KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On a scorching Wednesday morning, the temperature reaches 94 degrees as fans from around the globe gather for the FIFA World Cup fan fest just south of downtown Kansas City.
While the festivities unfold downtown, a dedicated group of volunteers across the city is hard at work on a mission to deliver meals to families in need while simultaneously reducing food waste.
Pete’s Garden, a Kansas City nonprofit, is actively combating food insecurity and waste by redistributing excess meals from FIFA Fan Fest, Arrowhead Stadium, and nearby team hotels.
Recently, the organization salvaged food from Argentina’s team hotel, where Lionel Messi and his teammates were staying. According to Tamara Weber, the founder and executive director of Pete’s Garden, records indicate that food was collected from the hotel on five separate days in June, with the first collection on June 3 and the latest on June 24. Among the items collected was an “Argentinian chicken dish.”
“I thought, ‘That looks delicious.’ We gather all the food that goes uneaten at the stadium, watch parties, and team hotels. It’s been fascinating to see the meals the teams enjoyed the night before,” Weber shared with ESPN.
When Kansas City was announced as a World Cup host in 2022, Weber began devising a plan. She used the upcoming 2024 NFL draft as a reference to anticipate the volume of food waste expected during the World Cup, deciding to significantly expand her operations in preparation for the quadrennial event. This foresight has enabled her to create a program that supports thousands of local families.
Around 13 volunteers work in the kitchen of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral Memorial Garden, assembling numerous high-quality meal containers. On this occasion, the menu features shrimp scampi, spaghetti, and pasta.
Weber, originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, grew up in a household where her parents prioritized home-cooked meals. Her father, Pete Sluk, inspired the organization with his backyard garden filled with fresh produce, often giving away surplus vegetables to neighbors to minimize waste.
This mindset of avoiding food waste stayed with Weber when she moved to Kansas City in 1998, starting her career at Hallmark.
As a wife and mother of two, Weber maintained the tradition of preparing homemade meals. However, she felt a deep empathy for those less fortunate, especially single parents struggling to provide for their families on limited incomes.
“It became overwhelming for me sometimes, and I couldn’t help but wonder how difficult it is for a single mom trying to make ends meet,” Weber reflected. “It’s hard to feed a couple of kids on minimum wage.”
Her perspective shifted when her daughter, Grace, an eighth-grader at Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, joined the school’s social justice club. Intrigued, Weber attended a meeting focusing on food waste and subsequently viewed Anthony Bourdain’s 2017 documentary “Wasted! The Story of Food Waste,” which explores the reasons behind food waste and methods for preserving it.
Disturbed by the waste depicted in the film, Weber, along with her daughter, became inspired to take action.
“I thought, ‘Why can’t we package this food and redistribute it as family meals?'” Weber said.
They began searching for volunteer opportunities related to food waste in Kansas City but encountered limited options. Based on her experiences at Hallmark, where excess food was sold as take-home dinners, Weber envisioned creating a similar initiative that would serve families in her community.
After developing a proposal, she presented it to Operation Breakthrough, a nonprofit focused on aiding children and families living in poverty. The organization approved her pitch, and Pete’s Garden was launched in 2020, only to be temporarily paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Pete’s Garden resumed operations, forming partnerships with the Kansas City Chiefs, Royals, Sporting Kansas City, and more recently, the Kansas City Current.
Frequent volunteer John Martellaro praised the high quality of food sourced from local sports teams. “The quality of the food we receive from the teams is exceptional,” Martellaro shared with ESPN. “It’s packed with nutrients, proteins, and vitamins, which are crucial for those who need it most.”
As Pete’s Garden continues to provide for families during the World Cup, Weber aims to expand their efforts to help other cities establish similar programs, utilizing the Pete’s Garden model following a recent federal grant awarded to the initiative.
“What we’re doing is truly unique. With our city’s success, we plan to create a toolkit for other cities to replicate this model,” Weber concluded.