Taste of Cincinnati vendors donate remaining food to nonprofits, shelters

Tens of thousands made their way downtown to enjoy Taste of Cincinnati this weekend. The weekend was marked by fantastic weather and fantastic food for folk to enjoy.It wasn’t just the people who came out that got a taste — Monday night, as the food festival wrapped up, dozens of vendors agreed to donate any food they didn’t sell this weekend to those in need. It’s all part of a partnership with Last Mile Food Rescue.It’s a local organization that makes sure no food goes to waste. “These vendors at the end of the day today have food that’s left over and would normally go to waste. But here, what we do is we rescue it,” said volunteer Erica Johnson.They collect food and distribute it to local shelters.For businesses that participate, it’s a wonderful opportunity to give back to the community.”It’s important to us in the business because we can literally support people who are in need. So where they can look at us and say AJ’s Cheesesteak’s is giving back to us,” said manager Alexis McNeil with AJ’s Cheesesteak’s, one of the participating businesses.Volunteers filled up a van with all the food donated, and they are now getting ready to help distribute that to those in need.