0:03

Can I afford organic foods?

0:05

The

0:07

double bacon cheeseburger? Now just

0:09

one pound fifty. As

0:11

the obesity crisis deepens, the

0:13

estimated burden on the NHS is

0:16

predicted reach nine point seven

0:18

billion pounds by twenty fifty.

0:21

Around the world, thirty nine million children

0:23

under the age of five are overweight.

0:25

Takeaway tonight.

0:27

Two point three billion people were food insecure

0:30

in twenty twenty one. With forty

0:32

five million children under five, suffering

0:35

from the deadliest form of malnutrition.

0:37

Is it still okay to eat meat?

0:40

The NHS is prescribing more than three

0:42

hundred thousand oral

0:43

nutritional supplements each year.

0:49

Our

0:49

lifestyles are busy. And our

0:51

days are packed with information decisions

0:53

and conflicts. But here in

0:55

the UK, what we eat

0:58

is harming us and the planet.

1:00

There's

1:01

a disconnect between where

1:03

our food comes from and what

1:05

that food does to

1:07

our bodies.

1:08

A lot of the time these are stripped

1:11

back white carbohydrates that

1:14

are

1:14

energy rich, which

1:16

is great. If you just want

1:18

a boost of energy but not

1:20

good in terms of micronutrients. So

1:23

it leads to poor health, essentially.

1:25

Unless we start to make some changes. We're

1:27

going to lose a lot of things, so think

1:30

losing the human element to that in

1:32

terms of cultural biodiversity is

1:34

is going to be a big thing on the cards as well.

1:37

Welcome to the final episode in

1:39

the series of Unearthed

1:41

journeys into the future of food.

1:44

To conclude our series, I

1:46

want to look at how food plants

1:48

can also be used as medicines

1:51

and play a role in our health. And

1:53

we'll be hearing from

1:54

some top chefs on how

1:57

we can have a healthier and more

1:59

ethical relationship

1:59

with plants in our own

2:02

daily lives. From shopping

2:04

and dining to the way we cook

2:06

at home. A better food

2:09

is within touching distance for all

2:11

of us. Let's start

2:13

by hearing more about how

2:15

what we eat has always had

2:17

an impact on our health and well-being.

2:25

I'm Dr. Melanie Jane

2:27

House. And at Q, I lead research

2:29

in fight chemistry, which

2:32

is the study of the chemistry of plants,

2:34

and pharmacokinetically, which

2:36

is focused on understanding the

2:39

medicinal properties of plants

2:41

such as for drug discovery. My

2:44

own research has been focused

2:47

on edible plants and their benefits

2:49

for health and also that

2:52

are useful for drug discovery. I mean, there are

2:54

a number of plants which

2:56

cross those sort of blood boundaries

2:58

and they're used for both culinary

3:00

applications and also medicinal applications.

3:03

Although the extent to which they've been studied

3:05

scientifically considerably. Some

3:08

examples of plants that are used for both

3:10

purposes, are garlic, sage,

3:13

rosemary, turmeric, licorice, and

3:15

ginger. But as well as plants

3:17

that are used for medicinal

3:20

applications. A number

3:22

of edible plants have also

3:24

either provided or inspired. The

3:26

development or the number of pharmaceutical drugs.

3:29

Many people use

3:31

plants for their medicinal properties

3:34

And in some parts of the world, they

3:36

still remain a very important parts

3:39

of their medicine cabinet, particularly

3:42

in regions where people may not have

3:44

access to some

3:46

of the conventional pharmaceutical drugs.

3:49

However, much more at needs

3:51

to be about the scientific

3:53

basis for the uses of these plants.

3:56

So to Unearthed, firstly,

3:58

if they're effective, but also if

4:00

they're safe to be taken.

4:03

So study that cues

4:05

scientists and collaborators carried

4:07

out has been to test three

4:10

plants in combination, which

4:12

are sage rosemary and lemon balm

4:15

compared to a placebo. This

4:18

was a small study in

4:20

healthy adults to find

4:23

out if the plant combination could

4:25

improve memory. Preliminary

4:29

studies suggest that insertion

4:31

Unearthed groups, these

4:33

three plants in combination at

4:36

the specified dose we tested them

4:38

at might have some potential

4:40

benefits on memory. But

4:42

we really need to carry out much more

4:44

research to understand more

4:47

about the plants and

4:49

the mechanisms of action. Of

4:51

their chemicals. Pharmaceuticals

4:54

derived from edible plants include

4:57

a chemical called capsaicin. So

4:59

this is the pungent chemical that occurs

5:01

in gilly peppers. This

5:03

chemical has been formulated in

5:05

preparations that are applied

5:07

to the skin, to

5:09

help relieve some types of joint

5:12

pain such as osteoarthritis and

5:15

also some types of nerve pain such

5:17

as the neuralgia that can occur after

5:19

people have shingles. And

5:21

actually, there's a chemical in peppermint

5:23

called menthol. And that's

5:25

also been developed as a

5:27

formulation which is applied to

5:29

the skin to also help relieve

5:31

pain and also itching. And

5:33

actually, peppermint oil itself when

5:36

it's formulated at a certain dose

5:38

in capsules, it's available

5:40

as an over counter medicine to help

5:43

relieve symptoms of irritable

5:45

bowel. Syndrome. There

5:47

are certain species of yams

5:49

that contains steroidal compounds

5:51

such as diastrogenetic. And

5:53

this digestion has been used in

5:55

the manufacture of a number of steroidal

5:58

pharmaceuticals, including

5:59

oral

6:00

contraceptives. But also some

6:03

anti inflammatory called Coastero

6:04

drugs.

6:07

There's

6:07

a lot in the press

6:08

about the importance of plant

6:10

based diets for good health. But

6:13

if you heard about all the

6:15

research that's going on, into

6:18

our guts. Research

6:20

suggests that by making sure

6:22

we're healthy on the inside, we

6:24

can improve not only our physical

6:26

well-being, but our mental

6:28

health too. But do you

6:30

have to be a qualified nutritionist to

6:33

embrace the power of plants in

6:35

your diet? Or do

6:37

you need to absorb a thousand

6:39

beautiful hardback

6:40

cookbooks? Hopefully

6:42

not. Arnick's

6:45

guest is here with the facts and

6:47

some healthy tips to help

6:49

you get the most out of cooking

6:51

with plants.

6:51

My

6:53

name is Dr. Megan Rossi, and I'm

6:55

a dietitian and nutritionist with a

6:57

PhD in gut health. So essentially, I

6:59

live and breathe all things things, gut health,

7:01

and nutrition. A lot of people ask

7:03

me, you know, how I got into gut health

7:05

because historically, it certainly wasn't the most

7:07

sexiest of topics. But actually grew

7:09

up on a farm in Australia where good

7:11

gut health is very

7:12

much inherent to my upbringing. But actually,

7:14

my first conscious

7:15

encounter with the gut was

7:17

actually quite a negative one and and that I

7:19

lost my grandma to bowel cancer when I was

7:21

in my final year studying nutrition

7:23

and dietetics. And I essentially hated

7:26

the gut, you know, for putting her through the chemo,

7:28

the surgery, and then obviously taking her life. So

7:30

I thought, you know what? I

7:33

owe it to my patients end

7:35

by grandma to find out more about

7:37

this kind of undiscovered organ,

7:39

so to speak. And it was at that point. I was like, you

7:41

know what? I wanna dedicate the rest of my career

7:43

to gut health. We

7:45

are still just trying to uncover

7:48

those trillions of bacteria that live in our gut.

7:50

So we talk about gut health. It's this nine

7:52

medium, long digestive tube. But one of

7:54

the key components of gut health is,

7:56

yes, we've got seventy percent of our immune system

7:58

in there. So immune system is really

7:59

important. But actually,

8:01

it sees trillions of bacteria.

8:03

The different things these bacteria can

8:05

do for us to really maximize

8:08

our health and longevity and

8:10

and mental health. When we talk about

8:12

these trillions of microbes, and the scientific

8:14

name is I've got microbiome

8:15

or I've got microbiome. As

8:17

part of

8:17

our macro bind, we include things like

8:20

viruses and even some parasites

8:22

and funky, which actually all work

8:24

together to look after us.

8:26

So when people ask, you know, what

8:28

is an ideal gut macabab, what does it

8:30

actually look like? The truth is there

8:32

is no single perfect

8:33

microbiota for

8:36

every single

8:37

person. Everyone's unique profile

8:39

means that they have a unique combination

8:41

of bacteria, even our digital

8:43

twins. But what we see as I

8:45

guess a key component to our gut

8:47

microbiome is the diversity. So

8:49

we see people who have more different

8:51

types of micro organisms

8:54

living within them seem to have

8:56

better mental health, less sick

8:58

days, better metabolism, more

8:59

regulated hormones. So that's of

9:01

the ultimate goal is to get as many different

9:03

of these microbes

9:04

in us. And I think more of us are starting

9:07

to appreciate. There is that

9:09

two way connection between our our brain. And that

9:11

of course is our gut microbiome. So

9:12

we know these microorganisms can

9:15

produce a range of different

9:17

chemicals some

9:18

of which can pass that blood brain barrier and

9:20

communicate to our brain that way. Then there's

9:22

also a system where the microbes can

9:24

actually tap into the nervous system and

9:26

communicate with our brain

9:28

again another way. And then lastly,

9:30

there is, of course, the immune

9:32

system. Whenever

9:34

I talk to any of my patients or clients about

9:36

clients, they're kinda like, yeah, I get it. I

9:38

know they're good for me, but, you know, they're

9:40

really boring Unearthed taste

9:42

really bland. Historically, we were kind of like, okay,

9:44

get small. So we didn't understand why people ate

9:46

more plants had all this extra health and and

9:49

happiness kind of attached to them. But we

9:51

now understand it's because the

9:53

fiber is fertilizer for

9:55

our gut bacteria. It has no other sort

9:57

of like benefit for the human body. But

9:59

when the

9:59

bacteria get fertilized, what they

10:02

do is produce a range of these

10:04

chemicals called short chain fatty acids.

10:06

And they do incredible things.

10:08

Things like regulating

10:10

our appetite hormones.

10:12

They help with our, like,

10:14

estrogen regulation. Help with the

10:16

absorption of nutrients, nobody like

10:18

calcium. They help strengthen our

10:20

gut lining, and they even

10:22

can help with, you know, supporting

10:23

our mental health. I

10:25

want people to know that plants can be absolutely

10:28

delicious. I'm not saying you need to have these like

10:30

boring soggy salads. Veggies,

10:32

for example, you know, broasting them with olive

10:35

oil and some smoky paprika, you know, in

10:37

the oven twenty minutes, a hundred

10:39

and eight degrees, you know, you can

10:41

make veg delicious. Whipping up like

10:43

a walnut

10:43

pesto is another really delicious

10:46

way to kind of make any sort

10:48

of plant. Tastes

10:48

great. So it's just the simple things.

10:51

And, you know, if you're having Indian

10:53

takeaway for dinner, it's a case of literally just

10:55

getting a can

10:56

of lentils ramping them and

10:58

then adding them to your takeaway. You

10:59

don't need to spend hours in the

11:02

kitchen or have this huge

11:04

cost attached to it or change all your

11:06

behaviors. So where you can, I recommend people

11:08

try getting something from what I call the

11:10

super six most days. So that's

11:12

our whole grains So things like

11:14

our oat, barley, rye, we've got

11:16

our legumes, so things like our chickpeas,

11:18

our lentils, butter beans, we've

11:20

got our fruit, we've got a veg, We've

11:22

got our herbs and spices and our nuts and our

11:24

seeds. Dry herbs and

11:26

spices, I think, are an underrated source of what

11:28

these things call polyphenols. And

11:30

polyphenols are just these types of plant

11:32

chemicals, which have been associated with a lot of health

11:34

benefits, anti inflammatory, and

11:36

Unearthed sort of powers. So thinking about

11:38

your own diet, you might wanna reflect, have

11:40

you had something from the super six today?

11:42

And I think probably that's another point is that

11:44

people think they have to go plan only, and

11:46

that's certainly not what we see

11:48

is needed for good gut health. One of

11:50

my key philosophies is thinking

11:52

about inclusion, not exclusion. Think about

11:54

how you can add some plants to it.

11:58

Fascinating

11:58

fascinating

11:59

stuff. It's quite exciting

12:01

to know that we're still

12:04

working out some of the important

12:06

properties the food we eat can

12:08

have and this impact on

12:10

our bodies. More

12:12

recently, the phrase superfood

12:14

popped up as a marketing term

12:16

to describe those foods

12:18

that are nutrient dense and

12:21

which can be good for us. But

12:23

in science, the terms are

12:25

bit of a misnomer. The

12:27

healthiest diet are varied and

12:29

diverse and contain the right

12:31

kind of nutrients for different

12:33

individuals. No one

12:35

food is going to be a cure

12:37

or for good health. With

12:40

so much information and

12:42

misinformation out there, it's

12:44

hard to know who's advice to

12:46

follow when it comes to choosing the

12:48

diet that's healthiest for you

12:50

and the planet. But one

12:53

voice we're often happy to

12:55

trust is that of our revered

12:57

and much loved chefs. Millions

12:59

of us tune into TV cookery

13:02

shows each week here in the

13:04

UK. And our obsession

13:06

with food means ideas on

13:08

these shows often lead the

13:10

trends we see in restaurants. Supermarkets

13:12

and our own kitchen tables.

13:16

That's why it's great to see so many

13:18

more plant based menus and

13:20

exciting fruit and veg on

13:22

our screens. But

13:24

when it comes to sustainable practice

13:26

in real life, what

13:28

a real chefs have to do to

13:30

change the world and keep their

13:32

customers happy. Tom

13:34

Hanson

13:34

Eco Chef, a food writer,

13:37

food age Kate, an author of

13:39

eating for pleasure, people,

13:41

and planet. Chefs

13:44

are instrumental in changing

13:47

the way we eat because

13:49

they are the conduit that

13:52

connect our farmers and our

13:54

food to the

13:56

rest of us, the eaters, and the

13:58

people who cook at home.

14:00

When

14:01

we're cooking every day and we've got busy

14:03

lives, we don't have time,

14:05

days and days to research and write

14:07

about food like some of us too.

14:10

And sometimes we just need some

14:12

simple advice about how to

14:14

eat for the planet.

14:16

Shantal Nicholson is a chef and

14:19

owner of Aprosidy restaurant

14:21

in London. She was born in

14:23

New Zealand and after eighteen

14:25

years in the UK is

14:27

focused on making a more sustainable

14:29

and regenerative world. Through

14:31

her work. A

14:33

Prestige is based on the notion of,

14:36

I guess, regeneration. So looking

14:38

at seasonality, looking at local

14:40

food, looking at aggressively growing

14:42

and farms food and looking at

14:44

every element of that supply chain and all the

14:46

people that are involved in it, which which of course

14:48

are are the most important thing. It's

14:50

a

14:50

balancing act for me, and everything's a balancing act because

14:53

none of us are perfect and no one can attain

14:55

it, perfection. And I think with

14:57

food, food shouldn't be perfect. We should

14:59

embrace the imperfection of it. We shouldn't

15:01

embrace the fact that, you know, a carrot

15:03

growing and kink tastes very different to a

15:05

carrot growing you know, in Yorkshire for

15:07

instance, because the soil's different. The people that are

15:09

involved in it are different. And I think we've still got a bit

15:11

of a way to go with food. I think we're pretty good with it with

15:13

wine and who are. But I think with food, we're we're

15:15

kind of don't have that same level of

15:17

understanding and and that sense

15:19

that things should look and taste different

15:21

despite the fact they're, you know, they may be a

15:23

carrot, but they may be slightly

15:25

wonky. They may be slightly drier and

15:27

sweeter from somewhere. So it's just all about

15:29

really embracing that rather than

15:31

trying to make everything The

15:33

same.

15:34

Zoe Adorno is a chef,

15:37

author, entrepreneur, and

15:39

founder of Zoe's Ghana Kitchen.

15:42

A pioneering West African

15:44

food brand. And you

15:46

are joining me today from my living room

15:48

in Hackney Week which is where my

15:50

business started in twenty ten outside

15:52

my front door. I was

15:54

really skint after

15:57

coming back from traveling around the states at

15:59

time,

15:59

Hackanywick was

16:01

bursting at the seams with creative

16:04

people, doing creative things,

16:06

including fine artists, photographers, poets, writers,

16:08

all of the things. So

16:10

these

16:10

open studios were happening. I was

16:12

like, okay. Let me see if I can make some money

16:14

by feeding these people and I chose to make

16:16

a pot of stew from my childhood, from

16:19

my

16:19

dad's side of the family whose my dad's

16:21

being gone in. I made brown

16:23

that soup or peanut butter stew as it was called in

16:25

my house growing up. And it would it

16:27

had been a firm favorite.

16:28

Right? My entire life was a home cook

16:31

when cooked for friends, so I knew it would go down well.

16:33

And my friend made a sign saying

16:35

Zoey's famous peanut butter

16:37

stew a

16:38

year later. For the

16:39

same festival weekend, I turned my flat into

16:41

a restaurant and called it as always gone a kitchen,

16:44

and we were basically Ramo

16:47

for those three days, people trying to

16:49

book the next week, book, you know, a

16:51

monthly and, you know, having to

16:53

tell people, I'm sorry, this is my living room,

16:55

actually. This is one off event. In

16:57

the end, it it was so much fun to

16:59

do that I collected email addresses and

17:01

told people if I do it again, I'll let you know. And

17:03

that's basically how it started and how

17:05

it grew. I then

17:07

decided that the mission of Ghana Kitchen

17:09

would be to decolonize. I mean, they didn't use that

17:11

language at the time because nobody was ready

17:13

for it. But it's to need to colonize this

17:15

idea of what is valuable. Right? Because

17:17

it was about returning value to people from the

17:19

community in their own ingredients and

17:21

food. And then also educating

17:23

people outside of that community on how amazing those

17:25

flavors and ingredients were to introduce them to

17:27

it, to make it as accessible

17:30

for people's possible while at the

17:32

same time kind of modernizing

17:34

the experience of the food in a way.

17:36

We can talk about value all day in

17:39

the value chain. Right? chain and

17:41

food media and who has

17:43

the power of the

17:46

lens. Right? And usually, it's white

17:48

media telling most

17:51

mainstream white audience

17:53

what is good for them, what isn't good for them,

17:55

what's hot, what's not in food, what's

17:57

trendy, So there's all

17:58

this kind of prescriptiveness that

17:59

happens through a really specific lens.

18:02

And I wanted to undo

18:04

that a bit. My

18:06

early menus were very traditional

18:08

in air quotes because

18:10

I was replicating dishes that my

18:12

dad had cooked and but through his lens, right, because

18:14

he was replicating them out

18:16

of context in Southeast London with

18:20

availability limited certain ingredients and so

18:22

on. So yams, plantains,

18:24

okra, for example. And okra is a

18:26

good example. Actually, it's something that I created

18:28

okra fries to compel people

18:31

to have a different relationship with Okra, for example. But

18:33

anyway, you know, increasingly they

18:35

are. I mean, it used to only be that you

18:37

could like, maybe your local African corner

18:40

shop in an African based

18:42

community or an African African

18:44

community, but that has

18:45

definitely changed. Like, and there's loads

18:48

of know,

18:48

Indian grocery stores that share our

18:51

ingredients that stock similar things

18:53

like cassava taro, cocoa

18:55

yam, plantains, pineums that

18:57

we have loads of ingredients in common. So

18:59

there's an ever increasing amount

19:01

of availability, definitely in

19:04

urban areas. We're all

19:06

contributing to making these ingredients

19:08

more available in

19:10

sustainable

19:11

ways.

19:12

On the

19:14

one hand by exploring

19:16

foods and staples from different cultures,

19:18

we can make our diets

19:21

more diverse. But buying products

19:23

sustainably is still a

19:25

challenge. Food trends can

19:27

mean supermarkets and big

19:29

food companies suddenly have an

19:31

interest in the same small supply

19:33

chain, which can create new

19:36

problems. What's happened

19:37

is big white food gets in

19:39

the middle of all that, as it did

19:41

with palm oil and ruin the reputation of

19:44

palm oil, And, you know, it buys up swathes of land. It

19:46

takes away the natural indigenous

19:48

resources of the communities there to be

19:50

able to farm and

19:52

sell an sport and even locally

19:54

in those ingredients. It was highlighted to me on a trip

19:56

to Ghana in twenty eighteen. I was an in time

19:59

market looking for these things and I couldn't find

20:01

millet, I couldn't find of

20:03

paradise. I couldn't find Wincey, which is guinea peppers.

20:05

And I was talking to like my show my local

20:07

chef community and I'd cry about it, and they were like, yeah,

20:09

this is like a serious issue. Now it's really hard

20:11

for us to find these people aren't using

20:13

them anymore because or at

20:15

the same pace and

20:18

frequency because Western influences come

20:20

into a crowd. Such a

20:23

speed with outside

20:25

money comes outside influence. And, you know, people

20:27

wanna go to restaurants. They don't

20:29

wanna there's not the same passion

20:31

for their own cuisine and food. You know? I

20:34

also don't advise buying from

20:36

supermarkets if you can help it because it's

20:38

really expensive support local,

20:41

support is more, go to your local markets,

20:43

build relationships with your

20:46

local

20:46

market store holders as well. Look at

20:49

the back and see, okay. Well, who's

20:51

making this? Where was it made? Does

20:53

it have a fair trade? Like, does it

20:55

have those easy

20:56

shortcut marks.

20:58

So what

20:59

are the decisions can we make at

21:01

home to make sure our relationship

21:03

with food is healthier?

21:05

We definitely need

21:06

to be eating a lot more plants.

21:08

And I think plants are delicious, so I

21:10

can ever give them. I don't

21:12

find AAA chore to to

21:14

be able to to eat them or cook them and

21:16

kind of celebrate them. I don't think we

21:18

need to do without

21:20

meat. I think, again, going back to, you

21:22

know, the bite of to planet. It's

21:25

important the history, the culture,

21:27

livelihoods, but we definitely need to eat less of it,

21:29

and we definitely need to look at the way it's being

21:31

farmed. So for me, there are

21:33

a few alternative proteins that I think do have a

21:35

place. Corn being the fact that, you know,

21:37

it's it's it's it's it's

21:39

essentially a fungi, which we're

21:41

learning so much about that that kind

21:43

of net work. You know, from a a point of view of

21:45

if you're

21:45

trying to not eat as much meat and

21:47

you want something instead, then it's

21:49

a good alternative So we actually

21:52

work with a mushroom farm that's just outside of

21:54

London and L Street. They don't use any peat and they're

21:56

growing. So we

21:58

get these kind of big I mean, the most

21:59

beautiful bunches of these

22:02

mushrooms that are grown and delivered to us kind of

22:04

just in crates, so reusable. So the whole

22:06

process is is very circular just

22:08

that sense of of of flavor and what they can

22:10

bring to a dish is, yeah, is amazing.

22:12

And that's, you know, even just as themselves,

22:14

but also in terms of using them in stocks

22:16

and kind of as a seasoning as well as they're

22:18

really underrated. If you're

22:20

eating conventional

22:22

food or averagely

22:25

grown produce, then

22:28

focusing on ingredients

22:30

like legumes,

22:32

beans, and pulses.

22:35

Can really improve your footprint because

22:38

they are an

22:40

ingredient that needs very little

22:42

inputs. They don't need fertilizer, harmful

22:45

chemical fertilizers, and they

22:47

need very little water

22:49

to grow and produce

22:52

their fruit or the beans. And

22:56

so in that way, they're really good for the

22:58

environment. They're also a nitrogen fixer,

23:00

which is why they need less chemical

23:03

fertilizer. It's a really good idea to grow your

23:05

own fruit and vegetables even

23:07

if all the space you have

23:09

is a window sill because it's bringing you

23:11

closer to nature closer

23:13

to the origin of your food,

23:15

which really is the answer I think

23:17

to a lot of this. It's

23:20

a disconnection with our food

23:22

and its origin and even nature

23:24

that has allowed us as

23:26

a species to start

23:30

destroying ourselves in our planet

23:32

because we no longer hold

23:34

that connection and we're

23:36

not aware of what we're doing

23:38

when we buy that product off the

23:40

supermarket shelf. And

23:42

of

23:42

course, there's the big question

23:45

of reusing repurposing

23:48

or using as much of a

23:50

product as possible. We

23:51

can all make a difference

23:53

simply

23:55

by reducing our

23:55

waste and eating

23:57

more plants. That

23:59

will have

23:59

a

23:59

huge impact on

24:02

the environment reduce our

24:04

carbon footprint. But if

24:06

we

24:06

can take that step further and

24:08

through those cost savings,

24:11

we can invest in

24:13

better produce going to

24:16

farmer's markets or buying that weekly

24:18

veg box that seasonal local

24:20

veg box. Ideally, even from

24:22

an organic farm, then

24:24

we are really winning and we're

24:26

supporting a system that is

24:28

or has the potential to

24:31

regenerate our planet. And there's

24:32

another thing, get rid of the plastic

24:34

being to deliver to your house. And

24:36

as much as possible, you know, I try to

24:38

operate a zero waste kitchen whether it's in

24:40

my home or, you know, out in the world

24:43

operating

24:43

even the basics like a lemon

24:46

rind

24:46

you're done with, boil it on the hob,

24:48

right, before you put it in the

24:50

bin. And you're gonna have this gorgeous

24:53

fragrance going through your kitchen after you've

24:55

cooked, you know? Or all your ends

24:57

of your vegetables, stave

24:59

them, put them into a stock pot, and you've made

25:01

yourself a gorgeous vegetable stock. The

25:03

seeds from like your bell peppers

25:05

or your cucumber, anything

25:07

like potatoes. Potatoes that are going

25:09

a bit funky looking and their roots are

25:11

coming out, you know. You can plan all of those things

25:13

and they can grow successfully on

25:15

your windowsill. So the circuit

25:18

economy

25:18

is about keeping things

25:20

within the economy. I mean, it doesn't necessarily

25:22

mean it doesn't mean financial for

25:24

as long as possible. So it's in

25:26

a way,

25:26

it's actually going back to what the way things

25:28

used to be. So, you know, you'd you'd buy something that

25:31

that you knew would would last a

25:33

long time, but you'd repair it. Instead of

25:35

replacing it, you'd take care of it and

25:37

you'd try and use things as much as

25:39

possible, you just kind of have what you needed

25:41

and rather than the kind of excessive things

25:43

that you could constantly, you

25:46

know, replace. For me, it relates to three sixty

25:48

from, you

25:48

know, food to to people as well as

25:51

stuff. We'll have to

25:52

start where we are. Right?

25:55

Pick

25:55

something that you have grown

25:57

with your own love and kindness

25:59

and

25:59

attention and then cook it either for yourself

26:02

with love or for somebody else with

26:04

love. Some

26:07

great advice from some really

26:09

exciting and clued up chefs

26:12

there. But what about you? Maybe

26:14

you love to try new things

26:16

in the kitchen. But on the other

26:18

hand, without to sue

26:20

chef or someone to do your washing up. How

26:23

easy is it to cook delicious, healthy,

26:25

and sustainable plant based

26:27

recipes from scratch ever

26:30

renight and still

26:32

have time to eat it. We'll

26:34

never fear we're sending you

26:36

off to South London to meet

26:39

Chefs and author, Max Lemana.

26:41

He's about to put you through your

26:43

low waste plant based boot

26:46

camp. And I promise you'll

26:48

be inspired in no time.

26:50

Today,

26:52

we're here in my kitchen in

26:55

peckham, This is where I film a lot of my recipe content,

26:57

develop recipes, write recipes, and

26:59

of course, taste recipes. I've

27:01

just written this new cookbook. You can

27:04

cook this It's all about using

27:06

the ingredients you have at home

27:08

right now. We throw away one third of the

27:10

food we produce globally twenty

27:12

five percent of the fresh water we

27:14

use to grow that food is thrown

27:16

away. It hurts me to see

27:18

see food go to waste. I love food.

27:20

I've always loved food love

27:22

seeing the look on people's face when they try my

27:24

food. There's no better feeling in the

27:26

world. I think it all comes back

27:28

to growing up in an Italian

27:30

French American household My dad's Italian, mother's

27:32

French, and food has always been

27:34

played a huge role in my life.

27:36

Knowing where our food come from

27:38

is hugely important. It's good

27:40

for your health. It's good for your your body, good

27:42

for your spirit, your mind. But of course,

27:44

it's important to also use

27:46

what's readily available to you and what's

27:49

accessible. Food, that's wasted,

27:51

isn't just wasted food, it's

27:53

money, it's time, it's energy, it's

27:55

transportation, it's packaging, it's

27:57

labor. So you bring

27:58

food home. It is your

27:59

obligation, your duty to use the food you

28:02

have because there have been

28:04

so many ingredients and that

28:06

food that has been thrown away and

28:08

wasted before it's even got to your door.

28:10

So I'm using the whole ingredient, making

28:12

sure nothing's going to waste And if

28:14

something is inedible and is

28:16

not meant to be consumed, I

28:18

have a compost bin. My

28:20

console comes and picks it up. So

28:22

just gonna bring you around and

28:24

show you the top five most wasted

28:27

ingredients. The first one is

28:29

bread. Roughly twenty

28:31

million slices of bread is thrown

28:33

away every single day in the UK

28:35

alone. So picked up a loaf

28:37

of bread earlier this morning.

28:40

The second ingredient is

28:42

potatoes. Why are they in a cupboard

28:44

max? Because it's probably the best way

28:46

to store your potatoes, and I'll show you more

28:48

tips later. The next

28:51

ingredient are bananas.

28:53

The last two are

28:56

Oh, don't look at my fridge.

28:59

I'm only kidding. Bag

29:02

spinach or leafy

29:04

greens. And milk.

29:06

I have some oat milk here. Let's start

29:08

with bread because there's roughly eight hundred

29:10

thousand children who go to school hungry every

29:13

single day just here in the UK alone,

29:15

but we're throwing away twenty million slices of

29:17

bread. Something's not adding up. One

29:19

way to keep your bread, your loaf of bread

29:21

staying fresh a lot longer, is

29:23

dividing your loaf of bread when you bring

29:25

it home. Divide half by putting

29:27

one half in the freezer, store

29:29

it properly, wrap it up really tightly,

29:31

and keep it in the freezer. You can go back to that,

29:34

maybe use it for a toast later, or

29:36

use it for bread crumbs, or use it in a

29:38

pudding. Bread is a great vehicle

29:40

for so many recipes. I

29:43

use some melted butter. I'm

29:45

using a plant based butter. Maybe some

29:47

custard like vegan custard because I'm plant based,

29:49

so I use some vegan custard. A

29:51

little bit of flour to help bring it all

29:53

together, maybe some cornstarch, brown

29:55

sugar, cinnamon, all the warming spices,

29:57

maybe some stewed apples, chopped up

30:00

apples, throw them in there when it comes out, maybe

30:02

some melted chocolate and some

30:04

ice cream. Roughly four

30:06

point four million potatoes are thrown

30:08

away every day. In the UK. That's

30:11

a lot a lot of chips right there

30:13

are thrown away. I love potatoes.

30:15

I love using the whole entire potato and

30:17

a lot of people I think what happens with potatoes

30:19

are. The peel, they see the peel. They see

30:21

a lot of nicks and bumps on. They see,

30:23

oh, it's bruise. I'm not gonna pick that up

30:25

from the supermarket or the store

30:28

or the farmers market because you want

30:30

this perfect ingredient.

30:33

Newsflash, there's no perfect ingredient.

30:35

Actually, what people could start doing

30:37

is removing the sprouts. So all you need to do is take

30:39

a spoon and go around. That

30:41

sprout is called the eye of the potato and

30:43

it's growing a whole new potato.

30:46

Which is pretty cool because you can end up having more

30:48

potatoes from that one potato that you

30:51

bought. The other worry that people

30:53

have is that the potato may

30:56

start

30:56

to turn green, and that's

30:58

when you have passed the

31:00

best before and the best time to

31:02

use that potato. So I would

31:04

recommend composting that potato.

31:06

But before you even get there, the

31:08

best place to start storing your potatoes is

31:11

in a bowl that has ventilation.

31:13

It's cool. It's dry. It's dark.

31:16

Away from anything that has electrical

31:18

source, so, like, don't keep them near your

31:20

refrigerator because a lot of the heat

31:23

that comes off from the refrigerator. We'll heat

31:25

these up. We'll begin the sprout. You don't want

31:27

to keep your potatoes in the fridge

31:29

because the fridge is also very

31:31

dry. So it's sucking the moisture

31:33

out of all the vegetables and ingredients you have

31:35

in the fridge. That's why vegetables

31:38

do wither and start

31:40

to become quite soft. Really

31:42

quickly is because the refrigerator may not

31:44

be at the right temperature and

31:46

it's pulling the water from

31:48

the ingredients. I use the whole

31:50

potato. I don't like peeling this skin because a lot of the

31:52

nutrients is on the

31:54

skin. So give them a good wash, give them a good

31:56

rinse, parboil the

31:58

potatoes for five to ten minutes until they're soft enough where

32:00

you can break the skin. Once they

32:02

come out, I let them dry out and

32:04

then press them down with an

32:06

empty jam jar or

32:08

potato masher, and

32:10

the skin breaks. I'll melt

32:12

some butter and

32:14

mix it with olive oil and garlic. then

32:16

pour that mixture over the mashed

32:19

potatoes. Throw them into the oven until they

32:21

get crispy on the outside, soft in

32:23

the middle, And then meanwhile, while it's baking the

32:25

next fifteen, twenty minutes, I'll make

32:27

a quick pickle, like a tofu

32:29

whip that has a miso in there,

32:31

some chili, some ginger,

32:33

So I have, like, this spicy tofu whip

32:36

that goes on the base of the plate,

32:38

the crispy smash grumpy potatoes

32:41

on top. Some pickled red onion and some fresh

32:43

herbs. So it's a really lovely

32:45

vibrant dish and it takes about thirty minutes

32:47

to make, start to finish.

32:49

Maybe your bananas are going

32:51

a little brown, a little spotty,

32:53

maybe they're they're reaching the end of

32:55

their life. Free them, put them in

32:57

a in a ziplock bag. Seal

32:59

it properly, air tight, keep it in the freezer. You

33:01

can make ice cream with

33:03

frozen bananas. Really easy. Just blend it

33:05

up into a in a in a food

33:08

processor. Those natural sugars come

33:10

to the the exterior of the banana

33:12

and makes the banana a lot sweeter.

33:14

So you don't need to add any sugar.

33:16

It's already sweet. Or you can make banana bread, you

33:18

make smoothies. There's so many options you could do with

33:21

frozen bananas. It's a great it's a great

33:23

way to also incorporate into

33:25

cakes and muffins and

33:27

any kind of type of baked good pancakes.

33:29

What I like

33:32

to do with my bagged

33:35

spinach or leafy greens. I know

33:37

if I leave my back salad

33:39

open that I've used a little bit and I put it back

33:41

in the fridge and just roll it up in the bag.

33:43

I know that that's gonna go off in the next three or four

33:45

or five days. I give it a good rinse in

33:48

cold water. Let it soak in the cold

33:50

water. The cold water

33:52

will almost

33:53

zap it with life. It makes

33:55

it firm and more crisp.

33:57

At that point, I drain

33:59

I maybe wrap it up into a

34:02

towel to take out a lot of

34:04

that moisture, a lot of the water, let

34:06

it hang out on the towel for a bit,

34:08

to let the excess water come off and then I

34:10

put it back into a container seal shut

34:12

with a maybe a paper towel

34:14

inside in the middle so that can also

34:16

absorb some of

34:18

the moisture as well. And that backed salad, that

34:20

leafy greens stay fresh for like

34:22

two weeks. If it's not

34:24

looking at

34:26

its best, I'm like whizzing it up into pesto, adding it

34:28

with your basil or

34:30

chimichurria sauce or any type of like

34:32

green sauce great way of getting

34:34

vitamins in, great way to

34:36

not waste food. We'll

34:38

have some good milk. I'm using oat milk today.

34:42

I usually flip between oat milk or cashew or almond,

34:44

whatever is available. Trying a pea

34:46

milk for the first time. You can

34:48

make pancakes You

34:50

can whip it up and make a white sauce. Panakata, you

34:52

can treat yourself and make a

34:54

pudding with the leftover milk. Whisk

34:57

it up, maybe make it into another sauce. I

35:00

started freezing my milk

35:02

because then I used those frozen

35:04

milk cubes

35:06

and smoothies. I use them

35:08

in coffee drinks. You know,

35:10

it's funny that these three ingredients

35:12

right here, we have milk,

35:14

back spinach, and some bananas, and these make the perfect

35:16

smoothie. Who would have thought? Three in

35:18

the top five most

35:20

wasted foods makes the perfect

35:22

smoothie.

35:26

Thanks

35:26

Max. Well,

35:27

we're already at

35:28

the end of this podcast series.

35:31

But the beginning of many exciting

35:33

new journeys into the future

35:35

of food, including yours,

35:38

I hope. With my African heritage,

35:40

the thing that strikes me most

35:42

about how our relationship and

35:44

knowledge of food

35:46

is evolving. Is a

35:48

realization that the foods

35:50

I grew up with in

35:52

Zimbabwe are now so easily

35:54

available in

35:56

the UK. But I wanted to ask James and Poppy for their

35:58

thoughts

35:59

too. The thing that most strikes me about

36:02

how

36:02

our relationship and knowledge of food is

36:06

evolving is our deepening understanding of the interconnection of all these

36:08

issues. Connecting to the

36:09

steward of our food

36:10

and land is not only good for us

36:14

as individuals from physical to mental health, but also enforging

36:16

strong communities of one another and the more

36:18

than human world, teaching us

36:20

how we can live better for both people

36:22

and planet.

36:24

I grew up

36:25

in a time of relative

36:28

certainty. So at school,

36:30

we would learn

36:32

that despite all of its imperfections.

36:34

We still had the safest, the most affordable,

36:36

and the most plentiful

36:40

food supply in the history of our

36:42

species. However, today, despite

36:44

well over a century of truly

36:48

astonishing progress The

36:50

future is simply no

36:52

longer looking so certain.

36:54

You could argue that now,

36:57

more than any other time in the history of

36:59

human civilization, understanding

37:03

plants was crucial to the

37:05

continued survival of our species, and that all

37:08

starts with the contents of our

37:10

dinner plates.

37:13

There's so much work

37:14

and research going on

37:16

to better understand and protect the

37:18

edible plants that exist in the world.

37:21

And to explore how suited they are to

37:24

surviving in a future

37:26

where our climate is

37:28

more extreme. But it's also

37:30

a science that's evolving

37:32

every day as we learn

37:34

more about the relationships these

37:36

plants have. Within their their

37:38

local communities and with

37:40

global trade too. And

37:42

we're really

37:44

or beginning to how action,

37:46

biodiversity health,

37:48

human rights, fair trading,

37:50

and sustainable

37:52

livelihoods. Are

37:55

all connected through the plants we eat. As

37:58

individuals, we may not have the

38:00

power or the money to change the

38:02

world overnight. But

38:05

we can feel empowered every day to take action and

38:07

make changes that add to a better

38:09

world in the place where we are

38:11

the decision makers. Our

38:15

own kitchens, gardens, and allotments. We're

38:18

all consumers, and we

38:20

all ultimately

38:22

drive demand. So what

38:24

is acceptable to you and

38:26

what is not? We

38:28

all have to start from where

38:31

we are. With the means we have available and

38:33

that means a combined

38:36

effort. It gives

38:39

me hope that we will again be able to

38:41

adapt and overcome the mistakes of

38:43

the past. But only learning

38:46

and listening to what nature tells

38:48

us makes this possible.

38:50

So here's my advice to

38:52

you. When you get a chance,

38:54

get a pot, fill it with

38:56

soil, and

38:58

plant something. Whatever it

39:00

is you choose. I hope

39:02

as you tend it and watch it

39:04

grow. You'll be able to

39:06

think about the better future we're all working

39:07

towards. And when you taste

39:10

that

39:10

first fruit, perhaps

39:13

also taste in that moment the hopeful

39:16

legacy we can leave for future

39:18

generations because

39:20

we do still have time.

39:23

I'm Hadley Richmond from

39:26

me, James and Poppy.

39:28

Thank you for listening to unearth

39:30

journeys into the future of food.

39:33

From Royal Botanic Gardens

39:36

Q. If you'd like to

39:38

explore the rest of this series

39:40

or our other podcasts, you

39:42

can find them on this

39:44

feed. And the Q website

39:46

is packed with more amazing

39:48

stories in case studies

39:50

about how plant and

39:52

fungal science will save the world.

39:54

You can check it out at q dot org.

39:57

See you see

39:59

you again again soon.