ROOT TO FRUIT
Cutting down on waste and eating more sustainably are core beliefs in food writer and environmental campaigner Tom Hunt’s philosophy. And, he says, it’s easier than you think to make small changes that will help the planet
Food writer Tom Hunt on cutting waste in our kitchens and using every part of fresh produce
or the past 20 years, food has been my life. I’ve reared goats, lived on farms, worked with Hugh Fearnley-whittingstall at River Cottage, become vegetarian, returned to omnivory, travelled the world in search of recipes and fed unimaginable numbers of people at my sustainable restaurant Poco, in Bristol, as well as at the Forgotten Feast
– a pop-up eating experience for 200 people using food ‘waste’. And, still, all I want to think about is this one glorious subject.
From seed to plate, our food system has a huge impact on the planet: affecting soil health, biodiversity and entire ecosystems. It is the single biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and a destroyer of ecologies. But it is also the opposite to all this as well. Good food and farming regenerates soil, promotes biodiversity, sequesters carbon emissions and builds ecosystems. Food is nature, as are we. Simply put: what we eat can contribute towards a better world.
My growing awareness of global food waste (one third of the food produced for human consumption every year is wasted*) and food’s connection to climate change (food production is responsible for around a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions**) inspired me to take a new approach to life. I eat food that tastes delicious but that is good for the environment as well as my health. I call my philosophy Root to Fruit eating. The three core principles are: to eat for pleasure, eat whole foods and eat the best food you can.
When I say ‘eat for pleasure’, I mean cook with love, confidence and creativity. Gastronomic pleasure is often dismissed as hedonism or, at worst, gluttony, when, in truth, it is the only sustainable way to eat. When I say ‘eat whole foods’, I mean unprocessed, seasonal plants – and consume the whole vegetable – the root, fruit, stalk and leaf – composting what you can’t consume. When I say ‘eat the best food you can’, I mean support better farming, buy Fairtrade and act like your actions matter – they do.
The following recipes were created according to these principles. Take my Summer Vegetable Ceviche – the oyster mushrooms I use are part of an urban farming revolution, which transforms city spaces into edible gardens. My PanRoasted Radishes with Labneh and Freekeh includes radish leaves. Roots sold with their greens attached are likely to be very fresh and therefore relatively locally grown. And my Quinoa Farinata includes Fairtrade quinoa flour, supporting farming communities. Every recipe is designed with pleasure, people and the planet in mind. So read on and tuck in.