How can working with fractions help cooks reduce food waste?
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DADO GALDIERI/The New York Times/Redux
Math,
Fine Food, No Waste
A famous chef turns food waste into tasty meals
By Susan Cosier
From the December 2022 / January 2023 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will compare and order fractional measurements from a recipe using number lines.
Celebrity chef Massimo Bottura wanted to help solve two problems: food waste and hunger. A billion tons of food gets thrown away every year. Meanwhile, more than 820 million people in the world do not have enough food to eat.
Bottura opened his first restaurant nearly 30 years ago in Italy. He appeared in a Netflix cooking show and has written several cookbooks. In 2015, he hosted a temporary restaurant called Refettorio in one of his restaurants. The name comes from a Latin word that means “to remake or restore.”
Celebrity chef Massimo Bottura wanted to help solve two problems. The first was food waste. The second was hunger. A billion tons of food gets thrown away every year. But more than 820 million people in the world do not have enough food to eat.
Bottura opened his first restaurant in Italy. That was nearly 30 years ago. Since then, he’s appeared in a Netflix cooking show. Bottura has also written several cookbooks. In 2015, he used one of his restaurants to host a new, temporary restaurant. He called it Refettorio. The name comes from a Latin word. It means “to remake or restore.”
DADO GALDIERI/The New York Times/Redux
Chef Massimo Bottura puts the finishing touches on fresh meals.
Courtesy of Food For Soul
Diners enjoy gourmet meals made from food that would have been trashed.
The restaurant wasn’t your typical eatery. In the kitchen, chefs took food that grocery stores had thrown away and turned it into delicious meals for those in need. “A recipe, after all, is a solution to a problem,” says Bottura.
When guests entered the Refettorio, they were treated with warmth and dignity.
In 2016, Bottura opened a permanent location in Milan, Italy. He founded an organization called Food for Soul to create Refettorios around the world. It has launched 10 Refettorios in Europe, North America, and South America. More are on the way!
For Bottura, this work puts into practice one of his favorite sayings: “Cooking is an act of love.”
The restaurant wasn’t your typical place to eat. Chefs collected food that grocery stores threw away. They turned it into delicious meals. Then they fed those meals to people in need. “A recipe, after all, is a solution to a problem,” says Bottura.
When guests entered the Refettorio, they were treated with warmth and dignity.
Bottura opened a permanent Refettorio in 2016. It’s located in Milan, Italy. He also founded an organization called Food for Soul. The goal of the organization is to create Refettorios around the world. It has launched 10 Refettorios in Europe, North America, and South America. More are on the way!
For Bottura, this work puts into practice one of his favorite sayings: “Cooking is an act of love.”
Now You Try It
Refettorios often serve simple dishes that can feed many people, like this meal of pasta with fresh veggies below. Its recipe is scaled down for four servings. Use the measurements in the recipe to answer the questions. You can draw number lines on a separate sheet of paper to help you solve.
Refettorios often serve simple dishes that can feed many people, like this meal of pasta with fresh veggies below. Its recipe is scaled down for four servings. Use the measurements in the recipe to answer the questions. You can draw number lines on a separate sheet of paper to help you solve.
Veggie Pasta
- 5/8 pound pasta
- 1 cup eggplant, cubed
- 3/4 cup zucchini, cubed
- 1 cup yellow bell pepper, cubed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 5/8 cup artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup black olives, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic, chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Veggie Pasta
- 5/8 pound pasta
- 1 cup eggplant, cubed
- 3/4 cup zucchini, cubed
- 1 cup yellow bell pepper, cubed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 5/8 cup artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup black olives, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic, chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Which is greater: the measurement of zucchini or olive oil in this recipe?
Which is greater: the measurement of zucchini or olive oil in this recipe?
Which is less: the measurement for the chopped garlic or dried oregano?
Which is less: the measurement for the chopped garlic or dried oregano?
After making this recipe, you have 3/8 pound of pasta left. You want to make a different pasta dish that serves two. The new recipe calls for 1/4 pound of pasta. Do you have enough?
After making this recipe, you have 3/8 pound of pasta left. You want to make a different pasta dish that serves two. The new recipe calls for 1/4 pound of pasta. Do you have enough?
Put the measurements for the artichoke hearts, black olives, and red onion in order from least to greatest.
Put the measurements for the artichoke hearts, black olives, and red onion in order from least to greatest.
video
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Activities
(7)
Question & Answer Sheets
Skills Activities
Answer Key
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video
(1)
Activities
(7)
Question & Answer Sheets
Skills Activities
Answer Key
(1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
1. SPARK ENGAGEMENT.
Play the video "Going to Waste." Then, before or after reading the article, spark a discussion based on the following questions.
- What do you think happens to food in grocery stores when customers don't purchase it?
- What are some ways you could help supply food for people in need?
- Why are fractions important in cooking?
2. INTRODUCE THE MATH CONCEPT AND VOCABULARY
- Have students draw and shade a rectangular mode of the fraction 3/4. Looking at your model, what is a fraction that is less than 3/4? (1/4 or 2/4)
- Now draw a horizontal line through the center of your model. What fraction of your model is shaded now? (6/8 or 3/4)
- Looking at your new model, what is a different fraction that is less than 3/4? (1/8, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8, or 5/8)
- We just used an area model to compare fractions. What are some other strategies we can use to compare two or more fractions? (Possible answers: number lines; making common denominators)
- Today we will compare fractions in a recipe using number line models.
3. WORK THROUGH THE "WHAT TO DO" BOX.
- Which methods were used to compare and order the fractions? (comparing numerators when denominators are the same, using a number line, and making common denominators)
- Why was 24 used as the common denominator? (Possible answer: The lowest common multiple for 3 and 8 is 24.)
- Which method do you prefer to use when comparing fractions? Why? (Answers will vary.)
4. REINFORCE WITH MATH PRACTICE.
Have students complete probelsm 1 through 4 on page 9.
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