Preventing Food Waste Is Ty Burrell’s New Racket

The sport of pickleball has been booming in popularity everywhere this decade, and Utah is certainly no exception, with many people picking up a racket and heading to the court. Modern Family star Ty Burrell is hoping that locals will come out to play with more than just recreation on their minds.

“We’re not great pickleball players, but we are just basic enough that we’ve fallen in love with it,” Burrell says of himself and his wife, Holly. That shared enthusiasm led the Burrells to the creation of the inaugural Pickled For a Purpose Classic, a community pickleball tournament in Salt Lake City on Saturday May 2, benefiting WasteLess, a Utah-based nonprofit dedicated to reducing food waste through education, prevention and food rescue. By mobilizing volunteers and partnering with local businesses, WasteLess redirects surplus food that would otherwise end up in landfills to individuals and families facing food insecurity, while also reducing harmful environmental impacts.

“We’ve been a little OCD about food waste for a long time,” Burrell says. “Because I think you go down that rabbit hole… pick a random vegetable: a strawberry or something. Think about how much water went into it. How many human hours? How many miles and gas it took to get here, and then it doesn’t look quite right, and it goes in the garbage.” That awareness underscores the scale of the issue. “For food insecurity, it’s a really big deal that all of this fresh, good food has been going into the landfill and could be feeding people,” Burrell says. “The other part is how bad it is for the environment, the CO2.”  Burrell notes that a single head of lettuce can take decades to decompose in a landfill.

The Pickled For a Purpose Classic, held at the Sports Mall in Murray at 5445 S 900 E, will run from 3 to 9 p.m. and brings together competition, food and community. “Part of the inspiration is Nick Rimando‘s pickleball tournament that he does for Rise,” Burrell says. “I thought, this is a really fun way to raise money.” The event makes use of the venue’s 14 dedicated courts, allowing space for a wide range of participants, with accessibility as the goal. “It’s our first time, so we’re gonna learn a lot,” Burrell says. “I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun where we have food and drinks and some prizes.”

The format accommodates both competitive players and those simply looking to participate. “It should be able to be for people who are advanced players and for people who are just there to have fun,” Burrell says, putting himself and his wife firmly in the latter category. While one of the many prizes will be for the best team costumes, Burrell admits that they aren’t seeing themselves as serious competitors even in that category.  “If we do costumes, it’ll probably be pretty straightforward,” Burrell says. “I’ve spent so much of my life in other people’s clothes that I keep it pretty simple.” Burrell adds that people who don’t wish to play can still come out and participate as spectators. “Eat, drink, watch,” Burrell says.

Now semi-retired and with two teenagers at home, Burrell enjoys life with his own modern family in Utah, and when he does work, he prefers to keep it close to home. “I’m basically just trying to do work that I can do here in Utah,” Burrell says, referencing his Audible series The Good Life, a scripted audio comedy which follows a family that leaves Los Angeles to run a general store in a small Oregon town — a premise drawn from Burrell’s own childhood. “This is a story that my brother and I had started years and years and years ago,” Burrell explains.  “It’s about our childhood, and a lot of it is very accurate — if not in every detail, at least in spirit.  

The series mixes humor and heartfelt storytelling as the family adjusts to rural life and community dynamics, with a cast that includes Jennifer Garner, Colton Dunn, Jillian Bell and Ego Nwodim. Burrell is currently developing a television version of The Good Life, which he would narrate, bringing him back to the small screen and the Hollywood spotlight without leaving the comfort of Utah.

Burell’s established home and ventures in the Wasatch mountains also include the BarX Group, a hospitality group focused on elevated cocktails and historic venues in Salt Lake City. The venues include Bar-X, Beer Bar, The Eating Establishment and The Cotton Bottom Inn.  “Beer Bar is the first WasteLess certified restaurant in Utah and in the world,” Burrell says.  “They make sure that your food waste is at a minimum.” The benefits are practical as well as ethical. “It’s really a win-win. It also is a way to make your business more efficient in a time when ingredients are just so expensive,” Burrell says.

Pickled For a Purpose leans into making a difference with a sense of fun, inviting people to show up, play a little, and perhaps think a little about what they can do to help prevent food waste. It’s all about participation, community and small choices that ripple outward. If nothing else, it’s a reminder that doing a little good doesn’t have to feel like a chore.

Read more interviews with actors by Patrick Gibbs:
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