Monday 25 October 2021

Locally sourced foods to hit sustainable COP26 menus

COP26 will have 95% of its food from the UK for its sustainable menus.

More than 80% of the food will be locally sourced from Scotland and seasonal, to cut emissions and set an example for future large, international events.

To limit waste as much as possible, ingredients will be replicated across the summit’s menus so that if not used in one meal they can be repurposed for another.

Cups to serve drinks will be reusable, which is estimated to save up to 250,000 single-use cups.

The suppliers of food for the climate conference have placed sustainability at the heart of their production. Edinburgh’s Mara Seaweed is abundant, not requiring fertiliser, fresh water or soil to grow and Benzies carrots and potatoes use wind turbines to power their cool storage, biomass to provide heating and recycle the water they use.

COP26 has stated that due to the international nature of the event, the Scottish ingredients will be used to make a variation of dishes enjoyed the world over.

Alok Sharma, President-Designate of the conference, said: “There will be a tremendous amount of work to be done at COP26, with many hours of negotiations and long days, so the choice of food that we serve our visiting delegations, staff and all our volunteers, is very important.

“It is exciting to see such innovation in the menus that will be on offer and to understand the thought and effort that has gone into making dishes both healthy, sustainable and suitable for different diets and requirements.

“We very much look forward to giving our international visitors a flavour of the wide-ranging cuisine the UK has to offer.”