Back in 2018, Elliott became an European ambassador for Metro campaign supporting the importance of local impact and management of food surplus . 

Through this, Elliott was exposed to the impressive reality behind the doors of many food supply networks. In one day & one store , he was able to recuperate no less than 134 kg of food that would have ended in the trash for many reasons : stock depletion, “ugly” vegetables, near to the expiry date etc.. 

Realizing what was becoming possible, he changed his approach to food & started organizing dinners for migrants able to feed 600 people through food surplus with the help of volunteers & partners.

His approach was soon noticed by worldwide NGOs like Medecins du Monde & Doctors without Borders who decided to partner with him ongoingly.

The concept was simple but challenging : 

Organizing fundraising gastronomic dinners at the profit of the NGO based on surplus food and cooked in partnership with Michelin Star restaurants . In the end, this is not 1 but 2 starred chefs who joined us on each of these dinners successfully & helped us raise no less than 30000 euros for the NGO!

Seeing the impact and traction of such approach we have founded the ASBL “Hearth” aiming at delivering meals to needy people using food surplus and financing itself via the organization high end gastronomic dinners leveraging this food waste. 

So far we already have Cooked more than 3500 dishes ; Served more than 1400 people; Recovered around 5 tonnes of food !

Inspired by the 3 starred chef Massimo Bottura with its project Food for Soul (see more details in link below ), our actions aim at opening a centre in Brussels which will be the symbiosis of a place for needy people to get hot meals made from food waste ; access to a learning network enabling their reinsertion in life (cooking training; expression through art for example) and an overall social environment enabling them to step change their life towards financial  independence .

Our intention is to make it a sustainable and economically viable project via regular fundraising gastronomic events where we will show to a broader public of epicureans and eco-conscious people the potential of leveraging food surplus and food waste into high end dinners . During these dinners we give a range of starred Michelin chefs the challenge to cook outside of their comfort zone with "surprise" ingredients discovered a few days upfront and to scale up their cuisine to hundreds of people at the same time . 

Separately, our wide range of passionate volunteers and organizations wanting to have a local impact combining both social objectives and a  sustainable approach around food is helping us give life to this project!

Because we believe a local community of empowered actors can be of disruptive help in today's world ; and because we believe it is sometimes just a matter of creative connections that brings the right people and skills together that can change the world, one step at a time.