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COP26 – 80% of food will come from Scotland

October 26, 2021 8:35 pm

The UK Government has confirmed that menus at COP26 will include sustainable food and that eighty per cent of the food served will be seasonal, and sourced from Scotland.

Overall, 95% of the food served will be from the UK, putting sustainability at the heart of catering, reducing emissions and promoting environment-friendly food production.

The conference will serve as an example for other international events of this scale:

Ingredients will be replicated across the conference’s menus to ensure produce can be repurposed for other meals, if necessary, to avoid food waste.
The cups used to serve drinks will be reusable and it is estimated that this approach will save up to 250,000 single use cups.
Suppliers are setting high standards for sustainable food production, from Edinburgh’s Mara Seaweed, which is abundant and entirely sustainable and does not require fertilizer, fresh water or soil to grow, through to Benzies carrots and potatoes who use wind turbines to power their cool storage, biomas to provide heating and actively recycle the water they use.

COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma said: “There will be a tremendous amount of work to be done at COP26, with many hours of negotiations and long days, so the choice of food that we serve our visiting delegations, staff and all our volunteers, is very important.

“It is exciting to see such innovation in the menus that will be on offer and to understand the thought and effort that has gone into making dishes both healthy, sustainable and suitable for different diets and requirements.

“We very much look forward to giving our international visitors a flavour of the wide-ranging cuisine the UK has to offer.”

Kevin Watson, Business Director, SEC Food said:“We have worked hard to create low carbon menus that are accessible to all. We hope our sustainable food strategy will shape menus of the future as we all work to protect our planet. As well as providing great tasting and nutritious food, our menus are focused on local and seasonal sourcing, with a plant-forward approach. We have been delighted to showcase and work with so many local Scottish suppliers and our teams are looking forward to supporting the event.”