With the help of around 300 volunteers, McGill set the new Guinness World Record for the largest fruit salad Aug. 28 on lower field. Weighing 11,197 lbs, the fruit salad surpassed the previous record of 10,440 lbs held by California State University in Fresno. The event, organized by Food and Dining Services, sought to highlight local farming, environmental sustainability, and Montreal community organizations.
Oliver de Volpi, executive chef of McGill Food and Dining Services, explained why his team chose to break this world record in particular.
“Food and Dining chose a fruit salad because we thought it emphasized different points that we feel, as a department, are important—local ingredients, using our own farm at Macdonald campus, and nutrition,” de Volpi said.
Volunteers helped prepare the salad by cutting approximately 12,000 lbs of fruit, loading it into an inflatable swimming pool, and serving it to audience members.
One of the volunteers, Dave D’Oyen, U3 arts, said he thoroughly enjoyed participating in the event and spoke enthusiastically about the anticipation of weighing the final product as well as the satisfaction of breaking the previous record.
“We surpassed [our] target by far,” D’Oyen said. “The goal was just 11,000 lbs of fruit and we even went beyond that. What [the audience is] eating right now isn’t even from the pool […] That is how much fruit came here today. The pool was not touched.”
The salad was a blend of 4,960 lbs of watermelon, 2,231 lbs of pineapple, 357 lbs of strawberries, and several other ingredients. Fifty per cent of the fruit used was grown at the MacDonald campus farm.
Despite the magnitude of the salad, organizers were careful to minimize the amount of waste created. All the fruit peels, as well as all the containers, wooden spoons, and compostable bowls at the event were composted.
“We [also] have our own compost we are starting up with this and we will be donating [the remaining fruit salad] to local missions and charities in Montreal,” de Volpi said.
Organiations who received some of the salad include Old Brewery Mission, Welcome Hall Mission, Meals on Wheels, and Dans La Rue. In addition, 300 portions of fruit salad will be sold on campus, with proceeds going to Centraide.
“It is a pure demonstration of what people in numbers can do and that to me is truly impressive,” Volunteer Joaquim Miro, U2 management, said.
