To celebrate the launch of our fourth Issue: Feast, we've got a guest blog from the queen of waste-not-want-not feasts, Imogen Jones-Crossley. She's the person behind @thetalentedeater's Instagram page, and the host of Saved by the Supper Club, a zero waste communal dinner hosted in Sydney. Let her inspire your next Potluck dinner!
Written by Imogen Jones-Crossley
We all know the negative impact food waste has on the environment. Decomposing food creates methane which floats into the atmosphere, polluting our planet. But how can we combat this issue as a nation?
Well, hear me out. We all have to eat, right? Hanging out with friends is kind of fun, yeah? We’ve all had a head of lettuce wilting at the bottom of the fridge. Don’t worry, I won’t judge, I’ve been there too.
This is where the idea for Saved by Supper Club came into being. I gathered a group of friends together for a special evening. A Supper Club. Not just your ordinary Supper Club though, a Supper Club with an environmental twist. I asked everyone to bring food WITH them, any canned goods they had in the cupboards for months and hadn’t used, or any food from the fridge that was getting a little old. Upon arrival, the food was compiled into piles of sweet and savoury ingredients. There was a beautiful array of items; from puff pastry, to half a jar of morello cherries, a quarter of an avocado, cut onion and a lot of zucchinis amongst much more.
Together with the help of friends, we cooked up a storm. Chopping boards went outside, graters for the zucchini and carrots, knives for the onions. Helpers came in and out of the kitchen, switching between taking turns helping cook, and sitting back chatting to new friends. It was an evening like no other, sort of like a pot-luck dinner, but preparing the food all together.
Since Saved by Supper Club’s conception in October 2020, I’ve held seven evenings of food waste fighting events. Each time, different faces showed up, different produce came, the menu changed each evening. This all stemmed from my love of sharing food, but my hate for wasting it. I’ve lived in multiple share houses and have experienced first hand just how much food gets thrown out, purely because people are unaware of how to use it up. This was the main premise behind me starting my instagram page @thetalentedeater and from there the ideas have grown.
Sharing food brings joy, laughter and happy tummies. The art of sharing food is not lost by any culture, nor age. So why not get a group of friends together, ask them to bring along their wilting spinach and cook up a storm? Good food + good friends = good times!
At Saved by Supper Club we have transformed; zucchini, carrot and stale bread into delicious vegetarian sausage rolls; wrinkled ginger and spring onions into a delicious noodle sauce; cherries and puff pastry into sweet after dinner delights.
Follow @thetalentedeater on Instagram for more ways and inspiration for helping fight food waste in your own home. I’ll also be rolling out a few different initiatives in 2021, keep up to date on these at our website thetalentedeater.com