Alice Planel's Dinner Exchange - Food Justice Dinner Parties

Lucy Siegle, The Observer, Sunday 4 July 2010

"Cooking for 42 strangers who've never met was exhilarating," says Alice Planel, "but a few too many. Now I stick to a maximum of 30 guests." In the goodwill version of Come Dine With Me, once a month Planel feeds strangers entirely from waste food: "donations" predominantly from organic sellers at New Covent Garden Market, where she is a familiar and persuasive presence. And this waste makes for a luxurious menu that has recently included quinoa, rice and kale fritters, and aubergine and flaked-soya bake on a sweet tomato coulis.
The Dinner Exchange (http://www.thedinnerexchange.zzl.org/) menu is not available in advance because Planel hasn't got a clue what food she'll find for that night. She seems to thrive on the unpredictability of her ingredients, and on bringing waste to the table in a convivial, non-worthy atmosphere. "Food can be nutritious even if it doesn't look good," she says with feeling. "It is extraordinary that when we are surrounded by people with limited access to nutritious food we're dumping so much, often because it doesn't conform to ridiculous aesthetic ideals." Her aim is to raise awareness of food waste while also reducing it.

There is no set fee at Dinner Exchange, : "From the outset I didn't want to charge £50 or some costly sum." So , instead, Planel asks for a donation. She has been earning around £250 a sitting, which she donates to food justice organisation FareShare – it can then buy " 300 meals" with it. Although a seasoned dumpster diver (one who raids the skips of supermarkets to retrieve perfectly edible food), Planel doesn't serve her dinner guests anything rescued from a bin. "They just might not be as comfortable with the idea as I am," she reasons.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/04/lucy-siegle-innovator-alice-planel-dinner-exchange