Waste not, want not

With 40% of British-grown fruit and veg discarded before it even reaches the shelves because it’s deemed too ugly, or the wrong shape or size, more chefs and home cooks are using produce which might otherwise have gone to waste.

Ethically savvy organisations such as Waste Knot, Food Chain and Feast Fairly are coming to the fore, delivering imperfect or hard-to-sell produce to the restaurant industry and the public alike. Church Road restaurant in Barnes, London, works closely with these companies, and others including Nature’s Choice, FloGro Fresh, Lake District Farmers, Flying Fish and Wild Room, who supply ethically sourced and grown produce from fruit and veg to fish, shellfish and meat. Church Road’s Little Sprouts menu is a celebration of seasonal, produce that might be imperfect looking but packed with flavour. Co-proprietor and chef Phil Howard says: “We’re determined to show consideration to the welfare of the world and the animals that we share it with. After more than three decades in the industry, I see more changes today than ever before. Now we have a chance to make a real difference to the planet and working with companies like Jess Latchford’s Waste Knot helps us achieve a much lower carbon footprint and higher awareness of the direction in which we should be going.”

At Spring in Lancaster Place, Skye Gyngell’s pre-theatre Scratch menu creates dishes made from ‘waste’ such as beetroot tops and potato skins, left-over cheese and day-old bread. At Nottingham’s Small Food Bakery, baker Kim Bell goes above and beyond when it comes to using everything that arrives in the kitchen, including making molasses out of apples instead of sugar and even using dried pot marigold petals to supplement pricey home-grown saffron. Check out ‘rescue’ fruit/veg box schemes near you, including Wonky Veg Boxes, Oddbox, Riverford and Morrisons stores.