With the kick-off of the United Nations Food Systems Pre-Summit in Rome this past July, hundreds of voices from all manner of sectors shared their views on how to accelerate Good Food For All. The Chefs’ Manifesto – playing a leading role in championing the voices of chefs globally as they seek to transform food systems for the betterment of people and planet – jumped in head first to run a session with chefs from all around the world! With several hundred participants and overwhelmingly positive feedback, this was indeed a transformative session.
Chef Lorna Maseko – celebrity chef, and TV personality from South Africa – was the fabulous moderator, a long-time member of the Chefs’ Manifesto and a keen advocate for food systems transformation. Her passion and enthusiasm set the scene for a super-charged, inspirational session!
Paul Newnham, Director of the SDG2 Advocacy Hub and Chefs’ Manifesto, shared the purpose of bringing chefs together as one collective voice, to drive forward practical actions throughout 2021 and beyond. Framed in the concept of a Chefs’ Pledge, Paul shared with participants the desire to place chefs firmly in the centre of the conversation of food systems transformation, by committing to practical actions that will accelerate change. Each of the 8 practical actions listed in the Chefs’ Pledge are based on the Chefs’ Manifesto Thematic Areas, which are taken directly from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In this inspirational session, 8 chefs were invited on one of the Chefs’ Pledge practical actions, sharing their own examples of how they live out their commitment to the action day-to-day.
Chef Ann Cooper, Founder of the Chef Ann Foundation – a foundation dedicated to supporting and promoting scratch-cooking in schools throughout the USA – spoke directly to Thematic Area 1: Ingredients grown with respect for the earth & its oceans.School feeding programs in America alone serve roughly 7 billion meals a year! Subsequently, Chef Ann is passionate about educating school chefs on Thematic Area 1 by: connecting farms to schools, sourcing regional sustainable produce and protein, and ensuring farmers are paid fair and true wages. By educating the school feeding chefs, Chef Ann is able to speak directly into the lives of thousands of school children, truly promoting Good Food For All!
By teaching children healthy nutrition and respect for the earth, we are investing in generations to come.
Chef Megha Kohli – Times Chef of the Year 2020 – is passionate about practically living out Thematic Area 2: Protection of Biodiversity & Improved Animal Welfare. Daily featuring the rich diversity of the world’s natural larder, Chef Megha Kohli from India, shared how each meal we eat, everyday, can be a vote for your own health as well as a vote for the planet. Wow! Take a moment to digest that information. Everytime we eat, we are making a choice. A vote. We need to use our votes wisely. To promote choosing wisely in her own restaurant, Chef Megha featured two Future 50 Foods on her menu which championed Thematic Area 2. Not only did customers vote with their dining out choices, but Chef Megha also sent customers home with a recipe card, educating them on the importance of choosing Future 50 Foods in their everyday lives.
Chef Cristina Bowerman is living proof of how to practically ensure that Thematic Area 3: Investment in Livelihoods, is an essential component of her restaurant in Rome, Glass Hostaria. She bases her ingredient choices on the person, the farmer, the supplier. She builds relationships, gets to know their story, and ultimately how they produce their goods. She launched a program ‘adopt a farmer’ encouraging restaurants in Italy to support farmers who grow ethically and sustainably, to ensure fair wages, as well as promote biodiversity. Chef Cristina walks the walk and talks the talk promoting two-way education, investment in livelihoods, eliminating intermediaries, and offering biodiversity menu choices.
Communication is key!
Chef Chris Koetke, Chair of the Feed the Planet Committee for WorldChefs, joined us at a very early hour from the USA! Using his many years of experience, Chef Chris shared practically about how to commit to Thematic Area 4: Value Natural Resources and Reduce Waste. Reiterating that education and action are imperative, he suggested that wearing the ‘white jacket’ comes with immense responsibility to invest in kitchen culture change. With 30% of food wasted every year, he gave a succinct explanation of the interconnectedness of reducing waste at a micro and macro level, and how changing the culture in kitchens, has a knock-on effect into the wider sphere. If you missed his presentation, go back and listen to the recording as he gives many brilliant practical examples of how to reduce food waste, save money, and invest in livelihoods. One such example:
“Make food waste a KPI!”
Celebrating local and seasonal foods – Thematic Area 5 – is a big passion of Chef Mokgadi Itsweng. Undernutrition and overnutrition are big problems in South Africa where Chef Mokgadi is from. She encourages healthy, local, seasonal eating through her pop-up restaurant ‘The Plate’. She firmly believes that eating seasonally is more accessible as it is being grown in the moment. It reduces food miles, supports local farmers and producers, and is better for people and planet. She does this through education largely on social media – sharing the what, where, how and why to her followers.
For Chef Mokgadi, it is all about walking the talk!
Chef Conor Spacey, Culinary Director at FoodSpace Ireland, places plant-based ingredients front and center in his dishes. Championing Thematic Area 6: A focus on plant-based ingredients, Chef Conor set out a number of years ago to flip Ireland’s food culture on its head, by switching meat protein as the centre of the dish, to vegetables and pulses as the centre of the dish. In a country that relies heavily on beef production, it has required intensively and intentionally building relationships with producers, as well as actively seeking out ingredients that are grown sustainably, and carefully choosing language that doesn’t alienate consumers yet instead, celebrates food and food culture. Through creativity, thoughtfulness, and deeply listening to the farmer, he develops his menus.
“The star of the show is always the farmer” – Genius!
Who better to discuss Thematic Area 7: Education on food safety and healthy diets than Chef Elaine McCarthy, Programme Development Manager at Le Cordon Bleu London! Chefs are at the heart of educating the public, by leading by example, impacting how and what people eat. Chef Elaine shared how by being correctly educated in all manner of food systems, chefs are able to engage in shifting the language, by changing the labels on food, by spreading food concepts that put sustainability, diversity, and equitable livelihoods at the heart of the conversation.
Educated chefs promote an educated public!
Chef David Hertz, social entrepreneur and co-founder of Gastromotiva in Brazil, shared with personal narratives on how Thematic Area 8: Nutritious food that is accessible and affordable for all is still a huge barrier for millions of people globally. Within Gastromotiva, the fundamental key is training. Building communities that educate each other on nutritious diets, start with training individuals on how to build a nutritious diet from food that is available to them. Chef David shared stories about movements within the favelas and The Amazon region, where communities have banded together to ensure healthy diets continue throughout COVID restrictions. Chef David wants to see all people:
Eat healthier, eat better, and have opportunities to make their own choices.
Wrapping up the day, Chef Arthur Potts Dawson, a man with an illustrious career and a heart for advocacy, drew the conversation to a close, by summing up what chefs already know is needed to accelerate food systems transformation: plant diversity, sustainable systems, structural changes, nutrient-density, eradication of packaging… and chefs are uniquely placed to generate change. Chefs are power-houses for change! Chef Arthur gave an impassioned plea, that there has never been a more important time for this planet to value its food system, than now. Signing up to the Chefs’ Pledge is one way to make a public commitment, to show influence, innovation, and initiative, today.