No wrap, no waste — just fresh veg goodness

For top eco chef and food writer Tom Hunt, shopping locally and seasonally is key to avoiding harmful plastics in the kitchen

‘It doesn’t have to cost more,’ says Tom Hunt, ‘It can be cheaper to buy a loose, seasonal turnip than an imported, plastic-wrapped pepper.’ 

ONCE you become aware of microplastics, it suddenly seems as if they are everywhere. That’s because they are, even if a lot of the time you can’t see them.

Primary microplastics are found in cosmetics (for example, microbeads) or shed from synthetic textiles, like microfiber cloths or plastic scrubbing sponges. Secondary microplastics come from the disintegration of larger plastic objects.

According to Chinese university researchers, kitchens can be a source of microplastic pollution, as plastic equipment is “prone to degradation, especially under the influence of factors like temperature, wear, and mechanical damage”. That includes regular tasks like heating, cooking, chopping and cleaning. Look around your kitchen: Items such as plastic chopping boards, bottles, plastic-wrapped fruit and vegetables, bags of ultra-processed snacks and plastic coffee pods are just a few of the things responsible for adding to the presence of microplastics in our environment. This is a material that can take thousands of years to decompose, being found in water, in land, and increasingly, in the food that we eat.

Using less plastic is part of the “root to fruit” manifesto of top London-based eco chef and food writer Tom Hunt. Hunt, who will be appearing at the Food on the Edge gathering of chefs and food lovers in Galway on October 27 and 28, has long been aware of the negative environmental impacts of plastic, but in recent times has become more aware of how important it is to cut them in the kitchen for health reasons.

Even now, microplastics are in our water, soil, the air that we breathe — and inside our bodies. Recent research from Trinity College Dublin has shown that nanoplastics in the brain can disrupt energy metabolism in cells, leading to concerns that they might play a role in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, more than 400m tonnes of plastic were produced globally in 2020. The widespread use of plastic means we cannot completely avoid it, but we can make changes in our kitchens to minimise the microplastics we come into contact with. Along with taking simple steps — buying unwrapped ingredients, cooking without plastic utensils, using wooden chopping boards — Hunt believes that having more of a connection with what we’re eating can help.

In his book Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet, Hunt defines “root to fruit” eating as a “holistic diet that joins the dots between ourselves, food, and nature, giving us the skills and knowledge to shop, eat, and cook sustainably while eating healthier, better tasting food for no extra cost.”

Tom Hunt.

Root-to-fruit eating has three key principles, says Hunt, while talking over the phone from London: “Eat for pleasure, eat whole foods, and eat the best food you can.”

Focusing on what you can do — eating local and seasonal food — helps steer you away from what you want to avoid, plastics, and towards a more nutritious diet. While Hunt acknowledges that he’s in a privileged position — this is his job, and he’s been working, writing, and educating as an eco chef for more than 20 years — he’s also keenly aware of the value for money in eating this way.

“It doesn’t have to cost more,” he says. “It can be cheaper to buy a loose, seasonal turnip than an imported, plastic-wrapped pepper. There are myriad benefits from supporting your local economy — saving you money, boosting nutrition, and reducing plastic. It allows you to be more conscious of what you do and what you’re buying when walking into a grocery shop.

“Restricting yourself from buying things in plastic opens up a whole world of interesting and diverse ingredients.”

We’ve become disconnected from our foods’ origins, he adds, “and the global food chain is part of that problem”.

“A food product wrapped in plastic on a supermarket shelf is a metaphor for this. That plastic film is damaging the environment and our health. If you can shop from a local greengrocer and buy things loose, hopefully even with soil on them, because then they’re going to be fresher, then you’re going to be getting more nutrients from your food, and you can avoid plastic by taking your own bags. Even if you’re in a supermarket, you can steer towards the loose foods.”

Supermarkets might be convenient, but — as Hunt points out — “they are terrible for packaged foods, leading to food waste when you buy too much of an item”.

He’s a fan of zero-waste stores, which have also become popular in Ireland. “They’re a great way to avoid plastics. I call them precision purchase stores: they sell the food loose so you can buy the exact quantity you want. It means that you avoid waste, it’s more economical to buy just what you need, and you can use your own containers.”

GoZero.ie has a list of these shops around the country, including Organico in Bantry, PAX Whole Foods in Westport, and Limerick’s Urban Co-Op.

Shop locally, seasonally, and buy loose. Bring your own bags and containers. Even small steps can make a differenc. In doing so, we become more aware of what we eat while protecting the environment and our health.

• At Food on the Edge, Tom Hunt will be joined by Kenneth Keavey from Green Earth Organics for a masterclass on cooking with zero waste. See: foodontheedge.ie