A worldwide food phenomenon is the rise of the sustainable food movement. In the US, the initiative has been spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama’s garden on the White House lawn, underlining a national campaign to educate Americans about how to eat healthily and become sustainable. In Australia, the “paddock to plate” movement has engendered an emphasis on quality and sustainability, as high-end restaurants offer fruit and vegetables from their own gardens and cooking schools adopt a more farm-based, hands-on approach.
“Going green has become mainstream,” says Kay Logsdon, editor of The Food Channel, a Web site devoted to food. “Before 2009, many people didn’t even know what the word ‘sustainable’ meant; now it has become a priority.” People expect seasonal, locally sourced or organic produce, grass-fed meats and free-range chickens that are free of hormones and pesticides.
With this move will come a more authentic attempt by people and companies to assimilate sustainability into their work ethos. Biodegradable packaging like bamboo will soon replace Styrofoam as packaging, while eco-labelling, carbon footprints, water footprints, food miles, fair trade, and “nude food” – food that is more transparent – will slowly become part of packaging labels. By having a positive environmental impact sustainability will likely become the way we eat in 2010 and beyond.