Climate change on menu

That was the theme of the first of a series of events held in Fife College featuring a presentation on food waste by Fife Zero Waste and a mouthwatering cookery demonstration based around locally sourced ingredients prepared by chefs Scott Lyall and Dave Edwards.

The sold-out event was organised by St Bryce Kirk as part of its Action on Climate Change project supported by the Climate Challenge Fund and Fife College.

The menu prepared by the chefs included: beef croquettes with slaw and chilli jam; seared mackerel on crushed new potatoes with capers, peppercorns and roasted garlic; chicken supreme with roast garlic and tarragon brioche pudding and white chocolate panna cotta, with nut crumble and orange.

Wendy Gudmundsson from Fife Zero Waste explained that a third of the world’s food goes to waste and, in Scottish homes alone, this amounts to 630,000 tonnes of wasted food and drink every year. Besides doing serious damage to the environment, the financial impact is a staggering £470 per household.

According to Wendy most of this wasted food could have been eaten and hard-earned money saved simply by better planning and management. She provided guests with a host of useful tips about how this could be achieved.

Chefs Scott and Dave then produced a fabulous four-course meal based on locally sourced beef, fish, chicken, vegetables and dairy produce, entertaining the capacity audience with their humour.

The home-grown ingredients, with minimal food miles, were well received by the audience who quickly polished off the samples provided.

St Bryce Kirk, which planned and organised the event, has recently become an eco-congregation with an active environment team engaged in a wide range of projects.

This event, the first of four food-related events organised by the church and Fife College’s culinary arts department, highlighted the importance of reducing food waste and food miles, providing those present with food for thought.