The Park City Chamber & Visitors Bureau and the Park City Community Foundation have partnered to launch the Zero Food Waste Restaurant Cohort, a pilot program designed to make it easy for area restaurants to reduce waste and save resources, according to the organizations. The free program aims t o provide hands-on support, financial incentives and industry expertise to streamline effective waste reduction.“This is a great opportunity for local restaurants to work alongside experts to find customized solutions that will help reduce waste and costs for their businesses,” said Morgan Mingle, director of sustainable tourism, who led the project’s creation.According to Park City Community Foundation, thousands of dollars’ worth of edible food end up in landfills each year, contributing to wasted investments, missed opportunities to feed more people and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Restaurants can play a vital role in reducing waste while also improving their bottom line by implementing simple yet impactful changes, the organization said.  Interested restaurants and caterers can apply to participate before April 28. The foundation provided the information below regarding the specific support the 20 businesses will receive in the program:  Coverage of start-up costs and monthly service fees: To remove financial barriers and make participation as easy as possible, Park City Community Foundation will cover all start-up costs and initial service fees for food waste diversion — allowing restaurants to focus on learning, piloting, and implementing solutions without worrying about the upfront investment  A one-day workshop on June 3: Industry-leading experts from ReFED will facilitate a solutions-oriented workshop covering waste reduction best-practices and creating individualized action plans to waste less and save money.   Follow-up consulting: Each restaurant will receive five to seven hours of follow-up consultation free from ReFED on implementing their individual waste reduction plans.  Streamlined onboarding for the Green Business Program: Restaurants will be fast-tracked into the Green Business Program, gaining recognition for their sustainability efforts and benefiting from marketing and promotional opportunities.  “Being a resort community, it’s critical to have our local businesses participating in the Zero Food Waste movement,” said Andy Hecht, climate fund manager at Park City Community Foundation. “This is a great first step to scaling these solutions to other businesses and organizations, and we’re excited to partner with the Chamber to offer this pilot to leading restaurants in the area.”  Park City Community Foundation launched the Zero Food Waste initiative in June 2024 with the goal of diverting and eliminating all food waste from Summit County landfill by 2030. While the foundation continues to work on getting households signed up for curbside food waste collection, it is also working with local businesses and partners like the Chamber to scale food waste collection to the business community.  The Park City Chamber/Bureau led the development of the Sustainable Tourism Plan for Park City and Summit County in 2022. The plan intends to create a future where community and environmental benefits are valued with the same weight as economic benefits, resulting in a thriving community and welcoming destination. The Zero Food Waste Restaurant Cohort directly is designed to align with the key objectives outlined in that plan — to support local businesses while reducing our impact as a community — the foundation said.Businesses interested in partaking in the program can apply before 11:59 p.m. on April 28 online: pccf.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6mc0MrSg3SRiSAC.  The post New program aims to help area restaurants reduce food waste appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less