According to George R. R. Martin, author of the word famous Game of Thrones series of books and tv shows, all you need to do is give him “a good sharp knife and a good sharp cheese and I’m a happy man.”
Now that maybe true for our fantasy writing friend George. However, in my opinion there is one thing missing – where, oh where, is the chutney? Now I have heard it rumoured that not everyone pairs chutney and cheese – I literally don’t understand! I am also aware that some individuals spread chutney on a pork pie or add it to a ham sandwich. However, here at BMA House we don’t judge, instead we provide remarkable, sustainable chutney to suit every occasion.
Why all the talk about cheese and chutney? Because amongst our other waste policies is the ongoing creation of chutney using food waste. Our chefs create beautiful chutneys using unused and untouched fruit and vegetables, plus their peels, that have been left-over after an event, to accompany a host of different dishes as part of our waste reduction initiatives. Not only is it sustainable, but it also provides a unique accompaniment that cannot be found elsewhere.
Rather than just being a blog about cheese and chutney there is a more serious point to be made here about food wastage. As a leading sustainable venue, BMA House is constantly looking for ways to “be better” and find new solutions to the challenges created when you run a busy venue complete with a substantial kitchen.
Food waste is a big issue in events – firstly there is the issue of catering numbers – how many people will actually show up and how much will they eat? Then there is the issue of portion size or in the case of a buffet quantities of each dish – if you have two main options plus a vegan dish, how many of each do you offer? This is particularly challenging where many meat eaters choose to be vegan for a month, or a few days, or just because that option looks tastier. The result can be extensive amounts of waste in the food produced. When you add in kitchen wastage the figures continue to grow.
Food waste doesn’t seem like the biggest sustainability issue when you first think about event organising, venue logistics and management. You would imagine it’s a long way down the list after travel or energy usage. However, the description above hopefully shows just how big an issue it can be and why it is so important to question your venue about such policies when booking. It is also vital that the venue themselves work closely with you to manage catering numbers and quantities as well as the many other elements that can help reduce waste – including chutney production!
Chutney making is just one of the many ways we are working to decrease our impact on the environment and improve sustainability – for me though – it is one of my favourites.
Now where is that stilton?
To find out more on our award-winning venue’s Sustainability practices, visit our Sustainability page here: https://bmahouse.org.uk/sustainability/ – we really are more than a few recycling bins in the corner of our meeting rooms!