Upcoming Sustainable Food Trends Revealed
Lots of people are becoming more proactive in looking after the planet, from recycling more to fitting solar panels on their house. As well as separating our trash from our cardboard and cutting down on our use of plastic, we could also adopt the upcoming sustainable food trends. Read on to find out what they are.
The restaurant industry can significantly reduce their food wate by using upcycled ingredients, according to major retailer The Kroger Co.
A spokesperson for the company told Food Business News: “Consumers continue to focus on the health of the planet, not just through plant-based foods, but also by reducing their waste impact with upcycled ingredients.”
For instance, instead of throwing away seeds, these can be utilised in the creation of energy bars, protein powders, snacks and even pet foods.
In fact, Innova Market Insights said upcycling will be the top food trend for the year, with over a third of consumers more keen on buying products that have used upcycled ingredients than those that have not.
Wheat and barley have been used in the distillation of spirits forever. However, they tend to require synthetic nitrogen fertilisers to grow, which use a lot of energy to produce, as well as damage the environment.
Therefore, some distilleries are looking for ways to create alcohol with other sources that do not need these fertilisers. For instance, Arbikie Highland Estate has been making gin and vodka with peas instead, as these do not require fertilisers to grow.
Director of Arbikie John Stirling said: “Minimising our carbon footprint and working with the wonderful home-grown ingredients to create one of the world’s most sustainable distilleries.”
Consumers are not just concerned about purchasing sustainable produce; they also want to know the packaging has not had a big environmental impact.
More and more restaurants and take-aways are swapping polystyrene containers for recyclable cardboard ones, while some are even providing re-usable tubs for customers to return when they are finished.
Many restaurants in New York have started using DeliverZero, which allows their dishes to be delivered in re-usable containers. Customers can then give them back to any of the 150 other eateries that are also part of the scheme.
This is far more environmentally-friendly that plastic, or even cardboard alternatives, with the ReUse Wins report revealing that using 500 paper cups use up 370 gallons of water. However, washing one ceramic cup 500 times consumes just 53 gallons, saving nearly 320 gallons of water.
Of course, one sustainable food trend that just keeps growing in popularity is veganism. Eating plant-based produce can significantly benefit the environment, as the majority of animals around the world are reared for meat, using up a colossal amount of food, energy, land and water. The animals, as well as the farming methods, also produce a lot of air and water pollution.
Peta reported that simply producing two pounds of beef can result in more carbon emissions than driving around for three hours and uses up a greater amount of energy than leaving the lights on in a house for the same amount of time.
These figures have become very impactful on Brits, with The Vegan Society recently revealing that 23 per cent have reduced their consumption of animal products since March 2020.
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