Imagine a world where gourmet meals are created from ingredients found in dumpsters. Sounds implausible, right? Well, for Guillaume Cantin, it's not only a reality but a thriving culinary movement in Montreal, and his journey is nothing short of remarkable. This talented chef has been in the dumpster dining scene for years, turning discarded ingredients into delectable delights.
Guillaume Cantin's story begins with a simple dare between friends. Could the Montreal chef take a dumpster dive and create a gourmet meal from the waste he found?
Armed with culinary skills from working in various restaurant kitchens for 17 years - he began at age 15 and worked his way up to chef, winning the first season of Radio Canada's Les Chefs! - Guillaume Cantin quite literally dove into the adventurous dare when his friend, Thibault Renouf, suggested the idea in 2016.

“I went behind a grocery store and jumped into the dumpsters,” says Cantin. “I wasn’t surprised as much by the quantity of food I found, but I was surprised by the quality. If something isn’t edible, it’s understandable to throw it away, but what we found was beautiful food, still in the package.” - via Modern Farmer.
Cantin won the dare with delight. From two dumpsters at separate grocery stores, he discovered so much quality food that he was able to prepare about 100 meals. With the abundance of fruit and vegetables he found, the menu Cantin created reflected that bounty - He whipped up a vibrant red pepper soup that was garnished with spicy hummus and small diced orange, red, and yellow peppers. The main course was a roasted lettuce with a lettuce cream, quinoa, pomegranate and sage. For dessert, he made a pan seared "pain perdu" (a type of bread pudding) with coffee-cumin yogurt and slices of yellow plums. All of this, sourced from two dumpsters.
It took just one dumpster dive to open Cantin's eyes to the reality of food waste from grocers. Shortly after the successful dare, Cantin, Renouf, and two other friends, Bobby Grégoire and Marie Gaucher started up La Transformerie (Transformation). The non-profit started up in July of 2017 with a fact-finding mission, beginning by speaking with employees at grocery stores about their food waste.

The goal of La Transformerie was to reduce food waste by using quality unsold food to help those in need.
“We love food so much that we want to make sure everyone else is falling in love with food. Plus, we want to erase food waste, especially when there are those who aren’t eating enough.” - via Modern Farmer.
"Cantin’s dive into a dumpster led to a company that takes food waste from grocers, donates 67 percent of it to food banks, composts any unusable items (about 7 percent) and then preserves and sells the rest back to the consumer. By partnering directly with grocers, Cantin saves himself a jump into the dumpster, and the grocers get positive marketing and an opportunity to show their employees that they’re doing the right thing." - via Modern Farmer.
"Growing steadily since 2017, La Transformerie now has contracts with 17 grocers, from small independent stores to large local chains. They utilize a network of 1,200 volunteers who collect the food each week and help with distribution and processing. Once the food is picked up, it’s organized by type, then measured and cleaned. The largest portion is donated to food banks including any meat, bakery items, eggs or dairy. As the group gets more popular, it sometimes has two pickups per week." - via Modern Farmer.
Guillaume Cantin has shown us that gourmet dining doesn't have to be synonymous with extravagance and waste. His dumpster-diving journey challenges us to rethink our relationship with food and to appreciate the potential for culinary excellence hidden within what others discard.
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