About 360 Eats

Meet the passionate individuals behind the 360 Eats Team

Cameron Macleish

co-founder/Executive Director

Hi there! My name is Cameron. I am a Florida local and a musician, traveler, and activist. I find inspiration in the world and its cultures, traditions, landscapes, history, food, music and art. Selflessness, passion and kindness are qualities in people that inspire me on a daily basis. 

During my travels through Australia in 2015, I stumbled on a community of dumpster divers who introduced me to the realities of food waste. I was inspired to find a way to reroute all of this perfectly good food from the dumpster and into the bellies of those who need it the most. This is what led to the creation of 360 Eats. In 2023, I was awarded the Tampa Bay Lightning Community Hero Award for my work with 360 Eats. 

  • During my travels through Australia in 2015, I found myself face-to-face for the first time with a shocking reality. Behind a local grocery store on the outskirts of Melbourne was a dumpster overflowing with untouched wholesome food awaiting its demise at a local landfill. At that moment two questions I never thought I'd ask popped into my head; Why is all of this perfectly edible food being thrown away? And how on earth are we going to haul all of it home?

    I had stumbled on a community of "dumpster divers" who fed themselves almost solely on the good food grocery stores had discarded. Day after day, the community of 27 ate a surplus of quality foods at virtually no cost. This experience inspired me and, as I continued my travels around the globe, I challenged myself to source a majority of my food from dumpsters.

    What I believed would be a difficult journey soon proved to be surprisingly easy. I began to witness the extent of food waste globally and quickly realized that it is not just an isolated issue. This experience completely reshaped the way I thought about food and is what has led to my pursuit of a just and sustainable food system.

    In 2019, I partnered with my mother, Ellen, a professional chef, and fellow food waste activist, to create a Youtube cooking show and food waste awareness project called 'Cooking With Trash". The project quickly gained traction after only a month of production and was soon picked up by networks such as NBC's Today Show, HuffPost's "This New World", 60 Second Docs, Garden Culture Magazine, and Feeding Tampa Bay.

    Although it is crucial to bring these issues to light, it is equally important to provide solutions. Where ‘Cooking With Trash’ succeeded in raising awareness it lacked in providing a viable solution. 360 Eats is the next step in the quest to end food waste and food insecurity and it provides a simple yet effective model to help transition to a sustainable and just food system.

    It is our mission at 360 Eats to help reshape our food system to benefit humankind as well as our environment. We hope in by doing so we can all work together to create a bright and healthy future for all.

Ellen Macleish

Co-Founder /Executive Chef

Hello, I'm Ellen. I'm inspired by kindness, generosity, humility, honesty and natural beauty.

In my spare time, I practice yoga, Pilates, reading new fiction, walking in beautiful spaces and even cooking (yes, I also do it for relaxation and fun!).

The natural food movement in the 70s changed how I saw food and it's critical role in our ongoing health, but also how the food system was being industrialized, politicized and marketed away from being truly healthy for us. I entered the food industry professionally just seven years ago, with a commitment to affect positive change from within. 

DID YOU KNOW?

there are nearly 1 million people struggling with food insecurity throughout Tampa Bay. An estimated one in four children are impacted.