As I write this, I am looking at a blanket of snow in the streets of London, and colleagues in Italy tell me there is 1m of snow in Rome, and 40cm of snow in Naples. The Artic is however a balmy 1C – some 40C hotter than it should be, and the ice is melting when it is still deepest winter.
Climate change is very real, and we could ask what this has to do with a food column? Well, simply food production is the single biggest driver in carbon emissions, and our choices of what we eat & drink actually have a much bigger impact than whether we drive a petrol car or cycle.
In the hospitality sector we can provide small nudges which not only are more sustainable but also taste delicious. All of us are aware that providing more meat free options has a positive impact, but have you thought about the impact of say using less orange juice at breakfast or in your bar?
The world’s biggest producer of orange juice is Brazil, and a large amount of the OJ we consume comes from there. Not only is it shipped across the oceans, the demand is such, that rainforest is being cleared to grow citrus trees, which helps drive climate change. Whilst planting trees is a good thing, replacing dense biodiverse rainforest with lower density (for ease of picking) monoculture short citrus is not.
So, what is the solution? Well the good news is that almost all apple juice on sale in the UK comes from here. Our climate is perfect for apple growing, and historically we produced more than 2700 varieties, all with different delicious flavours. So, change your default juice pours to apple juice, or better still say NO to OJ, the planet and your taste buds will thank you for it.
