[REPRINTED COURTESY OF ELECTROLUX, JULY 2017]
To make a dent in all the food wasted around the globe and its substantial environmental footprint, the Electrolux Food Foundation supports a global project to change behavior, one chef at a time.
Approximately 4-10% of food purchased by restaurants is wasted before it even reaches consumers (source: http://www.sustainabletable.org/5664/food-waste). There are a number of reasons for this, including oversized portions.
Not only do restaurants use and waste great amounts of food, but they also consume a lot of energy and water. By educating chefs, the Sustainability Curriculum developed by Worldchefs and supported by the Electrolux Food Foundation aims at helping the food-service industry to become more sustainable.
The future starts now
“As chefs, we see firsthand the large amounts of food and energy that can be wasted through traditional culinary practices – both inside the kitchen and in all the preceding steps in the food supply chain,” says Thomas Gugler, Worldchefs President.
“The sustainability curriculum was created to help address this reality, to educate students and professionals on how to make sound food sustainability decisions and empower them to lead change across the globe. Sustainability is a defining issue of our time, and as a global authority on food, reducing the negative impact of culinary practices is a core mission for Worldchefs.”
“This is a global project that we believe encourages chefs to use the world’s resources in a more sustainable way,” says Henrik Sundström, Electrolux VP Sustainability Affairs.
Pilot completed last year
Last year the curriculum was piloted in four schools in South Africa, Costa Rica, Ireland and United Arab Emirates. Schools in Egypt, Canada, Italy and India are interested in adapting the curriculum, and the number of interested schools and countries is expected to grow this year.
“Now the focus lies on getting the pilot programs to insert the curriculum into their culinary programs. We’re working with national chef societies to get the curriculum into their meetings as trainings,” says Chris Koetke, VP – Category Management, Culinary Arts at Laureate Network Office and member of Worldchefs.
The change won’t happen overnight, but as one participant in the pilot project said: “We now understand the need to be sustainable, and we understand that the planet needs to improve food production systems.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION Malin Ekefalk, Electrolux
