4 lessons we learned at this year's Food on the Edge

Held in the peaceful surrounds of Airfield Estate – Dublin’s only working farm and a fantastic sustainable food hub – the FotE programme was packed with inspiring talks, panel discussions, storytelling sessions, masterclasses and even a short play about Irish food. Speakers came from all over the world and ranged from chefs and restaurateurs to farmers, producers and activists, but what united all of them was a true, tangible passion for building a better future for the food and hospitality industries.

Across the sessions, there were some recurring themes that left the audience feeling inspired and hopeful. Here are four of the biggest lessons we brought home with us.

Social sustainability is (finally) coming into the spotlight

The social side of sustainability – one of the three pillars of the Food Made Good Standard – is one that has long been overlooked, but it was clear from much of the discourse at FotE that the industry is finally recognising its importance. Chefs Shauna and Mark Froydenlund spoke about the stereotypical ‘angry chef’, a feature in too many kitchens over the years. “It’s actually pretty easy to get upset and shout, or throw a pan at someone. It’s the lazy way to manage your staff. It’s much harder work to nurture people.” They highlighted the importance of building a team spirit and how a it can feel when the whole kitchen is pulling together. “I don’t play sports,” said Mark, “but being part of a team that’s creating something – even if it’s just a pizza – is amazing.”

Feeding people well was another theme that reflected the social responsibility of chefs. “As people, we often don’t actually know what good food is,” said Pietro Carlo Pezzati of Locanda del Falco in Piacenza. It’s up to the restaurant industry to light the way.

Storytelling is still king

Storytelling is built into the foundations of Irish culture and was certainly a key component of Food on the Edge, connecting the speakers with the crowd in much the same way it can connect restaurant diners with the food in front of them. “If there exists a sixth flavour,” said Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz restaurant in Gipuzkoa, Spain, “it is the flavour of stories.” He went on to share the story of the sugar fork, a luxury item from medieval Venice – once more expensive than gold! – that he has resurrected on the Mugaritz menu. 

Best Female Chef MENA at The World’s 50 Best 2022 Tala Bashmi spoke about how her menu at Fusions by Tala is designed to modernise heritage Arab cuisine, making it part of her own personal story. Having trained in Switzerland, she said “When you’re removed from your country, your cuisine, your culture, it attaches you to your roots more than ever. I used to be ashamed of being Arab – now I am so, so proud of it.” Similarly, Alessandro Cozzalino of La Loggia spoke about his “autobiographical” menu, inspired by his home of Florence and the foods his mother made him as a child. “My food lets me talk about Tuscany in a different way.”

Holding the audience captivated, Gabriel Waterhouse told a highly sensory and emotional story from his childhood: his family once found a hare dead on the road, still warm, and carefully, reverentially, brought it home to dissect, prepare and share at the table. “This story of the hare reminds me of the sacrifice involved every time we eat meat,” he said as he finished his tale, explaining that his East London restaurant, The Waterhouse Project, is meticulous about using every part of every animal.

It's clear that provenance is still front of mind for both chefs and customers, and that the demand for the story behind each meal shows no sign of abating. A panel discussion titled ‘Storytelling From the Farm Gate to the Plate’ served to underline this, with Hannah Quinn Mulligan (Irish farmer, micro-dairy owner and founder of the Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group) emphasising the need to forge new connections between farmers and consumers – a space that restaurant menus can easily occupy. On the same panel, farmer and journalist Tom Martin said, “We’ve never been more divorced from where our food comes from, but we’ve also never been more fascinated. Someone said to me that the profit is in the adjectives – it’s not just a steak, it’s an Irish, grass-fed steak – and, as farmers, we have that story to share.”

Food is powerful – and it can change the world

“Don’t underestimate the influence you can have on the people around you every day,” said Pauline Cox, Managing Director of Gather & Gather Ireland. She spoke about how Gather & Gather was founded with the specific goal of disrupting the contract catering industry; now, touching the lives of an estimated 25,000 people in Dublin every week, they use their influence to feed those people with food that nourishes their bodies while also doing good for the planet.

This is something we’re very passionate about at The SRA; while we can all help to effect change through our individual food choices, the sheer scale of the global hospitality industry means that chefs and restaurant owners wield enormous power to improve our food system, worldwide. “If food can harm the planet,” said Tom Hunt, chef and climate change campaigner, “the good news is that it can also regenerate it.” It can be easy to feel overwhelmed at the problems in our food systems, but the feeling at the end of FotE was instead one of wild optimism. Yes, there is plenty of work to be done – but there are so many chefs, restaurateurs, producers, farmers and change-makers already leading a revolution in how we grow, buy and eat our food.

Regenerative farming is the key to a better food future

“Regenerative farming is not a new thing. It is ancient wisdom – just with a GPS.” George Lamb from Wildfarmed gripped the audience in the palm of his hand as he expanded upon the immense potential of using agriculture as a way to heal our land, nourish our soils and restore biodiversity. As Gary Podesto (previously of Chez Panisse and now an ambassador of the Climate Farm School) put it, “Treating soil as part of the human ecosystem fundamentally changes how you farm.” Through our just-launched #EatForTomorrow campaign, we’re already exploring how regenerative farming is one way we can change our food system for the better; it was heartening to hear so many influential speakers share their passion and plans for leading the way towards a better food future.

Read all the details about our #EatForTomorrow campaign here! Make sure you’re following our social channels and the #EatForTomorrow hashtag to catch all of the incredible stories we’ll be sharing over the next few months.