COOKING TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
Saving the world while cooking over the stove? Obviously, it's not quite that simple, but every little bit helps.
Climate change is a constant presence in our lives. Not a day goes by without news on the subject. Most of us feel that summers are getting drier and hotter, winters milder and extreme weather more frequent.
This also has an impact on the food service industry: the availability and quality of products are changing; prices are rising. Diners and consumers are also becoming more sensitive to the climate footprint that their food and its production process leave.
Obviously, the climate crisis cannot be solved in the kitchen. Nevertheless, there are excellent ideas and practical approaches on how the food service industry can contribute to the greater good. We would like to highlight a few of them briefly here.
Sourcing regionally, cooking with the seasons
The advantages of regionally sourced food are self-evident – short transport routes, fresher produce and a significantly reduced carbon footprint. Of course, not every menu component in widely internationalised cuisine can be replaced by local produce. Even so, it makes sense to look through the menu to see where using regional products might be an option or how recipes can be changed to include local products.
Labelling is not mandatory for the sometimes very long journey that food makes from the farm to the consumer. This becomes complicated with North Sea crabs that are harvested in Morocco or Bavarian yoghurt with strawberries from Spain, for example. In other words, the more unprocessed the base produce is, the less likely it is to be transported long distances.
The average emission values for fruit and vegetables show approximately how much CO2 is produced per kilo of raw produce. For the sake of the climate, it is certainly worth taking regional and seasonal produce and minimally processed food into account.
From the region: about 230 grams of CO2 per kilo
From other European countries: about 460 grams of CO2 per kilo
From overseas by ship: about 570 grams of CO2 per kilo
From overseas by plane: about 11,000 grams of CO2 per kilo
Eating food that is in season goes hand in hand with eating regional produce. Many diners now consciously appreciate the use of seasonal products. They are also an excellent way to create attractive weekly or monthly promotions – just think of the asparagus or pumpkin season.
Reducing food waste
It's an unbelievable number: over 12 million tons of food waste are produced in Germany every year. The percentage of food thrown away is incredibly high in the out-of-house sector, where almost two thirds of the produce used end up in the bin.
The use of all animal parts has been making its way back into cooking for some time now, commonly known as "from nose to tail" cuisine. This is nothing new: using the whole animal was the normal course of things in the past. There are many recipes, old and new, that make even the outwardly less attractive parts of animals interesting again from a culinary perspective. For many a chef, it has even become an exciting challenge to consciously introduce their diners to the use of complete animals as a culinary experience.
Leftover vegetables can also be reused superbly as stock, for example. The greens from many vegetables can be magnificently integrated into dishes and salads. This may seem unusual for many of us at first, but they are often a matter of course in raw food recipes. Potatoes can be simply served on a plate with skin intact.
Employees also play a major role when it comes to food waste: ensure your employees are aware of the issue and remind them continuously. You could create a food waste prevention challenge, for example.
Another way to reduce food waste might be ideas for greater flexibility with regard to dishes. For example, prepare side dishes based on diners' preferences or serve smaller portions with the option for seconds. Communicate any concepts and recipes you use to prevent food waste to your guests. Awareness and appreciation of such efforts is constantly on the increase and can also help enhance your establishment's good image.
Examine processes, use technology wisely
Cooling, preparing and also transporting food are processes that consume a great deal of energy overall. Clever planning, efficient work processes and modern technology are thus important elements to ensure a sustainable, climate-friendly kitchen.
Examine your workflows and production processes – you can often slip into bad habits and consume energy unnecessarily in kitchen operations: Which appliances truly need to be switched on all the time? Where can energy-saving induction be used to cook or keep food hot? Can the volume of space used for cooling be reduced? How much permanent lighting do we genuinely need? Where would motion detectors be useful?
Invest in the future: Many older appliances are real energy guzzlers and burn a lot of money unnecessarily, money that you could wisely invest in energy-saving and resource-saving technology.
Modern technology not only makes work processes easier in the kitchen, but also consumes significantly less energy. Modern units with enhanced insulation, the latest cooling or heating technology, future-proof digital features for process control or optimised capacity utilisation options help to save energy and thus not only protect the climate, but also ultimately save you a great deal of money.
Nose to Tail: Cooking Knowledge [DE/FR]
From root to leaf: a chef with a mission [DE]
Sustainable technology using the example of food transport with B.PROTHERM E
