So as you likely know, I have spent the last couple of weeks preparing for and working at the Cleveland International Film Festival. Once again, this year, we are composting and recycling up at the Hospitality Headquarters. With record attendance and a huge increase in passholder sales, it has meant a big increase in folks up at the re purposed Bice restaurant space. About a month before the festival, I decided to see if I could reach out to Jeni’s Ice Cream in Columbus.
If you have read this blog for a while, then you know how much I love Jeni’s Ice Cream. I have written about them a number of times.These folks are so focused on quality and local ingredients, they practically know the cows that produce their milk. Focused on local and high quality ingredients, these guys make the best ice cream ever. I would be hard pressed to find an ice cream maker that tickles my fancy as much. So I was thrilled to hear that they were willing to come up to Cleveland to scoop ice cream for the last of the festival and to promote their upcoming location in Chagrin Falls.
They came and brought their own stuff, and scooped good sized scoops of tasty ice cream while mixing with the crowd. They were so well received that people were late to movies to get their tasty scoop-sorry theater guys. When they were offering the deepest Dark Chocolate that could still be called ice cream, I am not surprised. Of course they served up their signature Salty Caramel, which always seems a little more like brown butter it is so rich and tasty…. They brought the Goat Cheese and Figs as their “way out there” flavor, which is tame by comparison to some of their other offerings. Still, for the faint of heart it was a bit edgy. Even so, it got lots of oohs and aaahs from the staff and patrons.
The only problem I was concerned about when I knew they were coming was logistics. Up in the hospitality suite, we were doing so well at diverting huge amounts of trash from landfill. For the hundreds of patrons that came up there between each film, we still managed to do less than half a garbage bag a day. That garbage bag, ironically, was usually filled with the plastic sleeves that surrounded the biodegradable paper cups and plates that we brought in. In order to accomplish this, the staff and volunteers (all of us masochists, I am sure) would pick up and separate each persons trash for them. When you bring in an outside vendor, then you have to separate their stuff, make sure the plastics get recycled, the paper is compostable, etc. That is why I was so thrilled when Jeni’s started scooping and I saw they were using compostable goods. The tasting cups were made from recycled content and the spoons made from potato starch. Both went directly into our compost bins and will be dirt by the end of summer. I knew that Jeni’s was committed to local foods-they buy all their strawberries for the year, because quality strawberries are only in season in Ohio for a short while-but I was so pleasantly surprised to see that they also were worrying about their trash. Many of their ice cream containers were purchased to be reusable and when they left, they left nothing behind. It just warmed my heart to see them being so environmentally responsible, while also producing such great products and being successful enough to expand.
If you know me, you know that there are few companies that I like enough to want to work for them. So you put Jeni’s and the CIFF together, and I am in heaven. Could I do this every day?
The Cleveland International Film Festival is one of the most important organizations in Cleveland. Every year they manage to get tens of thousands of people to come into downtown Cleveland and the economic impact can be huge. In addition, the impact it can have on our city’s reputation in the national arts arena is not to be missed. It seems to grow every year, and soon we may be the “go-to” festival of the year for those who adore movies. As a disclaimer, I have to say that I work for them when the festival is on. Even though I am a little biased, I can honestly say that I would support them anyhow. I started out with them as a volunteer and many of my friends continue to volunteer there year after year.
