At Least Some Good Will Come From the Grease at Taste of Chicago

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jun 30, 2011 2:30PM

For all that we try to extol the virtues of the new, the healthy and the interesting at Taste of Chicago, a lot of the food there is just plain greasy. If you've wandered around the Taste, you've seen fryer after fryer bubbling away, spattering oily stains all over everything. Luckily, after the event is over, that oil won't be headed down the drain. The Sun-Times reports that the oil from the Taste will be turned into biodiesel fuel.

Environmental advocates can breathe a tiny, tiny sigh of relief. While the Taste is still a bit of a mess for the Earth (when you consider the number of disposable plates, napkins and utensils used up) this will help the Park District be more efficient and cleaner all year long. The Park District will be using the grease (after cleaning and processing) to improve fuel efficiency on their vehicles. They project a cost savings of about 52 cents a gallon. Best of all, the biodiesel is processed in Chicago, at a plant on the South Side.

That's a greasy mess that we can all get behind.