FOOD WASTE - SUSTAINABLE - ZERO WASTE - ECO FRIENDLY - BAMBOO
Guest bloggers - Maddie & Arthur - Founders of The Crafty Pickle Co.
Ferments Fighting Food Waste – Humans have been harnessing the power of fermentation for thousands of years. We’ve used it to make bread, beer, wine, cheese, sauerkraut, kimchi, coffee, chocolate, soy sauce, miso, fish sauce (PHEW) and the list goes on and on... In gastronomy, fermentation has been used to create exciting new flavours that tickle taste buds. In times of food scarcity, fermentation has been used to preserve food for longer so we were able to feed our family or tribes. And unsurprisingly, one of the earliest records of humans harnessing fermentation was used to get us drunk (our ancestors were wild too!).
In the present day not much has changed. We’ve carried on the above practices, but now we also harness fermentation to produce energy, degrade materials and create new ones. In the food, health and wellness sectors, fermentation has become increasingly popular due to a growing body of research around human gut health. It’s thought that consuming fermented foods which contain live microorganisms (and their fermentation by-products) might contribute to greater diversity in our microbiome and hence improve our health.
So what do we do and WHY?
We’re Madi and Arthur, a couple of nutritionists who set up a fermented food business in the chilly, but gorgeous, North East of Scotland. We hand-craft raw, vegan, living, naturally nutritious fermented sauerkrauts and kimchi.
When we first thought about setting up a business our first thought was that we wanted a business that was environmentally impactful in some way. Recent reports indicate that in the UK alone, an estimated 1.3 million tonnes of food goes to waste each year. Not only does this further contribute to carbon emissions, but much of this food is perfectly edible and goes to waste merely because it’s grown or purchased in surplus. Yet, there are still individuals out there who don’t get three square meals a day?! Not. Cool.
We knew that fermentation was one of the very first methods of food preservation, first used thousands of years ago by our ancestors to get giddy off fermented fruit and make sure they had enough to eat over winter. Now in a world where fermented foods are gaining attraction and an abundance of food is going to waste, we felt it was time to act!
And so voila, The Crafty Pickle Co. was born roughly a year ago and we’ve been #fermentsfightingfoodwaste ever since! Our business utilises as much perfectly edible but imperfect or surplus produce to craft our raw, unpasteurised fermented foods. The type of krauts and kimchis we make are packed full of live cultures, adding some microbial diversity back into our diet. Being nutritionists the chance to promote veggies, PLUS gut friendly foods was a no-brainer.
Small changes
Much like the mantra at @BambuuBrush - ‘One Simple Change’ - we’re just one small business, so how can we make a real difference? This is where the power of lots of small changes can add up to have a huge impact. If we can make a business work by doing things a bit differently to the norm – donating a percentage of our sales to a charity close to our hearts and attempting to connect up the food chain to divert potentially wasted fruit and veg – then so can all businesses. Even the odd surplus cabbage or cauliflower that comes across our chopping board can make a difference. As we all relearn how to respect and appreciate our food again, change will occur.
We want to demonstrate that everyone can make a difference, no matter how small they are. By supporting environmentally focussed businesses like us, and like our friends at @BambuuBrush, we CAN change the World for the better!
Go check out the Crafty pickle company today!