The City of Oceanside opened the doors to its Green Oceanside Kitchen-a state-of-the-art food recovery and preservation facility at the El Corazon Senior Center, providing innovative solutions to food waste, hunger and environmental and culinary education in North San Diego County.
One of the most comprehensive facilities of its kind in the nation, the Green Oceanside Kitchen is the result of a public-private partnership between the City of Oceanside and O’side Kitchen Collaborative (OKC). The facility includes a 17,000 square foot commercial kitchen, a 500 square foot freezer that can hold about a semi-truck load of food and an interactive demonstration kitchen for culinary arts training and education. The facility was designed to maximize food recovery and preservation with specialty equipment installed throughout.
The City of Oceanside and OKC will work together to recover agricultural surplus from local farms, growers and gleaning organizations annually, with OKC using the City of Oceanside’s facility to transform the produce into delicious cuisine and preserved products, nutritious meals for the food insecure and offer full-service catering for a cause.
Community workshops and cooking classes will also be provided at the kitchen to raise awareness about the issues and educate participants on solutions to food waste.
According to the City of Oceanside’s Environmental Officer Colleen Foster, the biggest gap to saving edible food is the space to process it. “The Green Oceanside Kitchen aims to fill a significant hole in our food system by providing a location and services to preserve food, reduce waste, feed our community, and provide job training and education for being better stewards of the earth.”
The Green Oceanside Kitchen supports the City of Oceanside’s commitment to zero waste, responsible resourcing and climate action management-exemplified in its Green Oceanside campaign, which is dedicated to teaching residents and local businesses how to be more sustainable. With about 40% of food produced in the U.S. ending up in landfills, and one in seven adults and one in five children in San Diego County facing food insecurity, the City of Oceanside and OKC will work to address these issues and provide a solution in North County.
For more information about Green Oceanside, visit www.GreenOceanside.org.
