San Fernando Valley restaurants are not yet standing in line to give their leftover food to charities, despite a new law that removes liability for the businesses should someone become ill from the food.
But industry observers predict that enthusiasm for putting leftovers to use will increase later this month with the advent of a program called Second Helpings.
Under Second Helpings, the California Restaurant Assn. will act as a matchmaker for restaurants and charities, leaving them to iron out details of their exchange.
"In general, what we've heard from our members is this is a good idea--a way to be able to do something to help out without having a major burden put on them," said Stanley Kyker, executive vice president of the California Restaurant Assn.
The so-called "Good Samaritan law," which took effect Jan. 1, was sponsored by the restaurant association because large quantities of restaurant food were being thrown away. This was partly because of concerns about liability and the county's strict interpretation of state health regulations.
Any restaurants and charities can negotiate to distribute leftovers on their own. But except for the handful that had previous arrangements, none of several contacted had plans to do so.
When a proposal for Second Helpings was mailed statewide last year to all 2,900 members of the restaurant association, who represent 9,000 food service businesses, the results were disappointing, said Alberta Hultman, assistant executive vice president. Only about 100 agreed to participate, she said. Of these, about a dozen were in Los Angeles County and only two were in the Valley.
Since then, one of the two Valley establishments, Polar Palace Frozen Yogurt in Van Nuys, has gone out of business. The other, the Calabasas Inn, plans to donate raw food such as bags of rice, coffee and fruit, which would be useful only to charities that have cooking facilities.
"We don't have food left over that often, so it's not something we could promise on a regular basis," said Wally Hollenstein, owner of the 150-seat Calabasas Inn. "Besides, I'm not so much in favor of sending the poor what you have left. . . . They deserve fresh food too."
Kyker said he was surprised by the small response, but a second brochure now being developed aims at educating restaurant owners and managers about the need for the program. As added incentive, the restaurant association is letting its members know they can claim tax deductions for the value of the donated food.
Kyker said Valley restaurants may join if they see the program working smoothly for other Los Angeles-area restaurants. The restaurant association would not release a complete list of the restaurants that tentatively signed up after the statewide mailing. Hultman said most are family-style restaurants, not fast-food or gourmet establishments.
Key Connection
"The key will be getting that connection between the agency and the restaurant operator so that it is convenient for the restaurateur," Kyker said. "If it becomes too much of a burden for them so that it costs more, they aren't going to want to continue, and others won't want to join them."
Some representatives of Valley charities were pessimistic about the likelihood of widespread participation.
"The thing is that in the Valley, there's always been a strong feeling that there's not a homeless problem out here," said Vernon Windell, program coordinator for the Cornerstone, a Van Nuys mental health counseling center for the homeless. "Restaurateurs, if they see the problem, they see it as a problem for them--people poking in their dumpsters, stiffing them on the bill."
But, Hultman said, she thinks that all restaurateurs became more aware of the destitute after Proposition 95, the Hunger and Homelessness Funding Initiative on November's ballot, drew a 45% yes vote. Among other things, the proposition proposed fining restaurants for state Health Code violations, then using the fines to pay for food, shelter and job training for the homeless.
More Awareness
"I think they are much more aware of the issue, that we as individuals have to respond," Hultman said, "and that we have to let people know what we're doing."
The amount of excess food in Los Angeles restaurants has not been measured, but people's digging in restaurant dumpsters is testimony that edible food is wasted, said Michael Vasquez, director of the Hollywood Project for the homeless.
Before the August closure of Hollywood's well-known Tick Tock restaurant, Vasquez said, he and his staff were allowed to come to the back door with plastic containers at 9 p.m., when the kitchen closed.
"We would get enough from the Tick Tock in one evening to feed about 50 people," he said. "There would be whole turkey dinners, good quality soup and steamed vegetables. All of it still hot, coming right out of the kitchen. I sit back and imagine: When we got that much from just one restaurant, how many restaurants are throwing away at least that much?"
