Eco eats: Sustainable food

published 9 March 2018

When founder Jenny Dawson noticed how much food was being wasted at fruit and vegetable markets across the UK, she set out to become part of the solution. The result is Rubies in the Rubble, a sustainable company that produces delicious relishes and ketchups from surplus produce. Pick up a jar at Waitrose, Ocado, Selfridges or Fortnum & Mason, or have it delivered straight to your door by ordering directly through its website.

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Forty-four per cent of bread in the UK is wasted – a statistic Toast Ale set out to change in 2015. Since then, the company has been successfully brewing its beer in Yorkshire using surplus loaves from bakeries and sandwich manufacturers. It was founded by award-winning author Tristram Stuart, who was inspired to set up the enterprise after meeting the team behind the Brussels Beer Project and discovering its bread-based beer Babylone. And with all proceeds going towards Feedback – the charity Stuart established to combat global food waste – with each sip you are helping to make the world a greener place.

Big supermarkets often hit the headlines for passing over imperfect fruit and vegetables in favour of their visually pristine counterparts. Spare Fruit was set up to help support British farmers who have surplus misshapen produce or are struggling due to a lack of demand. So far, Spare Fruit has saved over 40 tonnes of apples and pears and transformed them into its signature fruit crisps. It started by selling snacks in local cafes made with excess fruit from local markets and allotments in St Albans, and now sells its delicious low-calorie, high-fibre goods across the UK, and on Ocado.

Having worked predominantly as a private chef over the last five years, Hannah McCollum would often convert the leftovers of her Ottolenghi-style meals into dips for the next day. With a determination to change the way the UK approaches cooking and food waste Hannah launched ChicP, a sustainable company producing a variety of hummus from raw vegetables that have been rejected by other businesses. The range is now available to buy, not only through their website, and at Wholefoods, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason.

Adam Handling, owner of two acclaimed London restaurants, opened Bean & Wheat in Liverpool Street to provide innovative food-to-go while helping tackle food waste. As well as supporting local suppliers, the casual coffee shop and deli makes use of off-cuts and by-products from Handling's restaurants and serves its own range of cold-pressed juices made using surplus fruit. There's also a range of tasty treats to take away, with an array of marmalades, nut butters and pates that come thoughtfully packaged in reusable kilner jars.

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