The Murray Sports Mall features 14 indoor and outdoor pickleball courts. Photo courtesy Adobe Stock.
Salt Lake resident and Bar X Group member Ty Burrell has marching orders for locals in search of weekend plans: Dust off the paddles, stretch your achilles, and head to the Murray Sports Mall for a bit of friendly court side rivalry. Oh, and don’t forget your wallet.
In partnership with local nonprofit WasteLess Solutions, Pickled For a Purpose is a community pickleball tournament welcoming all levels of athletes for a day of competition, good food and collective action. Proceeds benefit the organization’s mission to reduce food waste and redirect surplus food to neighbors in need, an effort Ty has a personal connection to: “My wife and I have always been sort of OCD about food waste, but we’ve learned a lot more about the other implications, like the amount of water that goes into one bell pepper or the travel and human hours—there’s so much involved to create something that just ends up in the garbage.”
As a restaurant co-owner, he’s made an effort to learn more about the cause and effect of food waste, and how to mitigate it in both his personal and his professional endeavors. “The more we learn about food insecurity, it’s less about supply and demand and more about distribution. We have plenty of food to feed all four hundred thousand food insecure people in the valley, it’s just a matter of getting it to them.” To make a small inroad in that distribution strategy, Ty and his family have gotten involved with Wasteless’ food rescue program, which relies on volunteers to pick up surplus food items, often prepared meals, from partnered businesses and drop them off to shelters and food pantries, “we’ve found it to be a pretty fun scavenger hunt,” says Ty.
Along with WasteLess’ volunteer-led food rescue initiative, the nonprofit also hosts mobile markets that bring food to food-insecure neighborhoods, and connects directly with families to provide prepared meal programs on a regular basis. For businesses in the food industry, the WasteLess Certified Program can help optimize sourcing and operations to work toward a waste-free future. Beer Bar is a proud alumni of the program, incorporating multiple food-savvy strategies like repurposing ingredients into house made sauces or new menu items — their bread pudding is made with excess bread trimmings from sandwiches and hotdogs. And at the end of a night, the bar donates surplus food to WasteLess’ rescue program. “In a holistic way, we love to make sure that our food isn’t going to waste and ending up as methane coming out of the landfill,” says Ty. “The WasteLess Certification is really in anybody’s best interest, your business can become more efficient with ordering and sourcing, while simultaneously helping to get fresh, healthy food to people that need it.” Ty and the Bar X Group plan to certify all four of their businesses through WasteLess’ program, “it’s just another one of those win-wins, it’s good for business efficiency, helps you save some money and do good at the same time.”
Of course, the every-day consumer plays a huge part in Utah’s food system, and Burrell encourages folks to get involved with local food pantries and organizations like WasteLess. What better place to start than at this weekend’s community pickleball tournament?
All skill levels are welcome, and the tournament will feature a recreational league along with a men’s doubles and women’s double division—Ty will be participating in both pickleball leagues, an act of commitment that makes him laugh considering his tennis-playing past. “I came from the world of grumbling about pickleball because they were taking over the courts, but I’m just basic enough to have fallen in love with it.” he japes. “My brother and I are competing in both brackets, which is hilarious because we’re probably going to get destroyed.”
Full dinner is included with registration, including a curated spread from WasteLess’ Rescue-to-Table program which showcases fresh, healthy food that otherwise have gone to waste. Register individually, as a team, or join as a spectator to take in the festivities! Tickets available at here
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