Hindley Clare - The Routledge handbook of sustainable food and gastronomy

Andiamo a mangiare aqualcosa

Lets go eat something!

We say this phrase all the time, but often without considering what we really mean. That indefinite something reveals a lot about our current relationship with food. The overabundance of food choices growing through industrialization and globalization makes us think our needs are met. But actually, this thoughtless feeding has alienated us from what, for most of human history, has been an object of sacredness and deep respect. Food has lost its value, and we are forgetting ours.

How many times in our lives have food or drink been a key part of a gathering, and how many times have they contributed to making it special? How many times in our lives have we booked a table in a restaurant, not only out of a need to quench our thirst and sate our hunger? In these ways, our daily choices develop into a larger system of values, a universe of hospitality, which informs how we nourish ourselves and each other and the earth that sustains us.

The concept of global sustainability started to be developed in the 1970s, largely in response to the overconsumption of natural resources. It took another 20 years, however, for a broader vision of sustainable development to arise in many other areas of society, including those surrounding food. The pioneers of this movement inspired new ways of thinking, introducing progressive ideas such as food sovereignty and the right to healthy food to the public agenda.

The fervour fuelled by these movements, and further taken up by the scientific community and the media, has helped to spread awareness of many vital issues related to our food systems. These affect everyone building robust local economies, revalorizing the landscape and improving animal welfare, among other things. All of these topics are interconnected, and are unavoidable when we speak of food and sustainability in the world today.

Yet there are examples of solutions to these complex problems all around us. When we look to communities where food and gastronomy and hospitality have value, it becomes clear how food functions as a social glue, holding these communities together and maintaining the delicate balance of ecology, history, economy and culture that is the foundation of true sustainability. Engaging with these diverse communities and their particular qualities and needs is thus of great importance if we want to be able to investigate food in any meaningful way.

As a chef, I notice how the exploration of these interconnections from different perspectives has been changing how many of us interact with the wider food world. More and more of us are directing our focus to our immediate local surroundings, drawing inspiration from our specific place and time. We are discovering and rediscovering our unique and diverse histories, shaping our own gastronomic identities through cooking in the context of our larger environments.

Nevertheless, despite this growing environmental awareness in cooking, the persistence of many other problems such as job insecurity, insufficient salaries, extreme commodification, food waste and the devaluation of living an agricultural life are signs that our current approach to sustainability is fundamentally incomplete. One of the most powerful aspects of this manual is that it makes us confront the paradox of unsustainable sustainability, a narrow model that only takes environmental factors into account. This handbook stimulates us to re-envision the role of food and gastronomy in creating a more holistic model of truly sustainable development for humanity and the planet. It offers examples of best practices for how to engage with such diverse realities, and creates part of the necessary foundation for more sustainable gastronomy. The wide-angle approach adopted by the authors and editors provides us with a broad perspective of the different actors involved and these many intricate connections between people, food, and the environment. In short, it is an essential working tool for those who wish to acquire a deeper knowledge of this complex subject.

I am proud to recommend this book in the hope of helping to grow the emerging global gastronomic revolution. This revolution must be supported by knowledgeable people who work in synergy across many different areas of food and its systems, developing new standards and strategies towards a world where the only hunger that persists is that for knowledge.

Roberto Flore
Head Chef at the Nordic Food Lab
Copenhagen, Denmark