One of our core beliefs is that we will be sustainable as far and as much as possible. We try to eat food grown in our country and avoid plastic bags. Films and documentaries have been made to show how much fisherman have to throw away because the public is only used to eating a small variety of fish and we know how much farmers are squeezed by supermarkets to keep the price of milk and meat low.
The restaurant business is now responding.
Chefs from Michelin star restaurants are rebelling against the ‘a la carte’ menus in an effort to reduce waste. Stephane Borie of Checkers and Claud Bosie of Hibiscus predict food waste will reduce by up to 50%. Editor of the UK Michelin guide, Rebecca Burr says that she’s witnessed a decline of ‘a la carte’ dining over the last few years, adding that diners in the fine dining space often prefer tasting menus as they can offer a once-in-a-lifetime type of experience.
Scotland has launched a campaign called ‘Good to Go’ which is being trialled in Inverness and the Highlands. If any company or organization produces more than 5kg of food waste each week, they will have to separate the scraps and recycle or be subject to fines. Stopping food going into a landfill in Scotland would prevent the equivalent of 27 million tonnes of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere.
Doggy bags are back in fashion and are now a legal requirement in France. They have been re-named as ‘le gourmet bag’ so if you can’t finish your main course, you can enjoy it the next day. This was enforced at the beginning of the year and applies to restaurants serving more than 180 meals per day. The French government wants to reduce the seven million tonnes of food thrown away each year in a country where 3.5 million people depend on free meals handed out by charities. It has been said that it won’t catch on because it is frowned upon; there is a cultural obstacle. Let’s hope things change.
If you’ve spotted any sustainability changes in the industry, we’d love to hear from you.
