Sustainable gastronomy: What is it and why is it so important?
Recently, there has been a trend in articles and social media about sustainability, but are you aware of its impact and why it has become so important in the last couple of years? With the current environmental issues we are facing, this healthy way of living has been established as an alternative to being in harmony with nature in every aspect of daily life, especially in gastronomy.
What is sustainable gastronomy?
The United Nations defined it as practices “that take into account where the ingredients are from, how the food is grown and how it gets to our markets and eventually to our plates”. This type of gastronomy aims to promote more responsible habits of food generation and consumption and incentivize the fair trade of local small and medium agricultural producers.
The measures of this lifestyle are focused on covering the needs of 3 basic aspects of life: environmental, social, and economic; therefore, the actions implemented are intended to avoid environmental impacts and excessive processing from the beginning of the production process, when food is packaged and transported, to the end of the chain which is when food is cooked according to the costumes, culinary techniques, and culture of the region.
In addition to the 3 aspects mentioned above, sustainable gastronomy is built on 5 specific pillars, which are:
- Increase productivity, employment, and value addition in food systems
- Protect and enhance natural resources
- Improve livelihoods and foster inclusive economic growth
- Enhance the resilience of people, communities, and ecosystems
- Adapt governance to new challenges
As you can see, sustainability has a lot of benefits for you and your community, from promoting local commerce for the development of less favored communities to promoting lower expenses and a more balanced diet.
Other benefits of sustainable gastronomy are:
- Promote environmentally friendly farming techniques
- Encourages the consumption of natural-origin products
- Reduces natural resource wastes
As we said before, with sustainable gastronomy you can improve your life quality, as well you can contribute to preserve the environment and satisfy the food needs of current and future generations, therefore we invite you to explore this alternative and adopt it as part of your daily habits.
