Recreating Sustainable Cuisine Trends at Home

Hi!  Today I am sharing with you an informative blog post to help you learn how to recreate sustainable cuisine trends at home.  We all know about the “farm to fork” and “whole animal butchery” cooking methods used in restaurants, but what are some ways you can practice sustainability at home when you cook?  Well read on to find out!

How You Can Recreate Sustainable Cuisine Trends at Home

Wherever you look in the dining world, restaurateurs, top chefs, and diners alike are seeking to embrace sustainability and a greener planet, through the choices they make. In June 2019, the Speciality Food Association displayed hundreds of thousands of specialty foods at the 65th Annual Summer Fancy Food Show, held in New York. The wide array of food served and enjoyed by thousands, revealed that sustainability is a common thread running through many current trends. What are these novelties and how can you embrace them in a fun, easy, practical way at home?

Upcycled Foods

Just one of many habits that restaurateurs and homemakers are embracing with aplomb, is that of upcycling – using ingredients you already have, to make a knockout meal like homemade pizza, lasagne, or salad. At the Annual Summer Fancy Food Show, guests tucked into herbal infusions made from discarded avocado leaves, pizzas topped with veggie leftovers, and digestive beverages made from a waste product derived during the cheese making process.

The next time you’re in the mood for pizza, why not make your own base (which requires flour, oil, salt, water and little more), using leftovers and fresh mozzarella for a flavor-packed topping? Upcycled foods are not only a great way to lower your carbon footprint; they are also an ideal way to lower your expenditure when you dine. Eventually, it is hoped that this trend reaches restaurants, food trucks and other dining establishments that share their interest in the movement – perhaps even by offering lower prices for dishes made in this sustainable way.

A Love for the Planet

Eco foods have been increasingly embraced by millennial diners, but at the Annual Summer Fancy Food Show, companies like Luv Michael Granola showed off products like gluten-free, nut-free granola made by a charity that trains and provides jobs to people on the autism spectrum. Families can embrace this ‘trend’ simply by researching more into the companies they are relying on for their food supplies. Support brands making fair trade certified sugar and honey, cocoa, spices, nuts, jam, and bananas – to name just a few ingredients.

Plant-Based Bites

From the Impossible Burger’s vegan burgers that ‘bleed’ right through to snacks made with organic dried ginger, mango, or kale, vegan meals and snacks are growing in popularity. Some of the powerful reasons for the success of this trend include a love of animals and concern about the major carbon footprint caused by the meat industry. Introducing plant-based foods to your family is easy. You might start by celebrating ‘meatless Mondays’ and slowly experiment with a few vegan recipes – including easy vegan burgers, risottos, and lasagna.

The Annual Fancy Summer Show 2019 revealed many exciting trends, including the penchant for hot sauces, flavored waters, healthy grains, mushrooms, West African foods, and new protein sources. However, at least three trends show that sustainability continues to be a force to be reckoned with. From supporting groups in need, to going eco when possible, more and more people are keen to feed body and mind while making the world a better place.

How will you practice sustainability?  Leave a comment below!

XOXO,

Kelly