WASTED! THE STORY OF FOOD WASTE to be Presented at Gold Coast International Film Festival

From executive producer Anthony Bourdain, "WASTED! The Story of Food Waste" aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle, and eat food. Through the eyes of celebrity chefs like Bourdain, Dan Barber, Mario Batali, Massimo Bottura, and Danny Bowien, audiences will see how the world's most influential chefs make the most of every kind of food, transforming what most people consider scraps into incredible dishes that create a more secure food system. "WASTED! The Story of Food Waste" (Anna Chai & Nari Kye | 2017 | 85 min. | USA) is a documentary examining the issue of food waste, its contribution to climate change, and how we all can make small changes, all of them delicious, to solve one of the greatest problems of the 21st Century.

The Gold Coast International Film Festival, in partnership with Island Harvest Food Bank, Sid Jacobson JCC, the Long Island Community Fund, and Nonprofit Data Solutions, is pleased to present "WASTED! The Story of Food Waste" on Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 7:30 p.m. at Sid Jacobson JCC, 300 Forest Dr., East Hills, NY 11548. Tickets for "WASTED! The Story of Food Waste" are $15, $10 for Gold Coast Film Society and SJJCC members, and can be purchased at www.goldcoastfilmfestival.org.

Following the screening of "WASTED! The Story of Food Waste" will be a panel discussion examining the effects of food waste, which according to the EPA, is between 30-40 percent of the food supply corresponding to more than 133 billion pounds worth more than $161 billion at the retail and consumer level. The panel will include New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky, Chair of the Senate's Environmental Conservation Committee; New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright, Chair, of the Assembly's Committee on Environmental Conservation; Randi Shubin Dresner, CEO, Island Harvest Food Bank, and Chair of the Advocacy Committee for Feeding New York State; and Kendrick Repko, MS, RD, Brand Lead, Sustainable Retailing, Stop & Shop.

Filmgoers attending this event are asked to bring a donation of non-perishable food to help assist more than 300,000 Long Islanders at risk of hunger and food insecurity. For a list of needed items, please visit www.sjjcc.org/foodwishlist.

This presentation of "WASTED! The Story of Food Waste" is part of a new series launched by The Gold Coast International Film Festival that will spotlight films focusing on a variety of social issues of importance to Long Islanders and the region. This series is supported in part by a grant from the Long Island Community Foundation. Following each film screening, a Q&A panel consisting of filmmakers, subject matter experts, and other relevant guests will be on hand to help audiences further explore the issues raised in the films. Films are expected to touch on a wide range of topical subjects, including the environment, immigration, income equality, veterans' issues, tolerance, and hunger, among others.
Since 2011, the festival has brought the latest Hollywood hits and Indie favorites to standing room only audiences throughout the fabled Gold Coast of Long Island. Add A-list celebrities and unforgettable events to the mix, and it's easy to see why the Gold Coast International Film Festival has become the "go-to" festival for film buffs and the public; (it is also the last major film festival on the East Coast before Awards season). The Gold Coast International Film Festival is produced by the not-for-profit Gold Coast Arts Center.

Previous honorees and special guests of the festival and the Gold Coast Arts Center include film industry VIPs Francis Ford Coppola, Hugh Grant, Baz Luhrmann, Brian Dennehy, Paul Sorvino, Robert Wagner, Ed Burns, Bruce Dern, Isabella Rossellini, Lou Diamond Phillips, Morgan Spurlock, Eli Wallach, Gabriel Byrne, Jacques Pepin, Bill Plympton, Phil Donahue, Phylicia Rashaad, Joan Allen, Jay McInerney and Michael Cuesta, as well as composer Morton Gould, artists James Rosenquist, Oleg Cassini, Edwina Sandys and Bob Gruen, comedian Susie Essman, Broadway stars Kelli O'Hara, Melissa Errico and Savion Glover, and 4-time Oscar winner for production and costume design Catherine Martin.

The Gold Coast Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting the arts through education, exhibition, performance, and outreach. Located on the North Shore of Long Island, it has brought the arts to tens of thousands of people throughout the region for over 20 years. Among the Center's offerings are its School for the Arts, which holds year-round classes in visual and performing arts for students of all ages and abilities; a free public art gallery; a concert and lecture series; film screenings and discussions; the annual Gold Coast International Film Festival; and initiatives that focus on senior citizens and underserved communities. These initiatives include artist residencies, after-school programs, school assemblies, teacher-training workshops, and parent-child workshops. The Gold Coast Arts Center is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Partners in Education program and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Island Harvest Food Bank is a leading hunger-relief organization that provides food and other resources to people in need. Always treating those it helps with dignity and respect, its mission is to end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island through efficient food collection and distribution; enhanced hunger-awareness and nutrition-education programs; job training; and direct services targeted at children, senior citizens, veterans, and others at risk of food insecurity. As a result of Island Harvest Food Bank's dynamic business model, more than 94 percent of expended resources go directly to programs and services that support more than 300,000 Long Islanders facing hunger. Island Harvest Food Bank is a lead agency in the region's emergency response preparedness for food and product distribution and is a member of Feeding America®, the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief organization. For five consecutive years, Island Harvest Food Bank has earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a leading independent charity watchdog organization. Island Harvest Food Bank is among just 9% of the organizations rated by Charity Navigator to merit the four-star designation.

Sid Jacobson JCC (sjjcc.org), in East Hills, and its surrounding campus, the Bernice Jacobson Day School and Camp (bjdsc.org), in Old Westbury, provide a full range of cutting-edge recreational, health, fitness, educational, cultural arts and social service programs. SJJCC promotes Jewish identity and provides a comprehensive program based on Jewish values, traditions, heritage, and culture, and is committed to enriching the lives of all individuals and families in its community. SJJCC embraces all individuals and families, and values diversity.

Photo courtesy: wastedfilm.com

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