Exclusive
Hundreds of COP26 attendees from around the globe are expected to descend on Glasgow next month, and are already booking tables at hospitality venues whose menus prioritise hyper-local, high-welfare, ethical and sustainable food and drink experiences from those independents not tied to the central buying policies of the larger hospitality groups. In other words, they are thronging to exactly the venues participating in the Plate Up For Glasgow campaign launching on October 12 and running throughout COP26. Read on …
[Pictured below are the team behind the progressive pilot campaign: L-R Rebecca Ricketts, Campaign Lead for Plate up for Glasgow; Craig Martin, Experience Glasgow; Giovanna Eusebi Eusebi Restaurant and Deli; Alison McRae, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.]
Fancy a sour beer made with surplus supermarket bread and parts of fruit and vegetables that normally go unused, blended with small-batch home-grown hops? It’s being made by the innovative Drygate Brewery in Glasgow and when ready it’ll be given the brilliant name of Spare Parts. The new sour will be served at Drygate, together with a zero-waste menu, during the inaugural Plate Up For Glasgow pilot food waste campaign launching on October 12 and running throughout COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, until November 12 inclusive. The beer will be kegged and given free to 35+ participating restaurants, cafes and bars city-wide in return for donations to the Trussell Trust food bank charity.
From the other side of town Eusebi Restaurant & Deli head chef Seb Wereski has created a stunning salad of humble cauliflower, deconstructed and rethought to use every bit of it including the flower, leaves and stalk. It was topped with crispy leaves and house Mossgiel milk ricotta – whose whey is also used in the salad dressing. This zero-waste dish will be on the menu throughout the pilot Plate Up For Glasgow campaign, the first of its kind for Scotland, designed to address food waste and its impact on climate change.
At the campaign launch, hosted by Drygate - where nine of the 35+ were cooking - innovation and commitment to the cause were evident. I must say it’s the first time I’ve witnessed such a collaborative, unified and visible stand against climate change from the city’s hospitality industry. Sprigg, Bowl, Broken Pony, Riverhill Coffee Bar, The Duke’s Umbrella, the Gate and The Finnieston also came up with delicious ideas that illustrated how possible it is to eat and drink sustainably, affordably and well, while helping save the planet one dish at a time (actually, that last bit is the campaign’s own slogan). Pictured above are the chefs from the night: L-R Frazer McGonigle (Broken Pony); Tom McDermott (Sprigg); Seb Wereski (Eusebi Restaurant and Deli); John Molloy (The Duke's Umbrella); Colin Campbell (Bowl); Lewis Benett (Sprigg); Jake Walters (Drygate).
Now other top participating venues have been revealed and include Alston Bar and Beef, Bar Brett, Café Gandolfi, Crab Shakk, Five March, the Gannet, Glaschu, Ka Pao, Mono, Ox and Finch, Porter & Rye, the Prancing Stag, and Ziques.
This hospitality-led pilot initiative, specifically scheduled to coincide with COP26, is backed by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce through its Circular Glasgow initiative, in partnership with Eusebi Restaurant and Deli and Experience Glasgow Food and Drink. It will see menus offering a range of sustainable Food Hero dishes and drinks, all designed to showcase at least one of four food waste reduction techniques – sourcing locally and rethinking existing menu items; showcasing food preservation techniques such as pickling, dehydrating and fermenting; using unfashionable cuts of meat and the whole animal; and/or creating a dish from surplus or donated food - challenging traditional and wasteful dining and takeaway business models with the goal of sending as little organic waste as possible to landfill.
A shocking one-third of food waste is still being binned and ends up as landfill every year, costing the Scottish hospitality industry £212m in landfill taxes. More pressingly perhaps is the fact that the process of layering waste creates methane, which has a global warming potential 21 times greater than carbon dioxide. Thus food waste is recognised as contributing more to climate change than plastics.
So the Plate Up For Glasgow campaign is timely, given Glasgow’s commitment to becoming carbon-neutral by 2023 – in addition to the small matter of it being due to host COP26 within days.
I mentioned in my previous post (about the Veg Cities Chefs’ Challenge in Glasgow) that in addition to the 100+ world leaders due to attend COP26 - and whose catering needs will be provided within the secure Scottish Events Campus - it’s anticipated that hundreds of COP26 attendees from around the globe are expected to descend on Glasgow next month, and are already booking tables at hospitality venues whose menues prioritise hyper-local, high-welfare, ethical and sustainable food and drink experiences from those independent outlets who are not tied to the central buying policies of the larger hospitality groups. In other words, exactly the venues participating in the Plate Up campaign.
Rebecca Ricketts, Campaign Lead for Plate Up For Glasgow, said: “Food waste currently costs the Scottish hospitality industry approximately £212 million annually and is recognised to be a bigger cause of climate change than plastics. Through Plate up for Glasgow we hope to bring the industry together … learning collaboratively how to become sustainable and profitable for the future.”
So the challenge has been set. Now it’s up to consumers and diners. And if successful, will the rest of Scotland join in?
* Applications to join the campaign are open until October 22, and reservations for diners can be made via https://plateupforglasgow.co.uk/book-now/