens got the expensive menu upgrade after last week’s Summer Fancy Food Show.
“At the end of the show, rather than taking [the leftover food] back home, [the show’s participants] donate it, and this army of volunteers gets together, and it goes right to the soup kitchens,” said Louise Kramer, spokeswoman for the SFA, which sponsored the four-day gourmet food fest at the Javits Center.
“They have the best olive oil and great salsas,” she said of the spread, which also included 25 kinds of feta cheese.
“A lot of specialty foods are quite familiar’’ to the pantry recipients, Kramer said. But when it comes to pâté and caviar, “There needs to be a little education for something like that.”
Among those who received the goodies was Lina Hernandez of The Bronx, who struggles with her husband many days to put together even a simple meal for their four children.
She stopped by the West Side Campaign Against Hunger food pantry to get milk and bread — and got much more than she bargained for.
Also in the pantry at the time were foie gras with truffles worth $80 a pound, duck breast and fine Mexican chocolate wafers.
“It’s very nice to have something different,” said Hernandez, 29, as gourmet crackers topped with fois gras were distributed.
Kramer said the 90,000 pounds of delicacies left over from the show will be enough to feed about 175,000 New Yorkers at 12 programs throughout the city.
With AP