There’s A Company In Portland Making Ice Cream Out Of Waste

By now, we’ve all watched (or heard our colleagues rave about) ABC’s recent program The War On Waste. The three-part docuseries had a look at the gigantic waste problem that the world, in particular Australia, is facing.

Portland ice cream company, Salt & Straw, has teamed up with food waste charity Urban Gleaners to bring a whole new approach to excess food. Salt & Straw has identified local businesses that find themselves with extra produce and is utilising it to create brand new ice cream flavours.

But don’t worry, it doesn’t taste like rubbish.

For example, Salt & Straw is taking spent grains from Breakside Brewery to make a toasted Spent Grain and Bacon S’mores flavour. The bacon part of the flavour will come from pigs at a nearby zero-waste farm. Other collaborations include using Ancient Heritage’s leftover whey (product used to make cheese) and making a deliciously tart Lemon and Whey flavour.

Like most cities, Portland finds itself with a surplus of day-old bread. Salt & Straw is taking this bread, collected by Urban Gleaners, and turning it into a Toasted Baguette PB&J flavour. They’ll also be helping Sauvie Island Organics get rid of its unexpectedly huge celery harvest by offering the Celery Root & Strawberry Celery Leaf Jam. Sounds super refreshing, tbh.

You can check out the full list of flavours here. We’re all for doing good things for the environment. And boy do we love ice cream. This is a real win-win.

You can find Salt & Straw in Portland and Los Angeles.

(All images: Salt & Straw/Facebook)

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