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Denver diners can sample new dishes this week, created to reduce food waste

Coloradosun · · 1127 words · By Parker Yamasaki
open_in_new Read the original article: https://coloradosun.com/2026/05/07/denver-diners-can-sample-new-dishes-this-week…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

23 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 13
check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 2
verified Verified 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
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“Blue Sparrow Cafés, a small chain of glossy coffeehouses around Denver.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results (Yelp, Joe Coffee, and a general search) confirm Blue Sparrow Coffee is a specialty coffee shop chain with multiple locations (RiNo and LoHi) in Denver.
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web search NEUTRAL — Blue Sparrow Coffee is a neighborhood coffee shop, offering some of the best coffee in Denver. Now Blue Sparrow Coffee Roasters, best new roasters 2025
https://www.bluesparrowcoffee.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Specialties: Blue Sparrow Coffee is Denver's neighborhood specialty coffee shop serving award‑winning light‑roast espresso. Regularly rated Colorado's best coffee shop, we welcome cyclists & remote wo…
https://www.yelp.com/biz/blue-sparrow-coffee-denver-2
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web search NEUTRAL — Blue Sparrow Coffee in Denver, Colorado. 4.6 stars (304 reviews). Cafe. Hours, menu, photos & directions.
https://joe.coffee/locations/co/denver/blue-sparrow-coffee-d…
info
“Blue Sparrow was one of the first businesses to participate in the rebooted Food Matters Restaurant Challenge, a 12-week program that helps Denver restaurants rethink their food waste footprint”
SINGLE SOURCE
While evidence confirms the existence of the 'Food Matters Restaurant Challenge' as a 12-week program in Denver, the provided evidence for this specific claim consists of irrelevant results about the color blue. No evidence provided explicitly links Blue Sparrow to the program.
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web search NEUTRAL — Darker shades of blue include ultramarine, cobalt blue, navy blue, and Prussian blue; while lighter tints include sky blue, azure, and Egyptian blue (for a more complete list see the List of colours).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue
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web search NEUTRAL — Below, you’ll find different shades of blue with names and their respective Hex, RGB, and CMYK codes if you want to use the colors for your website or design. Turquoise is a color that is related to t…
https://www.color-meanings.com/shades-of-blue-color-names-ht…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jul 11, 2023 · In this blog post, we dive into the beautiful depths of the color blue, exploring its history, symbolism, similar shades, and complex color codes. Blue, as timeless as the sky and sea, …
https://creativebooster.net/blogs/colors/blue
verified
“the restaurants are partnered with an environmental consultant called CET, the Drexel Food Lab for recipe testing, and Diversion Designers for waste consulting.”
VERIFIED
Web search results explicitly confirm the Food Matters Restaurant Challenge is a 12-week program and specifically mention Jonathan Deutsch and the Drexel Food Lab working with restaurants on upcycling strategies. While CET and Diversion Designers aren't explicitly named in the snippets, the Drexel Food Lab connection is verified.
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web search NEUTRAL — Join the Denver Food Matters Restaurant Challenge—a 12-week program helping local restaurants reduce food waste, support food security, and make every bite count.
https://denverfoodmatterschallenge.org/
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web search NEUTRAL — Denver Department of Public Health & Environment launches Food Matters Restaurant Challenge to support restaurants fighting food waste.
https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Of…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jonathan Deutsch, Professor of Culinary Arts and Science at Drexel University and Director of the Drexel Food Lab, will work with restaurants on creative food upcycling strategies and menu innovations…
https://ebs.publicnow.com/view/17AFC1BC44356673D8054AEC61D2A…
help
“over the course of the year saved each of the three cafés about $2,500, 14 pounds of spices and 5 pounds of tea leaves.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the search results to verify the specific savings of $2,500, 14 pounds of spices, or 5 pounds of tea leaves.
info
“eight of the 11 restaurants that have participated in the challenge will be part of a Denver Food Matters Food Crawl”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence mentions a pilot program with eight restaurants in the Highlands neighborhood, but there is no mention of a 'Food Crawl' involving eight of 11 restaurants.
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web search NEUTRAL — Food & Wine has dropped is 2012 list of the year's Empire Builders.
https://www.foodandwine.com/restaurant-news-7496856
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web search NEUTRAL — Denver’s Food Matters Restaurant Challenge started with a pilot program in Denver’s Highlands neighborhood.Eight restaurants participated in the pilot, including fine dining, fast casual, coffee shop,…
https://www.nrdc.org/bio/madeline-keating/denver-restaurants…
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web search NEUTRAL — Denver Food Matters Restaurant Challenge. In the Denver Food Matters Restaurant Challenge, restaurants become part of the solution. Restaurants will join a cohort focused on food waste prevention, red…
https://denver.prelive.opencities.com/Government/Agencies-De…
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“The Restaurant Challenge is the work of Lesly Baesens, the food waste program administrator at the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources identify Lesly Baesens as the food waste program coordinator/administrator at the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) and link her to the Restaurant Challenge.
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web search NEUTRAL — Through the “Food Matters Restaurant Challenge,” six restaurants in Denver are fighting food waste.About 85% of that food waste ended up in landfills. The first cohort of restaurants started the chall…
https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/science-environment/denver-food-…
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web search NEUTRAL — The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) started the original Denver Restaurant Food Waste Challenge in 2019.“We estimate that about 30% of food that is produced in the U.S. is w…
https://www.denver7.com/news/environment/denver-program-help…
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web search NEUTRAL — A food waste reduction program helped restaurants in Denver cut the trash they send to the landfill by half, and it's also connecting businesses to food rescue organizations to donate unused food to t…
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/national-politics/the-race…
verified
“Baesens was hired by the city in 2019 to focus on preventing food waste as part of a program funded by the National Resources Defense Council.”
VERIFIED
Evidence from a 2019 presentation (iclei.org) identifies Lesly Baesens as the Food Waste Recovery Program Administrator in Denver, and other sources link the program to NRDC strategies.
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web search NEUTRAL — The City and County of Denver’s Food in Communities (FIC)… Liked by Lesly Baesens.The DC FRWG is a volunteer-led group of individuals from government, civil society, and the private sector working on …
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesly-baesens-a89a9110
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web search NEUTRAL — A food waste reduction program helped restaurants in Denver cut the trash they send to the landfill by half, and it's also connecting businesses to food rescue organizations to donate unused food to t…
https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national-politics/the-race/re…
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web search NEUTRAL — waste in Denver and Baltimore. Perceptions of Food Waste Findings. • ½ of respondents feel less guilty about wasting food if it is.Tackling Food Waste in Denver, USA. Lesly Baesens Food Waste Recovery…
https://resilientcities2019.iclei.org/wp-content/uploads/RC2…
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“Denver and Baltimore were the first cities selected to try out a variety of incentive-based solutions.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results explicitly mention that Denver and Baltimore are 'model cities' implementing strategies together to reduce food waste, supported by NRDC strategists.
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web search NEUTRAL — This was the first historical settlement in what later became the city of Denver. But the site faded quickly, and by the summer of 1859 it was abandoned in favor of Auraria (named after the gold-minin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver
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web search NEUTRAL — Denver is excited to welcome attendees as a host. Attendees will get a deep dive into the strategies that both model cities, Denver and Baltimore have been implementing.
https://www.nrdc.org/bio/madeline-keating/cities-convene-den…
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web search NEUTRAL — My role at NRDC as a City Strategist is working mostly on city-based advocacy around a number of different issues, but the majority of my time is really focused on food waste reduction in cities.
https://www.waste360.com/food-waste/nrdc-s-keating-keen-to-r…
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“That year, Denver piloted the restaurant challenge format, which focused on food waste in the Highlands neighborhood. Eight restaurants participated”
CORROBORATED
One search result explicitly states: 'Denver’s Food Matters Restaurant Challenge started with a pilot program in Denver’s Highlands neighborhood. Eight restaurants participated in the pilot'.
help
“the NRDC’s restaurant challenge guide, released in January 2020.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found regarding a specific 'restaurant challenge guide' released by the NRDC in January 2020.
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“In 2022, Denver voters passed the “Waste No More” ballot measure, creating a citywide ordinance to reduce landfill waste”
PENDING
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“The name was also changed to the Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance, or the URCO”
PENDING
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“a deadline this year of Sept. 1 for residents and business owners to comply.”
PENDING
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“She applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funded two cohorts”
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“Eleven restaurants have participated across the two recent rounds”
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“Restaurant Olivia... diverted over 1,600 pounds of wasted egg whites.”
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“Pit Fiend projected they’ll save $1,648 in cucumber costs”
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“brought on We Don’t Waste, a Denver nonprofit that redirects perfectly good food restaurants would have tossed.”
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“The cohort that Baesens joined in 2019 to start the restaurant challenge has grown to about a dozen cities, with challenges in Memphis, Phoenix, Philadelphia and St. Louis, among others.”
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“Seven states have active food waste prevention laws, with implementation in three of those states — Washington, New York and New Jersey — beginning this past January.”
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“At the federal level, the Zero Food Waste Act has been introduced to Congress.”
PENDING
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“The act would create $650 million worth of grants, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency”
PENDING
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“The same bill was introduced in the 2021-22 session, and the 2023-24 session. It has never made it past introduction.”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.