Issues of Food Waste Topic of April 14 WSU Common Reading Presentation by Local Restaurateur, Educator Jim Harbour

PULLMAN, Wash.—What happens to that meat gristle and vegetable clump left on your plate at the neighborhood eatery last evening? “Issues of Food Waste” will be addressed by Southfork Public House and Porch Light Pizza entrepreneur Jim Harbour at the final Common Reading Tuesdays lecture April 14 at Washington State University.

The free lecture is set for 4:00 p.m. in Todd Hall 130, and the public is welcome to attend, says Karen Weathermon. She is co-director of the Common Reading Program, part of the WSU Office of Undergraduate Education. Harbour’s presentation is tied to issues in this year’s common reading book, “Garbology: American’s Love Affair with Trash,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Humes.

“Jim brings insight into issues of food waste from his business experience as well as from his experience as a faculty member in the School of Hospitality Business Management in the Carson College of Business,” says Weathermon. He plans to touch on the challenges of waste in the food industry as well as new directions to address such waste.

A long-time Pullman resident, Harbour is co-owner of Southfork and owns Porch Light Pizza. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the WSU school in which he is now a clinical assistant professor; his MBA is from Gonzaga University. He was hired at WSU in 2006 to be the hospitality school’s culinary educator. He was a visiting professor at Cesar Ritz College in Switzerland, and has led students on a study abroad program to Phuket, Thailand.

The Common Reading Program hosts and co-hosts many lectures, events, and film screenings each year on topics raised by the book chosen each year for all first-year students to use in classes, and in discussions outside class. This is the eighth year of the program at WSU.

MEDIA: Karen Weathermon, Co-Director of the Common Reading Program, WSU Office of Undergraduate Education, 509-335-5488, kweathermon@wsu.edu