Today on 18th June, marks the day when the whole world celebrates the “Sustainable Gastronomy Day”.

Gastronomy basically refers to style of cooking in a particular region. In simplest words, it is local food and cuisine. On the other hand, Sustainability is the practice of doing anything(e.g. agriculture, fishing or even preparation of food) without wasting or depleting our natural resources and it can be implemented in the long run without damaging our environment and health.

Sustainable gastronomy, thus,  means cuisine that takes into account the source of ingredients, the way food is grown and in what way it gets to our markets and in the end to our plates.

The observance of Sustainable Gastronomy Day is facilitated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN General Assembly, in alliance with Member States, UN organizations and other international and regional bodies, as well as civil society, for disseminating public awareness of its contribution to sustainable development.

For this purpose, UNESCO took some initiatives that include:

  • Launch of UNESCO Creative Cities Network, created in 2004 to share best practices and develop partnerships in 7 creative fields. As of 2020, 26 cities have been designated Creative Cities of Gastronomy;
  • Promoting the use of clean energy for local restaurants (gas and electricity in lieu of coal, natural gas instead of carbon);
  • Disseminating public awareness of sustainable gastronomy by TV, food channels and gastronomy shows and via food cultural exhibitions, planned for the food industry and farmers.

As for the FAO, the Organization promotes green culture diets that are not only healthy, but sustainable and suggests that countries that already have dietary guidelines should begin to consider a process of incorporating sustainability into them.

 

On the other hand, there are initiatives like Crop of the month, to motivate people to eat other than their staple foods, so that other crops won’t rot and get wasted.

How to practice sustainable Gastronomy?

Here are some tips to follow to practice sustainability.

·         Buy only what you need.

·         Recycle non-edible parts of food by composting, and making jams or sauces of the excess food to prevent from spoilage.

·         Grow your own vegetable and fruits or buy from local ones.

·         Buy from small and local suppliers who use or promote sustainable agriculture techniques.

  • Use all the food that you have.
  • Be conscious of food that you have and use it before it gets rot.
  • Take your homemade lunch to work and compost any food scraps.
  • Use less meat and eat more vegan food.
  • Choose sustainable seafood.
  • Say no to straws.
  • Choose to dine out in restaurants that practice sustainability.
  • Ditch plastics of all sorts.
  • Be mindful while eating in restaurants, and order only what you can eat.

The world is suffering right now not only from the pandemic but the climate change as well. However, we can reduce or decrease the latter.

But the deleterious effects of humans are speeding up climate change. Follow the tips given in this article to make your contribution, both for the planet and your own health. Don’t forget to share this article, as spreading awareness is as essential to stop climate change as to follow these tips given above.

About the Author: Syeda Fatima Noor is a food technologist and an environmental enthusiast. She likes to keep on adding experiences in her life from different fields. She runs a Facebook group "Earth savers" playing her part in spreading awareness and encouraging people to go green for our Earth. She has a keen interest in learning new things and searching for answers.