How much food waste do you throw away each week?
I was forced to ask myself this very question during a waste free vegan cooking class I recently attended at the Skip Garden & Kitchen.
The answer? Far too much.
(NB: This event was in September; the post would have been published weeks ago had my ancient laptop not crashed and burned on me…)
Skip Garden
Skip Garden is an innovative community garden project run by Global Generation, which is currently located in the developmental area of London’s King’s Cross.
Made from skip bins (hence the name), the gardens focus on sustainability and waste reduction.
They are largely self-sustaining due to the organic practices used on site, which includes worm composting, fertilisation with comfrey juice, and rain water harvesting, to name just a few.
The on-site kitchen functions as a vegetarian cafe by day and a cookery school by night.
Using the produce grown on site, they serve up a tasty range of seasonal soups and salads, as well as a selection of organic baked goods.
It’s such a brilliant space and concept, and I’d love to see similar projects popping up all over London.
The Organisers
The waste free cooking event was hosted by Small Change, Big Difference, whose aim is to help Londoners make small changes in their diet and lifestyle to live more sustainably.
Along with a small group of fellow bloggers and influencers from the Ethical Influencers community, I was invited to join a vegan cooking class to learn about eating more sustainably at home.
Guiding us were scientist & farmer Abi and forager & eco-chef Sadhbh, founders of roving supperclub The Sustainable Food Story. Both really inspiring young women, passionate about their crafts.
Waste Free Cooking Class
Having not been to the Skip Garden Kitchen before, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the event – whether we would all be cooking at our own stations or watching demos by the pros.
It turned out to be a bit of a mix between the two. It was a really communal effort with Sabhdh at the helm and myself and my fellow bloggers at separate work stations, looking after different elements of the meal.
I started off on onion duty. Though I very rarely cry when chopping onions at home, these red onions were particularly pungent, making my eyes absolutely stream.
A tad embarrassing when in a room full of people I’d just met…
Thankfully, I fared a little better with the white onions and shallots.
My next task was making the Moroccan carrot dip. This went well until took the blade out and cut my thumb…
Seriously, you can’t take me anywhere.
Blood and tears aside, we managed to cook up a pretty epic feast.
Waste Free, Vegan Menu
Here’s what we cooked up using ‘wonky’ veg, foraged fruit, vegetable peels, and produce slightly past its best – all items that often end up in the bin:
Starters & sides
Squash & sage soup
Moroccan roast carrot & spicy red pepper dips
Veggie crudites
Toasted bread
Main
Quinoa & roast vegetable salad
Dessert
Banana bread served banana nice cream, oat cream & elderberry jam
Waste Free Tips
I thought I was pretty clued-up about sustainable food and waste free cooking but turns out I had a lot to learn. Here are some of the top tips from the event:
Try Meat-Free Mondays
Okay, so this is a vegan blog… However, I don’t expect everyone reading to immediately convert to veganism. Simply reducing meat consumption is such a big factor in environmental conservation. So, whether its a Monday or any other day, try going meat-free at least one day per week.
Don’t think it makes a difference? Well, if everyone in London gave up meat just one day a week, harmful greenhouse gases could be reduced by more than 450 000 tonnes each year.
That’s just in London, just one day a week. Imagine the impact country or worldwide…
Freeze your bread
Freezing bread is something I’ve always done (thanks, Mum!). Fresh bread is amazing but I never get through a whole loaf before it starts to go stale, so putting it in the freezer after a day or two solves this dilemma and saves so much waste. Besides, when you’re toasting it, you can’t taste the difference!
If all Londoners froze their bread, 2.6 million slices would be saved from landfill every day.
2.6 million slices!
Use up all parts of your veggies
We throw away so much vegetable waste without even thinking about it. Before you put those odds and ends in the bin, check if you could use them in some way:
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Cook up flavoursome stocks with vegetable skins and peels
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Chop “wonky” vegetables into crudites
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Blitz slightly softened veg into tasty dips and spreads
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Use cauliflower leaves and stems same way you would kale – salad, “crisps” etc
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Cut sprouts off potatoes; as long as the potatoes are still firm to the touch and not shrivelled, they’re perfectly fine to eat
Recycle your food waste
For the odds and ends you can’t find a use for, they still don’t have to end up in your general waste bin.
Check if your local council offers a food waste recycling scheme, as food scraps like banana peels, potato skins and coffee grounds can all be turned into natural energy.
Sadly, my council doesn’t offer this service, however it’s something I’ll be contacting them to inquire about as soon as possible.
Get Involved
If you want to try a waste free cooking class for yourself, check out the Small Change, Big Difference website for upcoming events. Not every session is vegan only, so make sure you check all the class information.
And if you can’t make it to a class, think about the changes you can implement in your own life.
Quite simply, we can’t afford not to.
PIN IT!
If this kind of thing is your jam, keep an eye out on the Eco Living section of the blog for more posts on sustainability.
