Solving emissions in catering, my role in our Net Zero roadmap

We know that time is running out in the fight to save our planet. If you’ve been reading the news at all in the past few years, you’ll also know that we desperately need a revolution in the way we grow, prepare, package and consume our food. More than a third, 34%, of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions are generated by food systems[1]. And a third of that food goes to waste, too.

In fact, if you piled up all the food waste in the world and turned it into a new country, it would have the third-biggest carbon footprint after the US and China – counting for around eight-10% of greenhouse gas emissions![2]

Food waste isn’t the only problem. Food travels thousands of miles across the world to satisfy our taste for an unseasonal diet and transporting food within, to and around the UK alone produces 19 million tonnes of CO2 every year.[3] Animal agriculture is another key contributor to emissions, accounting for at least 18 per cent globally – that’s more than all transportation.[4]

All the climate statistics can weigh heavily on our minds, feeling impossibly huge. How can we get to Net Zero and stop the planet heating up when there are so many greenhouse gas emissions tied up in food – something we all need to live?

As a chef, it’s a vitally important part of my job to take the carbon footprint of my menus into account, which takes creativity and a lot of commitment. As the Culinary Director at Eurest and 14forty, it’s my mission to make our roadmap to Net Zero by 2030 – the first revealed by a large caterer - the gold standard for our industry.?

So, how are we going to get there?

40% of our proteins will be plant-based by 2030

We’re championing a plant-forward menu, with our plant-based dishes listed at the top – taking them out of their traditional bottom-of-the-menu position and inviting people to give them more consideration.

What’s really important is that we take people on the journey with us, rather than asking them to change their diets overnight. That’s where behavioural science comes in, with the concept of behavioural nudging. If we give people really enticing plant-based options that they know are good for them, because our nutritional criteria around protein and fibre is so clear, then we’re making it easy for them to make a more environmentally friendly choice.

Something I’m really excited about in this sphere is our eco-labelling trials with the Livestock Environment and People (LEAP) project at the University of Oxford.

We’ve teamed up with the researchers there to find out whether eco-labels help people make more environmentally-aware choices when they’re deciding what to eat. Dishes are labelled A-E to highlight which meals have a lower or higher environmental impact based on greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity, water pollution and biodiversity loss.

I believe that how we label food matters, so we don’t label our food with vegan or vegetarian, because it’s just delicious food.

A 50% reduction in food waste by 2030

Our message to our chefs, clients, consumers, and the whole chef community, is that it’s not food waste - it’s edible food that we can repurpose in different ways. We are chefs and it’s our responsibility to know how to get the most out of our ingredients, so training is an area I am incredibly focused on. I want our chefs to be proud of this produce, and I want to challenge our chefs to change perceptions about food waste from the ground up.

Creativity is key – broccoli stalks can make a nice salad, stir fry, or can be chargrilled for a tasty take on a Caesar salad. Herb stalks and fruit peels should never go to waste, the possibilities are endless: flavoured waters, marmalade purees, carrot skins in a kimchi. You can make a beautiful curry sauce using offcuts, once it is pureed nobody will be any the wiser. Leftover bread and bananas are big culprits, but they’re perfectly edible – chefs need to get comfortable with this!

Our Forward with Marcus Wareing programme is helping to teach the next generation of culinary leaders these skills, providing them with an understanding of the realities of the climate crisis and food system.

A 65% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 (with 100% renewable energy by 2022), Even though we’re a large caterer, we’re still completely committed to serving seasonal British food and putting as few vans on the road as possible – we need to show the industry how achievable this is.

We use at least 80% British produce on our menus and looking to push that even further.

That means it’s crucial to work hand in hand with our suppliers and growers, building lasting partnerships. We’re using the very best of British produce, looking at where food grows best. Asparagus grows in Worcestershire, strawberries grown in Kent have a longer season, and we source our lamb from Devon, Cornwall and Wales, where spring hits earlier. It’s all about working as closely with farmers in those regions as possible.

Where we do use meat, we take a whole carcass approach. You’ll find every part of a chicken on our menus and I champion underutilised cuts, giving them the skill, love and experience they need. A blade of beef has been seen as an alternative cut, but it’s tender like butter if cooked right (it took me years to perfect my recipe!). We’re serving smaller portions of meat with the most intense flavour hit possible – think a bibimbap bowl with a small serving of beef that has been braised for days, nestled amongst seasonal veg and brown rice.

There are all kinds of sustainable switches we can make, from the type of oil we use to showcasing hero produce like trout in the place of salmon. Plant-forward done well means that people won’t feel they are missing out as their diets become more environmentally friendly, bringing us closer to Net Zero as a caterer but also dramatically shrinking the carbon footprints of people and their workplaces.

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No single use plastics by 2023

As well as the type of food we eat and the distance it travels to reach us, the way we package food needs to change. This is something I’m very conscious of. Our grab and go range is made from recycled plastic, so it is not single use, and we use jars where possible.

I’m proud to be one of the chefs leading the charge, championing our plan to change our industry forever. This is just the beginning – getting our economy to Net Zero is a challenge but reaching it will be an incredibly important moment in history.?

-Ends-

[1] https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1086822

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/sep/04/how-food-waste-is-huge-contributor-to-climate-change

[3] https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/facts-about-food-miles#:~:text=Transporting%20food%20within%2C%20to%20and,supermarkets%2C%20the%20miles%20add%20up.

[4] https://www.cowspiracy.com/facts