Eating greens

There are all sorts of categories, from Best Restaurant to Favourite Food Personality, and this year we’ve added a new category – Best Reader’s Recipe.

It’s been fascinating to see the variety of recipes that entrants have come up with, some going for unusual twists on old favourites, others using ingredients I’ve never even heard of.

We also have a category for Best Ethical Restaurant, and there’s no denying that organic, Fairtrade and free range are all expressions which trip off the tongue a lot more readily than was the case in years gone by.

There are a number of restaurants in the Wharf area which could be up for the gong this year, many of whom I’ve featured in other columns, such as Leon, Tiffinbites and their free range chicken, and Mudchute Farm Kitchen. But what can we as lowly consumers do to improve the ethics of our eating?

There are a number of steps ordinary lunchtime grazers can do to improve their sustainable footprint without giving up on tasty treats. Ask for Fairtrade coffee instead of regular.

I’ve never understood why they don’t just make Fairtrade the standard. Try to go for chicken that’s free range, or at least make sure that any eggs you have are from free range hens. Finally, try to up your quota of vegetarian meals – meat adds considerably to overall greenhouse gas emissions.

No-one expects the Wharf to turn into a farmers’ market overnight, but thinking about where our food comes from and the impact it can have is a great step towards living a more ethical life.

Do you or your company have an environmentally friendly product or service you’d like featured in this column? Let us know by contacting Seventeen, a sustainable alternative for your event management needs, at andrew@seventeenevents.co.uk.