Bringing sustainability to the table.

A recent event hosted by World Vision at Smock Alley theatre to highlight issues of food security and sustainability really got me thinking about how little we think about the provenance of our food and the amount of food we waste. While I do my best to consume ethically ( buying Fairtrade and organic products), I am just as susceptible to the “bargains” as anyone else…the 49c tomatoes or onions or beetroot!So when we pay these cheap, cheap prices..who is being short-changed?

Farmers not just in Ireland but worldwide are bearing the brunt of our greed for ever-cheaper goods. Conor Spacey (Chef`s Manifesto) impressed on us the need for change and for it “to come quickly” 70% of our food is imported and he argues that we have lost our connection to food. He spoke about “deep-diving into food waste” and told us he now treats even the humble cauliflower as a butcher would cut and fillet a piece of meat, not wasting any. We were treated to his cauliflower six ways including a pesto made with the leaves ( which I always discard!) all of which were sublime.

In honour of two guests from Zimbabwe who were there we ate the local staple , sadza ( which is a maize porridge) and vegetable relish. Elizabeth Gwewo told us how climate change is impacting on her agricultural practices and how, with the help of World Vision, she champions farming and trains other farmers.Part of the vision of this enterprise is to train more females in what they call the Gender Extra Learner System.

And finally, in recognition of those refugees in camps whose only guarantee of food is a miserable 200 gms of bread, we ate bread of gold, a delicious bread and butter pudding.

This event has really made me look at what I am eating and more especially what I am wasting. I shall not be throwing out any more cauliflower leaves or stalks and I am particularly interested in trying Conor Spacey`s banana chutney…made with banana skins!!!