Climate change can feel like an overwhelmingly difficult issue, something just too big for people like you and me to do anything meaningful about. But Global CEO of Compassion in World Farming, Philip Lymbery reminds us that we have an opportunity three times every single day to make a real difference. And that’s about what we eat.
Eating locally, seasonally, supporting the farmers who grow and the chefs who source responsibly, eating less but better meat – if eating meat at all – eating real food not ultra-processed and adding more plants to your plate not only reduces the carbon footprint of your food bill but makes us healthier too. And that takes the weight off the NHS, which is already buckling under the burden of diet-related diseases.
And where we eat makes a difference too. Diego Alejandro Ricuarte is the founder of Palmito, the Brighton favourite where classic street food dishes from Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador come with an affordable price tag and an ethical halo.
“Our butcher is Will Pountney at Barfields who mostly deals with local sourced meat. We know the farmers he works with, but we also buy from our own favourites; we get whole lambs from Rosie Martin at Nuthurst Farm, and goats from Ed Brown at Clapham Farm whose whole family believes in creating more sustainable local food systems.
“Rare breed Middle White Pigs are always on the menu at Palmito and I’ve been getting them from Richard Vaughan at Hunstham Farm in the Wye Valley. The farm has been in the family for 400 years and they have a small team devoted to the pigs to make sure that they are reared and fattened really slowly.
“We have been working directly with Sophie Bullacher who has her own market garden – you can follow her on Instagram @pitfield.veg. She delivers some of our vegetables directly from her land every Wednesday, and we really love the way she thinks about the food she grows. She studied craft and design at Brighton University, but she quickly realised how wasteful the big budget jobs she was getting were. She leads a really sustainable low impact way of life herself, and so she decided to start growing vegetables for cool restaurants like Palmito! It’s a lovely story.
“The other vegetables and dairy we source from
Shrub.London (www.shrub.london) which is a brilliant hub for over 45 ethical farms, but gives restaurants next day delivery, which is important. Our mushrooms and wild food come from Chris Amys the forager who has a workshop at Stammer Park.
“It is still a work in progress. To be able to work directly with the growers and producers has been a challenge, but we want our diners to see how hard we try to source well, support good farming, and still be able to be competitive. We want our cooks to be directly involved with the food they cook and to know where things come from.
“What I eat at home is what I cook at the venue. Like today, it is my day off and I just go visit growers and get to know them more. Just like other people care about a brand of shoes and know everything about them, I like to know what I put in my mouth. I am in awe with people who grow food, and by using local producers I have been welcomed into their land. I win from that on a personal level because I realise that we share the same values and we choose those values over profit.
“What really makes me happy is that all my suppliers come to Palmito every week. They know my staff by name and vice versa. They have a chat and they get excited about the produce. Therein lies our philosophy. Grow food, know food, grow community. When the young cooks I employ know what it takes to grow those products and they can put a face to them, then they are more careful about food in general. It works for us.”
l Palmito: 16 Western Rd, Hove BN3 1AE
01273 777588
The Whistler 