Looking to the future of sustainability

It's one of many inspiring examples of sustainable dining you might have noticed. There are venues only serving wild-hunted meat or light-hoofed animals – such as kangaroo – because they have a lower carbon footprint (Pipit and Parcs), while the rise of vegetable-forward menus (like at Yellow, which went vegan during the pandemic) reflects the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recommendation that more people adopt plant-based diets to help fight climate change. Then there’s the uptake in solar energy; the recently-installed panels at Three Blue Ducks’ Byron outpost could power 20 households.

Future Food System’s recent Melbourne experiment – a dining space where all food was produced on-site – was a sign of what’s possible. “They were farming barramundi and using that wastewater to feed the plants,” says Chris Sorrell, who dined there. “It’s incredible to think you can have a closed system like that, where the fish feed the plants and the plants provide clean water for the fish.” It’s the kind of progressive thinking needed, given the IPCC’s recent “code red for humanity” warnings. “We need a radical change,” says Dennis Yong. “We’re running out of time.”

Chefs are pioneering this change because they work closely with people who grow our food, which makes it “so much harder to waste anything”, says Sabine Spindler. “What a great thing that is for us, to relate to people and know it’s their hard work that goes into the stuff that we are honoured to treat and put on our plates.” And by supporting a sustainable approach to dining, you’re paying tribute to their work – and the planet, too.

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